Scott Brewster

Michael Parker

This is a distinctive book that examines the diversity and energy of writing in a period marked by the unparalleled global prominence of Irish culture. This collection provides a wide-ranging survey of fiction, poetry and drama over the last two decades, considering both well-established figures and also emerging writers who have received relatively little critical attention. Contributors explore the central developments within Irish culture and society that have transformed the writing and reading of identity, sexuality, history and gender. The book examines the impact of Mary Robinson’s Presidency; growing cultural confidence ‘back home’; legislative reform on sexual and moral issues; the uneven effects generated by the resurgence of the Irish economy (the ‘Celtic Tiger’ myth); Ireland’s increasingly prominent role in Europe; and changing reputation. In its breadth and critical currency, this book will be of particular interest to academics and students working in the fields of literature, drama and cultural studies. An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

Diverse voices

Irish Literature Since 1990

Fiona Becket

David Alderson

Virginia Crossman

Ireland in Proximity surveys and develops the expanding field of Irish Studies, reviewing existing debates within the discipline and providing new avenues for exploration. Drawing on a variety of disciplinary and theoretical approaches, this impressive collection of essays makes an innovative contribution to three areas of current, and often contentious, debate within Irish Studies. This accessible volume illustrates the diversity of thinking on Irish history, culture and identity. By invoking theoretical perspectives including psychoanalysis, cultural theories of space, postcoloniality and theories of gender and sexual difference, the collection offers fresh perspectives on established subjects and brings new and under-represented areas of critical concern to the fore. Chapter subjects include: * sexuality and gender identities * the historiographical issues surrounding the Famine * the Irish diaspora * theories of space in relation to Ulster and beyond. Contributors inlcude: David Alderson, Aidan Arrowsmith, Caitriona Beaumont, Fiona Becket, Scott Brewster, Dan Baron Cohen, Mary Corcoran, Virginia Crossman, Richard Kirkland, David Lloyd, Patrick McNally, Elisabeth Mahoney, Willy Maley, Shaun Richards, Éibhear Walshe.

History, Gender and Space

Ireland in Proximity

14. Secret gardens: unearthing the truth in Patrick O'Keeffe's The Hill Road: Vivian Valvano Lynch -- 15. 'What's it like being Irish?' The return of the repressed in Roddy Doyle's Paula Spencer: Jennifer M. Jeffers -- 16. Remembering to forget: Northern Irish fiction after the Troubles: Neal Alexander -- Part V: After words -- 17. 'What do I say when they wheel out their dead?' The representation of violence in Northern Irish art: Shane Alcobia-Murphy -- Bibliography -- Index

Diverse Voices

Eluned Summers-Bremner

The essays in this collection deal with contemporary Irish poetry and the question of the desiring body as a cultural and historical product, a biological entity and a psycho-sexual construction, and not least as an existential being. Drawing upon the literary theories of, among others, the French post-structuralists, the psychoanalytic theories of Lacan and Kristeva, the philosophies of Merleau-Ponty and Levinas, and feminist philosophers, such as Donna Haraway and Susan Bordo. The contributors explore how contemporary Irish poets, both male and female, give expression to what might be termed a reassessment of material experience. With their various approaches they address the various ways in which the body can be seen as an agent of empowerment and change in the work of Eavan Boland, Ciaran Carson, Mary Dorcey, Seamus Heaney, Rita Ann Higgins, Thomas Kinsella, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Medbh McGuckian, Paula Meehan, John Montague, Paul Muldoon, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill.

The Body and Desire in Contemporary Irish Poetry

David Owen

John J. Joughin

Richard J. Walker

This text asks what it is to be human. Spectres, cyborgs, clones, aliens - representations of the inhuman hybrid seem more various and multiform than ever before. It examines the impact of science and technology on culture and representation.

Thinking the Limits of the Human

Inhuman Reflections

The term ‘lyric’ has evolved, been revised, redefined and contested over the centuries. In this fascinating introduction, Scott Brewster: traces the history of the term from its classical origins through the early modern, Romantic and Victorian periods and up to the twenty-first century demonstrates the influence of lyric on poetic practice, literature, music and other popular cultural forms uses three aspects -- the lyric ‘self’, love and desire and the relationship between lyric, poetry and performance -- as focal points for further discussion not only charts the history of lyric theory and practice but re-examines assumptions about the lyric form in the context of recent theoretical accounts of poetic discourse. Offering clarity and structure to this often intense and emotive field, Lyric offers essential insights for students of literature, performance, music and cultural studies.

Lyric

Luke Thurston

The Handbook to the Ghost Story sets out to survey and significantly extend a new field of criticism which has been taking shape over recent years, centring on the ghost story and bringing together a vast range of interpretive methods and theoretical perspectives. The main task of the volume is to properly situate the genre within historical and contemporary literary cultures across the globe, and to explore its significance within wider literary contexts as well as those of the supernatural. The Handbook offers the most significant contribution to this new critical field to date, assembling some of its leading scholars to examine the key contexts and issues required for understanding the emergence and development of the ghost story.

Scott Brewster

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