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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Learning 300 l^orth Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI BEYOND IRELAND: R&IMAGINING IRISH IDENTITIES IN THE PLAYS OF SEBASTIAN BARRY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kekoa Cirilo Kaluhiokalani, A A , B A , M A The Ohio State University 2001 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Sebastian Knowles, Adviser Professor Chadwick Allen _ Adviser Professor Brian Edmiston Department of English UMI Number 3031211 UMI’ UMI Microform 3031211 Copyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Beil & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the performative nature of Irish nationalism and individuality through examining "meta theatricar moments in four plays by Sebastian Barry: Boss Grady's Boys (1988), Prayers ofSherkin (1992),The Steward of Christendom (1995), and OurLady ofSUgo (1998). Using as a starting point the plays of W. B. Yeats, the first three chapters demonstrate how Irish playwrights position themselves along the continuum of identity as interiority/exteriority in order to comprehend national identity. In addition, postnationalism is introduced to suggest that national identity can be “re-imagined” in such a way as to link marginalized individuals to a specific history and community. Chapters four and five deploy a posmationalist reading to examine in Barry’s plays the various ways in which culture, aligned with a nation-state, dictates individual behavior and establishes social norms under the rubric of “Irishness." These chapters scrutinize the importance that individuals invest in self-identifying with a nation-state, and also seek to understand the ways in which characters strive to reconfigure “Irishness” in order to incorporate themselves with it. Chapter four analyzes BossGrady's Boys and OurLady of SUgo. Paired together, these plays demonstrate the elusiveness of Irishness, especially to those who actively seek it out. Chapter five considersPrayers ofSherkin andThe Steward of Christendom, showing how Barry reconstitutes and re-forms the subjective inconclusiveness o f Boss-Gratfy’sBoys^ and Our Lady‘of Sligo. Iiv dtese play» his^eharacters manage to negotiate with and claim “Irishness” for themselves through exploiting moments when individuals enter or acknowledge the “beyond,” a space outside the socio-political sphere that enables identities to become fluid and thus able to be reconfigured. The Afterword section reiterates that the key incidents of subjective metamorphosis—that is, the events in Sebastian Barry’s plays which signal the emergence of a new form of Irishness—occur in what are termed meta-theatrical moments. That is, a reconfigured “Irishness” always appears when the text enacts a play-within-a-play scenario in which a form of performance creates subjective overlap. The implication here is that dramatic literature may serve a vital role in the “re-imagining” of “Irishness” in the socio­ political sphere. Ill Aloha and Mahaio ForM&P IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation was a difficult birth after a long gestation and one false start. At six pounds and over 270 pages (not counting introductory material), it cannot be said to be the product of a solitary mind laboring in isolation. The following list mentions all to whom I give profound and humble thanks. To Sebastian Knowles for taking on the challenge of kick-starting a stalled dissertation, for inviting me into the fold of Modernists, for un mixing my metaphors, for challenging my neologisms, Homerisms, and undocumented quotations; for making my use of foreign words and phrases regular and responsible, and for his good humor in the face of impending deadlines. I may never completely understand the interference he ran on my behalf with the graduate school, but I am convinced that without his intercession, his careful reading and his penchant for scheduling critical deadlines on memorable dates (the Ides of March, Halloween, the Feast of Saint Frances Xavier) this dissertation would never have been completed on time, or not at all. To Chadwick Allen, Neo-Luddite, for taking time from his sabbatical to fine-tune the theoretical aspects of this dissertation. The notes for improvement he gave me were difficult to execute but entirely appropriate, and 1 shall be forever paranoid about affixing dates to books that I mention for the first time in anything 1 write hereafter. He will never know the errands 1 undertook to satisfy his critical eye, and at times my quest for V marginalia became downright Odyssean, but 1 never regretted the exercise. His careful reading and suggestions reminded me that community construction is neither wholly benign nor malevolent, but a complex mixture of both. To the Edmistons, Brian, Pat, Michael, and Zoe, who welcomed me into their ^mily. As an Irishman, Brian helped me see past my blind spots about Irish culture, since it is still in many respects new and startling to me. Pat directed me to the text of the 1998 Good Friday Accord, which greatly helped my research And grounding in immediate political imperatives. Michael and Zoe, as little Gyndsh trolls, chess-mates, and card' playing buddies, reminded me to be young and inquisitive throughout the dissertation- writing process, even as my hair grows gray and my mind enfeebled. To John Erikson for working through the early stages of this dissertation and the Arst years of my doctoral study. He introduced me to Stuart Hall and Homi Bhabha, and his suggestion to read Ernest Gellner was a crucial Arst step without which 1 would never have found my way to postnationalism. Some time ago he counseled that I shouldn’t sweat the theory all that much, and coming from a theory man, that allayed my darkest fears about the dissertation ordeal. To Joy Reilly for teaching the course on twentieth-century Irish drama that completely transformed the nature of my doctoral studies. By Auke of a wrongly entered course number I ended up in her class, and her amicable nature encouraged me to stay. Three months later I knew what I would be studying for the rest of my life. This dissertation is a direct result of her input. VI To die music of Vangeiis; especiatty-diesoundtradrta Biade Rimner(1982> and bootlegged Blade Runner tracks lifted ftom the nowdeftinct Napster. Six years ago this music calmed me through my master’s thesis, and during these past crucial months it carried me through the dark days of this doctoral dissertation, its ambient music helping me overcome writer’s block and the doldrums of summer. Tracks titled “Dangerous Days,” “Wounded Animals,” “The Prodigal Son Brings Death,” and “Tears in Rain” aptly describe the process of writing a dissertation and the hours spent in ftont of a computer. In the closing days of the dissertation 1 somehow switched over Savingto Private Ryan (1998) and listened to “Hymn to the Fallen,” The Last Battle,” and—most appropriately—“Defense Preparations.” The music ftom AmericanBeauty (1999) was also helpful, and tracks such as “Dead Already,” “Structure and Discipline,” and “Mental Boy” were appropriate subtitles to my own struggles with this writing process. W ith the final days of editing came, two tracks from Sigur Rôs, “Viôrar Vel til Loftàràsa” (“Good Weather for an Airstrike”) and “Agætis byrjun” (“Good Start” or “A Promising Beginning”), kept me company through the late hours of the evening. In memoriam Eugene England, 1933-2001. vu VITA August 20, 1970...........................................Bom - Provo, Utah 1989..............................................................AA. Theatre, Brigham Young University-Hawaii 1993 BA English Literature, Brigham Young University-Provo 1993-1995.....................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Brigham Young University—Provo 1995............................................................. M A British Literature, Brigham Young University—Provo 1995-2000.....................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio