National identities and imperfections in contemporary Irish literature : unbecoming Irishness

This book is about the role that the imperfect, the disquieting and the dystopian are currently playing in the construction of Irish identities. All the essays assess identity issues that require urgent examination, problematize canonical definitions of Irishness and, above all, look at the ways in which the artistic output of the country has been altered by the Celtic Tiger phenomenon and its subsequent demise. Recent narrative from Ireland, principally published in the twenty-first century and/or at the end of the 1990s, is dealt with extensively. The authors examined include Eavan Boland, Mary Rose Callaghan, Peter Cunningham, Emma Donoghue, Anne Enright, Emer Martin, Lia Mills, Paul Muldoon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Bernard O’Donoghue, Peter Sirr and David Wheatley. "Contents"--"Foreword" -- "On Irregularities" -- "Works Cited" -- "Acknowledgements" -- "Notes on Contributors" -- "List of Figures" -- "Chapter 1: The Imperfect as a Site of Contestation in Contemporary Ireland" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Part I: The Tiger and Beyond: Political, Social and Literary Fissures" -- "Chapter 2: What Plenty Laid Bare! Irelandâ#x80;#x99;s Harsh Confrontation with Itself: 1999â#x80;#x93;2014" -- "Introduction" -- "Some Ideas to Elucidate â#x80;#x98;National Identityâ#x80;#x99; and Its Malleability: A Brief Theoretical Interlude" -- "Ideal Homes in a Dreaming Republic?" -- "Where is the Irish Republic?" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 3: Satiric Insights into Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland: The Case of Peter Cunninghamâ#x80;#x99;s Capital Sins" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 4: Understanding the Imperfect in John McGahernâ#x80;#x99;s First and Last Novels" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Part II: Disruptions of Religion, Family and Marriage" -- "Chapter 5: Hard Times and Sibling Songs: Sibling Relations in Contemporary Irish Literature" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 6: Psychological Resilience in Emma Donoghueâ#x80;#x99;s Room" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 7: The Fallen Sex Revisited: Imperfect Celibacy in Mary Rose Callaghanâ#x80;#x99;s A Bit of a Scandal" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Part III: Ex-Centric Bodies and Disquieting Spaces" -- "Chapter 8: Form, Deformity: On Pathology and Poetics in Paul Muldoon" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 9: Imperfection as a Chance: Matrixial Borderspaces in Anne Enright" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 10: Monstrous Mothers and Mutant Others: Bodies out of Place in Emer Martinâ#x80;#x99;s Baby Zero" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 11: Changing Places: The Imperfect City in Contemporary Irish Poetry" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited." Front Matter....Pages i-xxi The Imperfect as a Site of Contestation in Contemporary Ireland....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 What Plenty Laid Bare! Ireland’s Harsh Confrontation with Itself: 1999–2014....Pages 21-36 Satiric Insights into Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland: The Case of Peter Cunningham’s Capital Sins ....Pages 37-50 Understanding the Imperfect in John McGahern’s First and Last Novels....Pages 51-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Hard Times and Sibling Songs: Sibling Relations in Contemporary Irish Literature....Pages 67-82 Psychological Resilience in Emma Donoghue’s Room ....Pages 83-98 The Fallen Sex Revisited: Imperfect Celibacy in Mary Rose Callaghan’s A Bit of a Scandal ....Pages 99-112 Front Matter....Pages 113-113 Form, Deformity: On Pathology and Poetics in Paul Muldoon....Pages 115-129 Imperfection as a Chance: Matrixial Borderspaces in Anne Enright....Pages 131-145 Monstrous Mothers and Mutant Others: Bodies out of Place in Emer Martin’s Baby Zero ....Pages 147-162 Changing Places: The Imperfect City in Contemporary Irish Poetry....Pages 163-180 Front Matter....Pages 181-181 Irish Drinking Culture on the Screen....Pages 183-199 Treading the Boards? Be Sure to Put on the Right Brogues! The Actor’s Search for the Perfect Irish Accent....Pages 201-217 Front Matter....Pages 219-219 ‘Absolutely Imperfect’: In Conversation with Lia Mills....Pages 221-238 Back Matter....Pages 239-248