Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing: Writing and Resistance (New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature)

The First Book Devoted Entirely To A Critical Examination Of Contemporary Irish Prison Literature, Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing Explicates Extant And Previously Unpublished Texts By World-famous Figures Like Gerry Adams And Bobby Sands As Well As The Works Of Lesser-known And Anonymous Authors, Paying Special Attention To Women's Writing. This Book Analyzes Republican Resistance Within Northern Irish Prisons As It Traces The Textual History Of These Writings, Demonstrating The Ways In Which Pows Appropriate Prison Space Through Discursive Strategies. As It Explores The Aesthetic Alterity Of Prison Writing, Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing Critiques Traditional Assumptions About Literature, Simultaneously Shedding Light On The Continuing Conservatism Of Canonical Boundaries.--jacket. Introduction : Taoibh Amuigh Agus Faoi Ghlas : The Counter-aesthetics Of Republican Prison Writing -- Our Barbed Wire Ivory Tower : The Cages Of Long Kesh -- Comrades In The Dark : Writing In The H Blocks, 1976-1981 -- Silence Or Cell? : Women Writing In Armagh, Maghaberry, And Durham -- Captive Voices : Post-1981 Republican Prison Writing -- Postscript : You Look Like Jesus Christ : Images Of Republican Pows In Contemporary Cinema. Lachlan Whalen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [223]-233) And Index. The first book devoted entirely to a critical examination of contemporary Irish prison literature, Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing explicates extant and previously unpublished texts by world-famous figures like Gerry Adams and Bobby Sands as well as the works of lesser-known and anonymous authors, paying special attention to women's writing. This book analyzes Republican resistance within Northern Irish prisons as it traces the textual history of these writings, demonstrating the ways in which POWs appropriate prison space through discursive strategies. As it explores the aesthetic alterity of prison writing Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing critiques traditional assumptions about literature, simultaneously shedding light on the continuing conservatism of canonical boundaries--Résumé de l'éditeur Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction: Taoibh Amuigh agus Faoi Ghlas: The Counter-aesthetics of Republican Prison Writing....Pages 1-14 “Our Barbed Wire Ivory Tower”: The Cages of Long Kesh....Pages 15-53 “Comrades in the Dark”: Writing in the H Blocks, 1976–1981....Pages 55-106 “Silence or Cell?”: Women Writing in Armagh, Maghaberry, and Durham....Pages 107-139 “Captive Voices”: Post-1981 Republican Prison Writing....Pages 141-169 Postscript: “You Look Like Jesus Christ”: Images of Republican POWs in Contemporary Cinema....Pages 171-183 Back Matter....Pages 185-244 As it traces the textual history of the works of authors like Bobby Sands and Gerry Adams, this book analyses Republican resistance to disciplinary structures, demonstrating the ways in which prisoners appropriate space through discursive strategies. As it traces the textual history of the works of authors like Bobby Sands and Gerry Adams, this book analyzes Republican resistance to disciplinary structures, demonstrating the ways in which prisoners appropriate space through discursive strategies.