Irish Cosmopolitanism : Location and Dislocation in James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen, and Samuel Beckett

“Clearly written, convincingly argued, and transformative.”—Nicholas Allen, author of __Modernism, Ireland and Civil War__ “Goes beyond ‘statism’ and postnationalism toward a cosmopolitics of Irish transnationalism in which national belonging and national identity are permanently in transition.”—Gregory Castle, author of __The Literary Theory Handbook__ “Shows how three important Irish writers crafted forms of cosmopolitan thinking that spring from, and illuminate, the painful realities of colonialism and anti-colonial struggle.”—Marjorie Howes, author of __Colonial Crossings: Figures in Irish Literary History__ “Asserting the simultaneity of national and global frames of reference, this illuminating book is a fascinating and timely contribution to Irish Modernist Studies.”—Geraldine Higgins, author of __Heroic Revivals from Carlyle to Yeats__ Looking at the writing of three significant Irish expatriates, Nels Pearson challenges conventional critical trends that view their work as either affirming Irish anti-colonial sentiment or embracing international identity. In reality, he argues, these writers constantly work back and forth between a sense of national belonging that remains incomplete and ideas of human universality tied to their new global environments. For these and many other Irish writers, national and international concerns do not conflict, but overlap—and the interplay between them motivates Irish modernism. According to Pearson, Joyce’s __Ulysses__ strives to articulate the interdependence of an Irish identity and a universal perspective; Bowen’s exiled, unrooted characters are never firmly rooted in the first place; and in Beckett, the unsettled origin is felt most keenly when it is abandoned for exile. These writers demonstrate the displacement felt by many Irish citizens in an ever-changing homeland unsteadied by long and turbulent decolonization. Searching for a sense of place between national and global abstractions, their work displays a twofold struggle to pinpoint national identity while adapting to a fluid cosmopolitan world. Looking at the writing of three Irish expatriates who lived in Trieste, London, and Paris, Nels Pearson challenges conventional critical trends that view their work as either affirming Irish anti-colonial sentiment or embracing international identity. In reality, he argues, these writers work constantly back and forth between a sense of national belonging that remains incomplete and ideas of human universality tied to their new global environments. For these and many other Irish writers, national and international concerns do not conflict, but overlap—and the interplay between them motivates Irish modernism.Joyce's Ulysses strives to articulate the interdependence of an Irish identity and a universal perspective. Bowen's exiled, unrooted characters were never firmly rooted in the first place. And in Beckett, the unsettled origin is felt most keenly when it is abandoned for exile. These writers demonstrate the displacement felt by many Irish citizens in an ever-changing Ireland unsteadied by long and turbulent decolonization. Ultimately, their work displays a twofold struggle to pinpoint national identity while adapting to a fluid cosmopolitan world. Nels Pearson Uses The Readings Of James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen, And Samuel Beckett To Argue That Both National And Global Concerns Motivate Irish Modernism Simultaneously. Introduction. Of Coast And Cosmos: Locating Irish Expatriate Modernism -- Ulysses, The Sea, And The Paradox Of Irish Internationalism -- Forget! Remember!: Joyce's Voices And The Haunted Cosmos -- Elizabeth Bowen's Tenacious Cosmopolitanism -- Crossings Still: Irish Interludes In Bowen's European Novels -- Haunt[ing] The Waterfront: Place And Displacement In Echo's Bones And Les Nouvelles -- Beckett, Setting, And Cosmopolitical Philosophy. Nels Pearson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.