Richard Kirkland is Professor of Irish Literature at King's College London.

"His book is an invaluable account of recent cultural politics in Northern Ireland and he navigates his way through the terrain with admirable expertise and insight."Irish Review

• Introduction: The Interregnum, the institution and the critic 1.'In the midst of all this dross': Establishing grounds of dissent The Country, The City 2.'This thing could rule the world': Northern Irish writing and the idea of coterie 3.'Unconscious patriotism': Northern criticism in the 1980s 4.'Nothing left but the sense of exhuastion': Field Day and counter-hegemony 5.'Just another twist in the plot': Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon and the final institution. Paradigms of possibility Conclusion: Madoc and the institution Bibliography Index

Richard Kirkland is Professor of Irish Literature at King's College London.

"His book is an invaluable account of recent cultural politics in Northern Ireland and he navigates his way through the terrain with admirable expertise and insight."Irish Review

• Introduction: The Interregnum, the institution and the critic 1.'In the midst of all this dross': Establishing grounds of dissent The Country, The City 2.'This thing could rule the world': Northern Irish writing and the idea of coterie 3.'Unconscious patriotism': Northern criticism in the 1980s 4.'Nothing left but the sense of exhuastion': Field Day and counter-hegemony 5.'Just another twist in the plot': Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon and the final institution. Paradigms of possibility Conclusion: Madoc and the institution Bibliography Index

Richard Kirkland is Professor of Irish Literature at King's College London.

"His book is an invaluable account of recent cultural politics in Northern Ireland and he navigates his way through the terrain with admirable expertise and insight."Irish Review

• Introduction: The Interregnum, the institution and the critic 1.'In the midst of all this dross': Establishing grounds of dissent The Country, The City 2.'This thing could rule the world': Northern Irish writing and the idea of coterie 3.'Unconscious patriotism': Northern criticism in the 1980s 4.'Nothing left but the sense of exhuastion': Field Day and counter-hegemony 5.'Just another twist in the plot': Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon and the final institution. Paradigms of possibility Conclusion: Madoc and the institution Bibliography Index