Utstanding Issertations JOANNA JARZĄB

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Utstanding Issertations JOANNA JARZĄB OWAD 3 OWAD utstanding issertations 3 JOANNA JARZĄB JOANNA Houses, towns, cities towns, Houses, JOANNA JARZĄB Wydział Anglistyki Houses, towns, cities – the changing perception ISBN 978-83-232-2984-1 of space and place in contemporary Irish novels WYDAWNICTWO NAUKOWE UAM Houses, towns, cities – the changing perception of space and place in contemporary Irish novels FACULTY OF ENGLISH ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY IN POZNAŃ Outstanding WA Dissertations OWAD 3 Joanna Jarząb Houses, towns, cities – the changing perception of space and place in contemporary Irish novels Poznań 2016 ABSTRACT. Jarząb Joanna. Houses, towns, cities – the changing perception of space and place in contemporary Irish novels Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Poznań 2016. Pp. 238. OWAD 3. ISBN978-83-232-2984-1. Text in English with summary in Polish. The book treats on the change in the representation of the concepts of space and place in contemporary Irish novels. The thesis examines the interrelation between place and identity, underlying its prevalence in contemporary Irish culture. Therefore, the analysis of the novels aims to present how the alterations in the perception of given places influ- ence the development of personal and collective consciousness in contemporary Repub- lic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The work argues for the simultaneity of these two processes, allowing for the treatment of place as a mirror for social changes observable in Ireland. KEY WORDS: place, home, countryside, city, Irish contemporary novel, Ireland Joanna Jarząb, Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, al. Niepodległości 4, 61-678 Poznań, Poland; email: [email protected] Publikacja finansowana ze środków Wydziału Anglistyki UAM Reviewer/Recenzent Prof. Jerzy Jarniewicz © Joanna Jarząb 2016 This edition © Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań 2016 Cover design/Projekt okładki: Agnieszka Frydrychewicz Typesetting and formatting/Skład i formatowanie: Pracownia Wydawnicza WA UAM ISBN 978-83-232-2984-1 WYDAWNICTWO NAUKOWE UNIWERSYTETU IM. ADAMA MICKIEWICZA 61-701 POZNAŃ, UL. FREDRY 10 www.press.amu.edu.pl Sekretariat: tel. 61 829 46 46, fax 61 829 46 47, e-mail: [email protected] Dział sprzedaży: tel. 61 829 46 40, e-mail: [email protected] Wydanie I. Ark. wyd. 16,00. Ark. druk. 14,875. DRUK I OPRAWA: EXPOL, WŁOCŁAWEK, UL. BRZESKA 4 Contents Introduction .................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One The meaning of one’s own place: Some conceptual remarks on space and nationalism .............................................................................. 25 1.1. Representations of space in twentieth-century theories .................. 28 1.2. From a political ideology to a cultural self-awareness – the changing approach towards the concept of nationalism in the twentieth century and beyond .......................................................... 45 1.3. Ethnic vs. civic nationalism – the Irish context ................................ 53 Chapter Two National and individual identity within the domestic space on the example of William Trevor’s and Jennifer Johnston’s novels ........................ 71 2.1. The big house as the last epitome of Protestants’ Irishness in William Trevor’s The silence in the garden .................................. 76 2.2. The end of the Big House ethos in William Trevor’s Love and summer ............................................................................. 88 2.3. The question of a heterogeneous identity in Jennifer Johnston’s Fool’s sanctuary ............................................................................... 96 2.4. Individual identity with(out) memory – Foolish mortals by Jennifer Johnston ...................................................................... 107 Chapter Three The local sense of place – the past vs. the present of the Irish countryside in the works of John McGahern and Deirdre Madden ............. 119 3.1. The local as the universal – two sides of John McGahern’s countryside in Amongst women ...................................................... 125 3.2. John McGahern’s That they may face the rising sun as the writer’s reconciliation with the countryside .......................... 135 3.3. A desolate province or a rural paradise? Deirdre Madden’s Nothing is black .............................................................................. 142 3.4. Ireland as a province in Deirdre Madden’s Molly Fox’s birthday ........................................................................................... 152 6 Contents Chapter Four Glenn Patterson’s Belfast vs. Anne Enright’s Dublin – Ireland from two perspectives .................................................................................. 163 4.1. Belfast as a synecdoche for Northern Ireland in Glenn Patterson’s Fat lad .............................................................................................. 167 4.2. Belfast vs. Hiroshima – Glenn Patterson’s The third party ........... 180 4.3. Memories de/encoded within the space of the city – Dublin in Anne Enright’s The gathering .................................................... 189 4.4. Between boosting and flagging economy – contemporary Dublin in Anne Enright’s The forgotten waltz ............................... 