Drawing on his new book, Oscar Wilde and the Radical Politics of the Fin de Siècle and his forthcoming study, Revolutionary Wilde, Dr Deaglán Ó Donghaile will discuss how the themes of anarchism, anticolonialism, and art are key to Oscar Wilde’s literary writings.
While Wilde has traditionally been viewed as an apolitical and even conservative author, Deaglán will explain how his works are key anarchist texts that engage very directly with class struggles and anticolonial themes.
Wilde’s plays, fiction and essays publicly criticised the coercion laws that were imposed on Ireland throughout the nineteenth century – laws that provided the legal and ideological bases for various forms of repressive neoliberal legislation today.
In particular, Deaglán will discuss the enduring relevance of Wilde’s famous essay, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism”, which drew on anarchist and anticolonial critiques of power, authority, and state violence by proposing that art and culture could unite people in solidarity against capitalism and imperialism.