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Aisling Maguire's avatar

Exactly. It carries the whiff of colonialism and empire which is not to say the works of these writers cannot be enjoyed outside the anglophone world but on their own terms only!

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Aisling Maguire's avatar

Yes, it's meaningless and the 'great' epithet applied to writers or other artists is an extension of the coronation process, as in Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great etc.

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Catriona MacArthur's avatar

'Great' seems a very unsatisfactory descriptor for a work of art...

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Joseph Hennessy's avatar

Thanks. It is refreshing to see these ”greats” in perspective of their own time and place. It actually makes it easier to appreciate their work than when they were presented, in school, as near deitie who coincidentally represent the greatness of the anglophone world.

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