Ageing Masculinities in Irish Literature and Visual Culture (Routledge Studies in Irish Literature)

This book engages with ageing masculinities in Irish literature and visual culture, including fiction, drama, poetry, painting, and documentary. Exploring the shifting representations of older men from the early twentieth century to the present, the contributors analyse how a broad range of literary and visual texts construct, reinscribe, or challenge perceptions of older age. In doing so, they trace a shift from depictions of authority figures - often symbolising patriarchal dominance and oppression - to more nuanced, complex, and heterogeneous explorations of older men’s embodied subjectivities and vulnerabilities. Exploring artists and writers such as Seán Keating, J.M. Synge, Teresa Deevy, Marina Carr, Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Derek Mahon, Kate O’Brien, John Banville, Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Mike McCormack, Anne Griffin, and Claire Keegan, the chapters in this book attend to the symbolic as well as social significance of older men in Irish cultural expression. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction: Ageing Masculinities in Irish Literature and Visual Culture Notes Works Cited Part I: Drama Chapter 2: Taking the “Black Stick”: Ageing Husbands and Fathers in the Plays of J. M. Synge and Teresa Deevy Works Cited Chapter 3: “Are All the Monks Old Men?”: Ageing and the Male Monastic Community in Brian Friel’s The Enemy Within Note Works Cited Chapter 4: Father Ireland on Stage: Representations of Social Change and Ageing Masculinities in Crisis Introduction A Whistle in the Dark (1961) On Raftery’s Hill (2000) Cyprus Avenue (2016) Conclusion Notes Works Cited Part II: Poetry Chapter 5: Poetics at the Limit: Embodiment, Masculinities, and Ageing in Samuel Beckett’s Early Poetry Collection Echo’s Bones Introduction Beckett’s poetics at the “limit”: generic “in-between-ness” and the question of development Beckett, masculinity and (Irish) modernism Echo’s Bones : the malleability of beginnings and endings, birth and death Male creativity and gendered movement in Echo’s Bones Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 6: Masculinity, Ageing, and Midlife Crisis in the Poetry of Paul Muldoon and Paul Durcan Introduction Poetry, Crisis, and Mid-Life Latitudes in Paul Muldoon’s Poetry A Middle-Aged “Male of the Species” in the Poetry of Paul Durcan Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 7: Not Sailing to Byzantium: Aged Masculinities and Latour’s Matters of Concern in the Late Works of Irish Male Poets Notes Works Cited Part III: Fiction Chapter 8: “That the Youth May Throw Us Aside”: Fatherhood, Ageing Masculinities, and the Politics of Insecurity in Mid-Twentieth-Century Irish Fiction Introduction Fatherhood and the Politics of Paternal Masculinity Patrilineage and Inherited Masculinity: The Case of the Considines The Patrilineal Double Bind: Patriarchal Anxiety and Ageing Masculinity Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 9: Stuck in the Old Times: A Male-character Analysis on Three Irish Novels Through Corpus Stylistics 1 Introduction Methodology Results and Analysis Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 10: Uncanny Reflections: Older Widowers in John Banville’s The Sea, Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture and Anne Griffin’s When All Is Said Introduction Uncanny Reflections: Mirrors, Masks, and Life Review John Banville, The Sea Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture Anne Griffin, When All Is Said Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 11: “Caught Suddenly by the Land Shifting”: Ageing Masculinity and Rural Ireland in Recent Irish Short Fiction The Weight of Tradition Ailing and Acceptance A Damaged Inheritance?: Young and Ageing Masculinity Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 12: “A Bridge to Nowhere”: Arrested Development, Trauma, Liminality, and the Ageing Irish Exile in Bernard MacLaverty’s Midwinter Break Introduction Arrested Development “Irish” Stella Conclusion Note Works Cited Chapter 13: “Shades of Masculinity”: Midlife and Caring Masculinity in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones The Middle Years Fathers and Sons: Generational Rites, Rhythms, and Rituals Amongst Women Notes Works Cited Chapter 14: Colm Tóibín and Henry James: Portrait of an Ageing Master Works Cited Part IV: Visual Culture Chapter 15: Seán Keating’s Ireland: The Land of Old Men Works Cited Chapter 16: Ageing Masculinities and Irish Traditional Music on Screen Introduction Irish Traditional Music on Screen Noel Hill–Aisling Ghéar and Slán Leis an gCeol–Farewell to Music Virility and Vulnerability Masculinity, the Past, and Irish Traditional Music Sounds of Masculinity and Nostalgia Conclusion Notes Works Cited Chapter 17: Changing the Picture: Older Men’s Responses to Media Representations of Ageing in an Irish Context Introduction Literature Review Methodology Findings Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgements Ethical Standards Notes Works Cited Index Introduction: ageing masculinities in Irish literature and visual culture / Michaela Schrage-Früh and Tony Tracy -- Taking the "black stick" : ageing husbands and fathers in the plays of J.M. Synge and Teresa Deevy / Mária Kurdi -- "Are all the monks old men?" Ageing and the male monastic community in Brian Friel's The enemy within / Giovanna Tallone -- Father Ireland on stage : representations of social change and ageing masculinities in crisis / Ciara L. Murphy -- Poetics at the limit : embodiment, masculinities, and ageing in Samuel Beckett's early poetry collection Echo's Bones / Heike Hartung -- Masculinity, ageing, and midlife crisis in the poetry of Paul Muldoon and Paul Durcan / Anne Karhio -- Not sailing to Byzantium : aged masculinities and Latour's Matters of concern in the late works of Irish male poets / Katarzyna Ostalska -- "That the youth may throw us aside" : fatherhood, ageing masculinities, and the politics of insecurity in mid-twentieth-century Irish fiction / Loic Wright -- Stuck in the old times : a male-character analysis on three Irish novels through corpus stylistics / Cassandra S. Tully -- Uncanny reflections : older widowers in John Banville's The sea, Sebastian Barry's The secret scripture and Anne Griffin's When all is said / Michaela Schrage-Früh -- "Caught suddenly by the land shifting" : ageing masculinity and rural Ireland in recent Irish short fiction / Orlaith Darling -- "A bridge to nowhere" : arrested development, trauma, liminality, and the ageing Irish exile in Bernard MacLaverty's Midwinter break / Clare Brannigan -- "Shades of masculinities" : midlife and caring masculinity in Mike McCormack's Solar bones / Brenda O'Connell -- Colm Tóibín and Henry James : portrait of an ageing master / Heather Ingman -- Seán Keating's Ireland - the land of old men / Katarzyna Kociołek -- Ageing masculinities and Irish traditional music on screen / Verena Commins and Méabh Ní Fhuartháin -- Changing the picture : older men's responses to media representations of ageing in an Irish context / Margaret O'Neill and Áine Ní Léime "This book engages with ageing masculinities in Irish literature and visual culture, including fiction, drama, poetry, painting, and documentary. Exploring the shifting representations of older men from the early twentieth century to the present, the contributors analyse how a broad range of literary and visual texts construct, reinscribe, or challenge perceptions of older age. In doing so, they trace a shift from depictions of authority figures - often symbolising patriarchal dominance and oppression - to more nuanced, complex, and heterogeneous explorations of older men's embodied subjectivities and vulnerabilities. Exploring artists and writers such as Seán Keating, J.M. Synge, Teresa Deevy, Marina Carr, Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Derek Mahon, Kate O'Brien, John Banville, Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Mike McCormack, Anne Griffin, and Claire Keegan, the essays in this collection attend to the symbolic as well as social significance of older men in Irish cultural expression"-- Provided by publisher.