Cosmopolitan versus Parochial Irishness in Bernard Shaw's Music Journalism (1877–1894)

Abstract

ABSTRACT From the very start of his career in England, Bernard Shaw positioned himself as an Irish commentator with an incisive, outsider's view of the English. Shaw's internationalist Socialism made him wary of excessive patriotism; and in his dramas he casts a cold eye on fervent patriotism. But Shaw was also known to routinely boast about his “wild and inextinguishable pride” in being “an Irishman” and to repeatedly praise Irish “brains.” This seeming contradiction regarding partiality to one's native land raises a very pertinent question: What mode of living was Shaw recommending to his fellow Irish in England? The music reviews that Shaw wrote between 1876 and 1894 reveal his nuanced thinking in this area. In these pieces, Shaw's reflections on English-based Irish singers and composers show that he was consistent in advocating that Irish emigrants embrace cosmopolitan Irishness (being proudly Irish while also remaining mindful of non-Irish ideas and perspectives) over parochial Irishness (stubbornly adhering to Irish norms in defiance of international best practice and exaggerating Irish greatness and “exceptionalism”). This fits with Shaw's general perspective on how Irish people—both within and beyond Irish shores—should approach their “‘lived’ Irishness.”