200 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 211 Domy, miasteczka, miasta – zmiana w postrzeganiu przestrzeni i miejsca we współczesnych powieściach irlandzkich (Streszczenie) ........... 217 References ................................................................................................... 225 Introduction When mentioning Ireland it seems impossible to escape the impression that despite the increasing internationalization of the two states that form the island together with a number of differences between them, still both nations remain heavily dependent on the same attachment to place as the most im- portant indicator of their individual and communal identity. Irish people, due to the geographical location of their homeland on the island, have always ap- proached Ireland as naturally isolated from other countries, taking its sover- eignty for granted. It was much easier for them to justify their separateness from Britain than for Wales and Scotland, which had to share the island with the English kingdom. Therefore, Ireland has never accepted British domina- tion. Since the first invasion in 1169 till 1922 the Irish did what they could to sustain the autonomy of their kingdom and after the Union in 1800 found no other option but to fight for independence. Being totally convinced about the rightness of their cause, the Irish nationalists glorified the idea of Ireland as a unified country. Thus, despite the visible regional division of the island trace- able back to the old Irish period when its land was subdivided into several kingdoms, Irish people have for a very long time believed in the homogeneity of Ireland as a country and as a society. Thus, the act of partition in 1922 met with negative responses from nationalistic movements. Almost the whole of the twentieth century was marked by the repercussions of this political deci- sion, with the peace process still not having been brought to a final end. In the case of Ireland, the direct link between space and national identity is easily observable and thus may work as a firm ground for the analysis of the changes which occur in the contemporary Irish society. Their unique attachment to the island as one of the most significant determinants of the Irish identity is clearly visible in literature, especially the novel. This genre, being the last one to emerge, for quite a long time had to “[fight] for its own hegemony” (Bakhtin 1981: 4). Ireland is not the least dif- ferent, since poetry and drama had for a long time played a central role in the country’s cultural consciousness. Although the Irish novel emerged in the nineteenth century, not until the beginning of the twentieth century did it receive much attention in comparison to the dominating influence of poetry and drama. However, this relatively small island has produced an extraordi- nary number of famous prose writers such as George Moore, Elizabeth Bo- 8 Introduction wen, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, Sean O’Faolain, Brendan Behan, Edna O’Brien, Brian Moore or Bernard MacLaverty, just to name a few. The as- tounding number of renowned twentieth-century novelists proves that the Irish novel has gained an important place in literature, not only the national one but also worldwide. Contrary to other genres, the novel appears to be the only one still in the process of constant development, thus “it reflects more deeply, more essentially, more sensitively and rapidly, reality itself in the process of its unfolding” (Bakhtin 1981: 7). The fact that the novel is all the time taking new forms justifies its adaptability to the changes which occur in society. For Brennan, this flexibility is expressed not only in the form of new genres and subgenres created by writers, but also in the form understood as a “a jumble of poetry, drama, newspaper, report, memoir, and speech; a mix- ture of the jargons of race and ethnicity” (1990: 51). By bringing high and low, formal and informal, fact and fiction together, the novel becomes a complex composition, whose heterogeneous framework well reflects the structure of the nation. This adaptability is clearly visible in the case of
Recommended publications
  • Introduction
    Colby Quarterly Volume 38 Issue 3 September Article 3 September 2002 Introduction Douglas Archibald Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Quarterly, Volume 38, no.3, September 2002, pg. 269-279 This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. Archibald: Introduction Introduction By DOUGLAS ARCHIBALD s HOLMES FAMOUSLY REMARKED, the curious incident is that the dogs are A not barking. Why has the Irish Studies establishment made so little of William Trevor? Nothing in Terry Eagleton. Nothing in W.J. McCormack, even though he writes about almost everything. Nothing in David Lloyd in spite of a well-informed interest in fiction. Nothing in Margot Backus's The Gothic Family Romance: Heterosexuality, Child Sacrifice, and the Anglo-Irish Colonial Order (1999), a Texas thesis become a Duke book which-aside from the required, lurid glow of the title-sounds like a book about Trevor. Nothing in Sex, Nation, and Dissent in Irish Literature (1997), or Representing Ireland: Gender, Class, Nationality (1997), or Decolonisation and Criticism: The Construction ofIrish Literature (1998), or New Voices in Irish Criticism (2000). Nothing in the Irish University Review special issue on "Contemporary Irish Fiction" (Spring/Summer 2000). Little on the program in recent meetings of ACIS or IASIL. Hardly any mention in the summer schools. Seamus Deane and Declan Kiberd are silent, except in their comprehensive literary histories, in which mention is unavoidable, and even then Kiberd is perfunctory: Both [Brian] Moore and Trevor are rightly renowned for the cool, crafted clarity of their prose, their wry wistful ironies, and their use of telling detail; and each has won a substantial overseas readership for many other books of high quality which have nothing to do with Ireland.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes for an Unwritten Biography of William Trevor
