Haunted Historiographies : The Rhetoric of Ideology in Postcolonial Irish Fiction

The spectres of history haunt Irish fiction. In this compelling study, Matthew Schultz maps these rhetorical hauntings across a wide range of postcolonial Irish novels, and defines the spectre as a non-present presence that simultaneously symbolises and analyses an overlapping of Irish myth and Irish history. By exploring this exchange between literary discourse and historical events, Haunted historiographies provides literary historians and cultural critics with a theory of the spectre that exposes the various complex ways in which novelists remember, represent and reinvent historical narrative. It juxtaposes canonical and non-canonical novels that complicate long-held assumptions about four definitive events in modern Irish history – the Great Famine, the Irish Revolution, the Second World War and the Northern Irish Troubles – to demonstrate how historiographical Irish fiction from James Joyce and Samuel Beckett to Roddy Doyle and Sebastian Barry is both a product of Ireland's colonial history and also the rhetorical means by which a post-colonial culture has emerged. The Rhetoric Of Ideology Haunts Irish Fiction. Schultz Maps These Rhetorical Hauntings Across A Wide Range Of Postcolonial Irish Novels, And Defines The Spectre As A Non-present Presence That Simultaneously Symbolizes And Analyzes An Overlapping Of Irish Myth And Irish History. By Exploring This Exchange Between Literary Discourse And Historical Events, 'haunted Historiographies' Provides Literary Historians And Cultural Critics With A Theory Of The Spectre That Exposes The Various Complex Ways In Which Novelists Remember, Represent, And Reinvent Historical Narrative. Introduction: Textual Spectrality And Finnegans Wake -- Part I: Famine -- The Persistence Of Famine In Postcolonial Ireland -- The Specter Of Famine During World War Ii -- Part Ii: Revolution -- Ancient Warriors, Modern Sexualities: Easter 1916 And The Advent Of Post-catholic Ireland -- Gothic Inheritance And The Troubles In Comtemporary Irish Fiction -- Conclusion: Famine And The Western Front In Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. Matthew Schultz. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 183-199) And Index.