Masculinities and Manhood in Contemporary Irish Drama : Acting the Man

This book charts the journey, in terms of both stasis and change, that masculinities and manhood have made in Irish drama, and by extension in the broader culture and society, from the 1960s to the present. Examining a diverse corpus of drama and theatre events, both mainstream and on the fringe, this study critically elaborates a seismic shift in Irish masculinities. This book argues, then, that Irish manhood has shifted from embodying and enacting post-colonial concerns of nationalism and national identity, to performing models of masculinity that are driven and moulded by the political and cultural practices of neoliberal capitalism. __Masculinities and Manhood in Contemporary Irish Drama__ charts this shift through chapters on performing masculinity in plays set in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, and through several chapters that focus on Women’s and Queer drama. It thus takes its readers on a journey: a journey that begins with an overtly patriarchal, nationalist manhood that often made direct comment on the state of the nation, and ultimately arrives at several arguably regressive forms of globalised masculinity, which are couched in misaligned notions of individualism and free-choice and that frequently perceive themselves as being in crisis. Acknowledgements Contents 1 Introduction: Acting the Man 1 Contexts and Concepts of Masculinities 2 Hegemonic Masculinity and Performing the Nation 3 Patriarchy and Its Dividends 4 Irish Manhood and the Market 5 The ‘Crisis Ordinariness’ of Masculinity in Crisis 6 Irish Masculinities Onstage Bibliography 2 The Fantasy of Manhood 1 Fantasies of Modernity: The Irish New Wave 2 Rural Homosociality and the Dynamics of Exclusion The Men Who Stay Behind 3 Neoliberal Narratives Nascent Neoliberalism Tropes, Types, and Scripts of Manhood Challenging Neoliberal Manhood 4 Conclusions Bibliography 3 The Pathology of Patriarchy 1 Patriarchy, Patrilineage, and the Family Cell Emulating the Father Ousting the Father Replacing the Father: Patrilineage in Performance Future Mutations 2 Monologues, Misfits, and the Performance of Crisis New Lads, Old Ways Post-Tiger Monologues and ‘Exit Politics’ 3 Neoliberalism, Post-feminism, and Hidden Patriarchy Invisible Patriarchy 4 Conclusions Bibliography 4 Men of the North 1 Performing the Tribe Tropes, Types, and Stereotypes Worthy Catholics and Hooligan Republicans Subverting Tribal Stereotypes 2 Abject Heroes Paradoxical Bodies Constructing the Abject Hero Abjecting the Law of the Heroic Father 3 Conclusions Bibliography 5 Masculinity Without Men 1 Virgin Mother Ireland Punishing the Virgin Mother 2 Patriarchy Without Men Daughters of the Tiger 3 Phallic Irish Mothers Subverting the Phallic Mother 4 The Gatekeepers of Patriarchy God’s Gatekeepers Gatekeepers of the Family Cell 5 Conclusions Bibliography 6 Acting Queer 1 Shame, Sex, and Nation Fear of a Queer Nation Good Gays Versus Bad Queers 2 Performing POZ The Punishment Paradox Positively Irish 3 Towards a Queer Dramaturgy 4 Conclusions Bibliography 7 Conclusion: Acting This Man Index "This book charts the journey, in terms of both stasis and change, that masculinities and manhood have made in Irish drama, and by extension in the broader culture and society, from the 1960s to the present. Examining a diverse corpus of drama and theatre events, both mainstream and on the fringe, this study critically elaborates a seismic shift in Irish masculinities. This book argues, then, that Irish manhood has shifted from embodying and enacting post-colonial concerns of nationalism and national identity, to performing models of masculinity that are driven and moulded by the political and cultural practices of neoliberal capitalism. Masculinities and Manhood in Contemporary Irish Drama charts this shift through chapters on performing masculinity in plays set in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, and through several chapters that focus on Women’s and Queer drama. It thus takes its readers on a journey: a journey that begins with an overtly patriarchal, nationalist manhood that often made direct comment on the state of the nation, and ultimately arrives at several arguably regressive forms of globalised masculinity, which are couched in misaligned notions of individualism and free-choice and that frequently perceive themselves as being in crisis."--Page [4] of cover