    Colby Quarterly Volume 38 Issue 3 September Article 4 September 2002 "Bleak Splendour": Notes for an Unwritten Biography of William Trevor Denis Sampson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Quarterly, Volume 38, no.3, September 2002, p. 280-294 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. Sampson: "Bleak Splendour": Notes for an Unwritten Biography of William Tr "Bleak Splendour": Notes for an Unwritten Biography of William Trevor By DENIS SAMPSON IILITERARY BIOGRAPHERS," William Trevor has ren1arked, "often make the mistake of choosing the wrong subjects. A novelist-or any artist­ admired for what he produces, may not necessarily have lived anything but the most mundane of lives" (Excursions 176). His remark is a warning to any prospective biographer of Trevor himself, his way of implying that his own life has no worthwhile story. Yet the warning has its own paradoxical interest, for surely it is Trevor's particular gift to make literature out of the mundane. His refusal to dramatize the artistic self, to adopt heroic or romantic postures, somehow allows him to absorb and honor his mundane material, to find a tone that mirrors the inner lives of his unheroic characters. The consistency of that tone is his major accomplishment, according to John Banville: "his inimitable, calmly ambiguous voice can mingle in a single sentence pathos and humor, outrage and irony, mockery and love.... He is almost unique among n10dem novelists in that his own voice is never allowed to intrude into his fiction" (Paulson 166-67).
    [Show full text]
  • Modern and Contemporary Irish Literature
    Reading List: Modern and Contemporary Irish Literature Students preparing for a doctoral examination in this field are asked to compose a reading list, in conjunction with their exam committee, drawn from the core of writers and scholars whose work appears below. We expect students to add to, subtract from, and modify this list as suits their purposes and interests. Students are not responsible for reading everything on this section list; instead, they should create a personalized list of approximately 40-50 texts, using this list as a guide. However, at least 50% of a student’s examination reading should come from this list. Poetry: W. B. Yeats Patrick Kavanagh Louis MacNeice Thomas Kinsella John Montague Seamus Heaney Rita Ann Higgins Michael Longley Derek Mahon Ciaran Carson Medbh McGuckian Paul Muldoon Eavan Boland Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Paula Meehan Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Dennis O’Driscoll Cathal Ó Searcaigh Chris Agee (ed.)—The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland Short Fiction: Sean O’Faolain—The Short Story Ben Forkner (ed.)—Modern Irish Short Stories W. B. Yeats—Irish Fairy and Folk Tales George Moore—The Untilled Field James Joyce—Dubliners Elizabeth Bowen—Collected Stories Frank O’Connor—Collected Stories Mary Lavin—In a Café: Selected Stories Edna O’Brien—A Fanatic Heart: Selected Stories (especially the stories from Returning) William Trevor—Collected Stories Bernard MacLaverty—Collected Stories Éilís Ní Dhuibhne—Midwife to the Fairies: New and Selected Stories Emma Donoghue—The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits
    [Show full text]
  • The Novel and the Short Story in Ireland
    The Novel and the Short Story in Ireland: Readership, Society and Fiction, 1922-1965. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Anthony Halpen April 2016 Anthony Halpen Institute of Irish Studies The University of Liverpool 27.03.2016 i ABSTRACT The Novel and the Short Story in Ireland: Readership, Society and Fiction, 1922-1965. Anthony Halpen, The Institute of Irish Studies, The University of Liverpool. This thesis considers the novel and the short story in the decades following the achievement of Irish independence from Britain in 1922. During these years, many Irish practitioners of the short story achieved both national and international acclaim, such that 'the Irish Short Story' was recognised as virtually a discrete genre. Writers and critics debated why Irish fiction-writers could have such success in the short story, but not similar success with their novels. Henry James had noticed a similar situation in the United States of America in the early nineteenth century. James decided the problem was that America's society was still forming - that the society was too 'thin' to support successful novel-writing. Irish writers and critics applied his arguments to the newly-independent Ireland, concluding that Irish society was indeed the explanation. Irish society was depicted as so unstructured and fragmented that it was inimical to the novel but nurtured the short story. Ireland was described variously: "broken and insecure" (Colm Tóibín), "often bigoted, cowardly, philistine and spiritually crippled" (John McGahern) and marked by "inward-looking stagnation" (Dermot Bolger).
