Roy Foster

Roy Foster, one of Ireland's leading historians and author of a celebrated biography on Yeats, delves into the intricacies of Irish history. He discusses how expectations shaped Ireland's tumultuous past, why the Scots fared better than the Irish under English rule, and the fading of spoken Irish. Foster also touches on the cultural impacts of neutrality during WWII, the evolution of Irish visual arts, and key economic shifts that have defined the nation. His insights reveal how history shapes current identities and the potential futures of Ireland.

Historian Roy Foster, Emeritus Professor at Oxford and author of a celebrated biography of W.B. Yeats, dives deep into Yeats's poem "Sailing to Byzantium." He shares his scholarly connection to Yeats and reflects on the poem's evocative imagery and themes of sexuality, aging, and the afterlife. Foster reveals the context in which Yeats wrote this piece and discusses its evolution from Irish roots to Byzantine symbolism. His insights touch on the quest for artistic legacy and the personal significance of the afterlife.

Guests Melvyn Bragg, Roy Foster, Jeri Johnson, and Katherine Mullin discuss James Joyce's novel, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.' They explore the protagonist's struggles with family, church, and societal expectations. The podcast dives into Joyce's experimental approach in depicting psychological complexities and the lasting influence of the novel on literary experimentation. Other topics include the cultural nationalism in Joyce's time, the protagonist's evolution from autobiographical to artistic representation, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, identity conflicts, language nuances, religious symbolism, and Stephen's adolescent sexuality.