The Challenge of Post-Troubles Identity Construction in Contemporary Northern Irish Novels
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Rejecting and Embracing the Past: The Challenge of Post-Troubles Identity Construction in Contemporary Northern Irish Novels by Peggy Jean Marie Lindsey A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama May 7, 2016 Keywords: Northern Ireland, The Troubles, identity, literature Copyright 2016 by Peggy Jean Marie Lindsey Approved by Jonathan Bolton, Chair, Professor of English Robin Sabino, Professor of English Christopher Keirstead, Associate Professor of English Emily C. Friedman, Associate Professor of English Barbara A. Baker, Executive Director, Women’s Leadership Institute Abstract The conflict known as The Troubles which has dominated both real and fictional narratives from and about Northern Ireland since it began in the late 1960s characterizes Northern Ireland as a place steeped in ceaseless and uncompromising sectarian violence. Literature, particularly the novel, has long contributed to this characterization. This dissertation examines three novels written and published as the peace process took hold in the early 1990s which deconstruct and posit alternatives to this standard characterization. It explores how the authors of these novels (Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, and Mary Costello) attempt to counter the traditional literary stereotypes in Troubles fiction by exploring the circumstances and motivations behind the violence and victimization. In so doing, the novels offer alternatives to the stereotypical Northern Irish identities of perpetrator and victim. Glenn Patterson’s Fat Lad explores the viability of rejecting the standard identity in favor of a more cosmopolitan, European one. Eoin McNamee’s Resurrection Man considers how Northern Irish, British, and American culture create the most extremely violent Northern Irish identity, that of the paramilitary gunman. Mary Costello’s Titanic Town addresses the roles available to women in Northern Irish society and how the Troubles complicate those identities. ii My discussion is grounded in the premise that novels in general help construct our understanding of and attitudes toward particular nations and cultures. The three novels in this study support that notion by providing particular ways of thinking about the Northern Irish that go beyond the usual tropes created by the Troubles even though the alternative identities imagined in all three novels are untenable. I conclude that such failures are caused by the ongoing dominance of violence as the defining trait of Northern Ireland in both popular and academic culture. iii Acknowledgments I have been extremely fortunate throughout the process of writing this dissertation to enjoy the love and support of an amazing collection of people willing to cheer me on, give feedback, share their own joys and struggles as writers, and in general keep me going. From Auburn University, Robin Sabino, Pat Morrow, and Bert Hitchcock have been there since the beginning. Their unwavering belief that I could and should finish mattered. A lot. Jon Bolton’s willingness to step in as director when Pat retired was a huge gift of ongoing time and support without which this dissertation could not exist. The goodwill and generosity of Chris Keirstead, Emily Friedman, and Barbara Baker in providing their time and thoughtful feedback were likewise essential in getting this project to completion. Without the support at Wright State University of Joe Law and the energy of Sarah Twill, Erin Flanagan, Noeleen McIlvenna, Lance Greene, and Deborah Crusan to help me launch a writing retreat program, I may never have found a way to make progress on my writing. Liz Mackay at the University of Dayton has been another mainstay of support, spending hours with me in coffee shops and libraries to ensure we both stayed glued to our chairs and writing. The strong commitment to professional iv development for non-tenure line faculty at Georgia Southern University made a big difference in my ability to finish. In particular, the support and encouragement of Rachel Schwartz and Dan Bauer for faculty writing made it possible for me to juggle the demands of teaching, service, and scholarship. Rachel’s enthusiastic support of faculty writing retreats especially provided the time and space to make steady progress. The nearly 50 faculty members who have been my writing companions in this program provided the collegial atmosphere that has made the process a joy rather than a hardship. On the home front, I am particularly grateful that in Doug Lantry I have not only an extremely loving and supportive spouse, but also a thoughtful and patient reader, proofreader, and sounding board. My uncle Bryan Lindsey, my only humanities-related doctorate-holding relative in a family tree more prone to accounting, insurance, and the sciences, has been a welcome source of inspiration and humor. I am indebted to all of the above far more than a small mention in an acknowledgement page can ever express. Thank you all. But most of all, I am grateful to and for James W. Lindsey, Sr. (July 29, 1929- January 30, 2000), Auburn Class of 1951. He taught me to believe in Auburn and love it. War Eagle, Dad. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Chapter One: Literary Analysis as a Means of Understanding Northern Irish Identity .... 1 Chapter Two: Imagined Possibilities: Evolutions of Northern Irish Identity in Glenn Patterson’s Fat Lad ........................................................................................................... 28 Chapter Three: Living like a Gangster: The Construction and Destruction of Northern Irish Gunman Identity in Eoin McNamee’s Resurrection Man ........................................ 63 Chapter Four: Complex Beings Who Fumble: Re-thinking Gender in Northern Irish Identity through Mary Costello’s Titanic Town............................................................... 98 Chapter Five: The Importance of New Generation Novelists in Understanding Northern Irish Identity .................................................................................................................... 144 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 155 vi Chapter One: Literary Analysis as a Means of Understanding Northern Irish Identity Exactly when the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles began and why are questions with responses as varied as the tactics that fueled the violence and certainly as numerous as the various factions participating in it. A geographer such as J.H. Andrews, for example, contends that historic differences between the north and the rest of Ireland are attributable to the formation of the landscape: “Remoteness from Dublin was what gave Ulster1 a certain resemblance to the [rural] west. But, like Dublin – only [. .] more so – Ulster lay open to outside influence” (10). Political scientists such as John McGarry and Brendan O’Leary perceive the conflict as rooted in Irish nationalism: the Troubles were caused by “rival nations and rival understandings of national self-determination [. .] locked in combat” (14). Other political scientists such as Simon Prince and Geoffrey Warner concur, arguing that, historically, violence in Ireland, including the Troubles in Northern Ireland, occurs primarily because of political conflict 1 In this context, Andrews’ reference to Ulster is to the ancient province of Ulster which consisted of nine counties. Today, Northern Ireland consists of six of those counties. The remaining three are part of the Republic of Ireland. In contemporary usage, Ulster is sometimes used as an alternative name for Northern Ireland, but the term is politically marked: Its use by Protestant Unionists can be seen as provocative by Catholics since the term technically includes parts of the Republic. Catholics are more likely to use “the six counties” as an alternative term for Northern Ireland. 1 (5). They identify fifteen major riots in Belfast alone between 1813 and 1909, “with serious rioting usually coming at times of political upheaval, specifically during election campaigns” (Prince and Warner 48). While these riots pitted Catholics against Protestants and vice versa, Prince and Warner contend that neither religious nor ethnic rivalries were the cause. These were first and foremost battles for control of the government (48). On the other hand, some see economics as the key factor in understanding the Troubles. A report by the Portland Trust concluded that “economic disparity was a principal aggravating factor in touching off and sustaining violence” (“Economics” 4) in Northern Ireland and that resolution of the conflict depended on resolving the longstanding economic differences among competing groups. Irish Studies scholar Maria Power disagrees, contending that the creation of new institutions for governing Northern Ireland which appeared in the 1990s “were predicated upon the conclusion that the conflict [. .] was based upon ethno-national rather than economic concerns” (3). In other words, peace by political process and/or improved economic conditions could not be achieved until the role of key elements of culture2 such as nationality (Irish, Northern Irish, and British)