    [Show full text]
  • Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English And
    Masaryk university Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Ing. Olga Martinová Anglo-Irish Relations in the Fiction of William Trevor Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. 2015 i I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources in the list of the Works Cited.. ……………………………. Olga Martinová ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D., for his guidance and encouragement. I would also like to thank my family for the support throughout my studies. iii Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ i 2. William Trevor .......................................................................................................... 4 3. History of Ireland ...................................................................................................... 7 3.1. Ireland before the Union .................................................................................... 7 3.2. Ireland in Union with Britain ........................................................................... 11 3.3. Ireland after Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 .......................................................... 16 4. The Story of Lucy Gault ......................................................................................... 24 5. Stories of the Troubles ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Planters of the Commonwealth : a Study of the Emigrants And
    THE PLANTERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH A Study of the Emigrants and Emigration in COLONIALTIMES:to which are added Lists of Passengers to BOSTON and to the BAY CoLoNY; the SHIPS which brought them; their English Homes, and the Places of their Settlement in MASSACHUSETTS I62o—I64.o_ By CHARLES EDWARD BANKS Meméer 0f the MASSACHUSETTSHISTORICAL SOCIETY and of the AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY Wit};Illustrations BOSTON Printed by ‘The Riverside Press for HOUGHTONMIFFLIN COMPANYin PARK STREET near the COMMON MDCCCCXXX '\ ‘-m-425:2/9"“ ‘T/9ePlanter: of t/ae Commonwealth "’'‘‘=‘%a-'--aua1...4”‘...:­ SIR JOHN POPHAM Chief Justice of England Who, in 1606, sent the first colony of emigrants to New England COPYRIGHT, I930, BY CHARLES E. BANKS ALL RIGHTSTHIS RESERVED BOOK OR PARTSINCLUDING THEREOF THE RIGHTIN ANY TO FORM REPRODUCE ‘ Respectfully Dedicated to SHERMAN LELAND WHIPPLE, ESQ. Chairman of the Founders’ Memorial Committee of Boston Whose Interest in the Early History Of Massachusetts and its Planters Is responsiblefor the compilation of this volume ILLUSTRATIONS SIR JOHN POPHAM, ZET. 68 Frontispiece From a portrait painted in 1600 PAGE or WINTHROP JOURNAL NOTING THE ARRIVAL OF FOUR MINISTERS AND SIR HENRY VANE ON THE ABIGAIL MAP or ENGLAND SHOWING THE NUMBER 01-‘EMIGRANTS FROM EACH COUNTY 14 MAP OF ENGLAND SHOWING COUNTIES FROMWHICH THE HEAV­ IEST EMIGRATION TOOK PLACE I8 PAGE OF RECORDS FOR APRIL, 1632, SHOWING A LIST or PAS­ SENGERS FOR NEW ENGLAND 42 PAGE OF WINTHROP JOURNAL NOTING THE ARRIVAL or THE WILLIAM AND FRANCIS IN 1632 96 THE FIRST
    [Show full text]
  • February 2021 Travel-Study Committee
    February 2021 Travel-Study Committee Joseph Mehlhorn, Chair (Agriculture) [email protected] 731.881.7257 Stan Dunagan Richard Garlitz Carrie Humphreys (Geology) (History) (International Studies [email protected] [email protected] Political Science) 731.881.7437 731.881.3471 [email protected] 731.881.7473 Jeffery Longacre Alissa Parrish Mark Simmons (English) (Nursing) (Music) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 731.881.7295 731.881.7141 731.881.7412 Dawn Wilkins Adam Wilson (Biology) (Online Delivery) [email protected] [email protected] 731.881.7188 731.881.7959 Center for International Education Staff Lorrie Jackson (Coordinator) [email protected] 731.881.3582 Jewel Franklin (Administrative Assistant) [email protected] 731.881.1023 Mike Sudzum (University Travel Agent) [email protected] 731.881.3581 2 Table of Contents Travel Study Approval Form…………………………………………... pg. 4 Preliminary Daily Travel Itinerary Worksheet………………………... pg. 5-6 Travel Study Timeline………………………………………………….. pg. 7 Critical Steps in Developing and Leading a Travel Study Program…. pg. 8-9 Travel Study Guidelines………………………………………………... pg. 10-11 Responsibilities and Expectations of Group Leaders…………………. pg. 12 Planning a Trip………………………………………………………….. pg. 13 Travel Study Model Syllabus…………………………………………… pg. 14-19 Travel Study Flyer/General Itinerary…………………………………. pg. 20-21 Travel Study Application……………………………………………….. pg. 22-23 Student Evaluation Form………………………………………………. pg. 24 Guidelines for Participants……………………………………………... pg. 25-26 Guidelines for Group Leaders………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Cork International Short Story Festival
    Free! Marie-Helene Bertino June Caldwell Cork International Madeleine D’Arcy 2017 Short Story Festival Tanya Farrelly Giovanni Frazzetto Carlo Gébler Camilla Grudova Tania Hershman Alannah Hopkin Claire Keegan April Ayers Lawson Danielle McLaughlin Alan McMonagle David Means Billy O’Callaghan Nuala O’Connor Sean O’Reilly Kanishk Tharoor Deborah Willis Callan Wink & Banshee Fiction at the Friary From the Well Long Story Short Quarryman The Tangerine The Sean O’Faolain Prize Southword September 13th – 16th 2017 www.corkshortstory.net cover image: watercolour by Anne Kennedy Venue Map . Maldron Hotel L eitr Firkin Crane im St M Shandon St ulg . r a v e R d Camden Quay English Market s St. ick’ Patr lunkett St. Gr er P and P Oliv Farmgate ar on St. ade Café Washingt all South M Cork City Library to UCC Munster Literature Goldie Chapel Centre Nano Nagle. Place Douglas St . Bookings Early bird bookings can be made by credit card through the website www.corkshortstory.net until Sunday 10th September. Thereafter, all purchases for the Firkin Crane events must be purchased directly from the Firkin Crane (phone (021) 450 7487). All library events are free. All other events are priced €5 per ticket inclusive of booking fees. The Munster Literature Centre | Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt t. + 353 (0)21 4312955 or email [email protected] or pay through credit card/Paypal on Produced by www.corkshortstory.net Programme Outline Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th September 2017 Wednesday 13th 9.30am - 12.30pm | Workshops (see p.38) 2.30pm, Grand Parade Library
    [Show full text]
  • William Trevor, Old Columban a Talk Given by Julian Girdham on Thursday 23Rd March 2017 in the Big Schoolroom of St Columba'
    William Trevor, Old Columban A talk given by Julian Girdham on Thursday 23rd March 2017 in the Big Schoolroom of St Columba’s College to mark the life and writings of the author. illiam Trevor died in November 2016, aged 88. He entered the College under his real name, Trevor William Cox, in January 1944 and left in W July 1946. Those mere two and a half years out of the 88 were however disProPortionately important in the shaPing of his artistic imagination. Schools can sometimes, for their own PR PurPoses, claim more influence than they should on the achievements of their famous alumni, but in this case the evidence is Plentiful: and it is of course in the words of William Trevor himself. In an interview with Mike Murphy on RTÉ Radio in the year 2000, he said about St Columba's: It was a 'Posh' school, to use a contemporary word. When I was at Sandford Park, we thought how strangely they sPoke. We would imitate the Columba's accent. But when I got there that school was very Pleasantly mixed. There were a fair number of Anglo-Irish representatives there, but there were also a lot of shoPkeePers', farmers' and clergymen's sons. It was in those days a good school, because the bullying which had been a feature of its Past had been stamped out. I do remember being beaten a couple of times and very unPleasant it was too ... if you're going to be beaten you should be beaten by a responsible beater with a licence or whatever.
    [Show full text]
  • New Writing from Ireland Ireland Literature Exchange – Promoting Irish Literature Abroad PREVIOUS GO to CONTENTS NEXT
    GO TO CONTENTS NEXT New Writing from Ireland Ireland Literature Exchange – Promoting Irish literature abroad PREVIOUS GO TO CONTENTS NEXT WELCOME New Writing from Ireland has a fresh new look for 2009/2010. As always, Ireland’s poets are well represented, and this year’s For the past five years, the catalogue cover has featured works catalogue features Ciaran Carson, Peter Sirr and Vona Groarke, to by renowned Irish artist, Seán McSweeney. This year, we are name but a few. Ireland continues to produce excellent non-fiction, proud to present the work of another contemporary Irish artist, and works such as Declan Kiberd’s fascinating study of Joyce’s Donald Teskey, whose powerful and evocative images reflect the masterpiece, Ulysses and Us, and Flowing, Still: Irish Poets on Irish extraordinary wealth of talent to be found right across the Poetry edited by Pat Boran are testament to that tradition. arts in Ireland. Publishers, translators, agents or other parties interested in these The interior of the catalogue also has a new look and feel, bringing titles or with questions about Ireland Literature Exchange and you fifty-four of the best new works by Irish writers for 2009. The its work can visit us at the Frankfurt and London book fairs, or calibre of the entries in this year’s catalogue is very impressive, online at www.irelandliterature.com with new works by Colm Tóibín, William Trevor, John Banville, Colum McCann, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Claire Kilroy and Ed We are confident that the catalogue, this year in particular, O’Loughlin featured in our fiction section, as well as exciting new presents an exceptionally rich cross-section of the very best of titles from children’s literature writers such as Celine Kiernan, contemporary Irish literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Refracting Political Violence in William Trevor's
    Estudios Irlandeses, Issue 14, March 2019-Feb. 2020, pp. 109-120 __________________________________________________________________________________________ AEDEI Between Hagiography and Insanity: Refracting Political Violence in William Trevor’s Elegiac Fiction Angelo Monaco University of Pisa, Italy Copyright (c) 2019 by Angelo Monaco. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged for access. Abstract. This article explores William Trevor’s depiction of hagiography and insanity in a body of novels and short stories portraying the violent intrusions of history in the lives of ordinary individuals. It is contended that at the core of Trevor’s fiction lie traumatic experiences coming to the surface when controversial Anglo-Irish history penetrates personal identities and that, in portraying the vulnerability of such precarious human conditions, an elegiac mode emerges. On the one hand, the article illustrates how hagiography and insanity contribute to amplify and mimic the destructive effects of historical frictions. By this it is meant that the fragmented syntax, the temporal disarray and the almost mute perspective of Trevor’s elegiac characters provide instances through which public traumas are acted out into the realm of the private. On the other hand, it is claimed that the very fact of embracing the wounds is an ethical gesture reminding readers of the restorative power of hagiography and insanity. It is finally suggested that one possible function of Trevor’s elegiac temper is to raise consciousness, implying that his eccentric characters issue an invitation to take account of the sense of loss informing his œuvre, where political violence is eventually compensated.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2001 Proposed Books
    Learning Insights Susan K. Boyar Summer Reading List 2015 [email protected] The following list is divided into two parts: the first section is made up of books I have recently read and enjoyed, the second of books that I would like to read this summer. Do not despair; I will not finish all of them either! I Recommendations: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It is the rare novel that is both literary fiction and a total page turner. This book succeeds on both levels. It takes place primarily in France and Austria during the period leading up to WWII, and through the war. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A love story, a contemporary immigrant story as well as an exploration of race and feminism today. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: This earlier novel by Adichie tells a family story against the backdrop of the Biafran War for Independence. The following book is Onyemelukwe’s memoir of her life in Nigeria after serving in the Peace Corps. It contains her memories of the strife fictionalized in Half a Yellow Sun. Nigeria Revisited by Catherine Onyemelukwe Twilight of the Superheroes:Stories by Deborah Eisenberg: Short stories including the title story which looks at the aftermath of 9/11. Bark by Lorrie Moore: First book of short stories in 16 years, she is a master of the form. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel. A Broadway show, a Masterpiece Theater Presentation, becoming a Dame and a new collection of short stories: Mantel has been busy.
    [Show full text]