A Deconstructive Analysis of Women and Polysemic Touch in the Writing of John Mcgahern and Anne Enright

‘The Distant Skin’: A Deconstructive Analysis of Women and Polysemic Touch in the Writing of John McGahern and Anne Enright (Shutterstock 2014a) The handprint is a powerful symbol of ‘the distant skin’; it represents an individual’s skin but is not that skin, it is an interaction with one’s skin, one’s identity, whilst maintaining a distance from the ‘real’. i ‘The Distant Skin’: A Deconstructive Analysis of Women and Polysemic Touch in the Writing of John McGahern and Anne Enright Name: Michelle Kennedy Student Number: 0352462 Award: PhD Institution: Mary Immaculate College Supervisor: Dr. Eugene O’ Brien Submitted to the University of Limerick: May 2014 ii Abstract This thesis, by providing a deconstructive reading of the work of John McGahern and Anne Enright, elucidates the way in which the place, position and representation of women in modern Irish society is profoundly affected by personal, political, religious and even legal societal forces. The project attempts to utilise the work of both authors to access and reveal the ‘Real’ experience of Irish women, in particular emphasising the impact of physical, emotional and metaphoric touch upon both their bodies and minds. By analysing the work of these writers through the lens of literary theorists such as Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Jacques Derrida, Hélène Cixous, Michel Foucault and Louis Althusser, this work will attempt to chart the changing perception of women and the lived female experience in modern Irish society from the 1960s right up to the present day, elucidating both the covert methods by which Irish women are currently repressed or silenced within society, and the myriad of ways in which they rebel against such repressive forces. In order to provide a comprehensive investigation of the lived experience of women in modern Irish society, this work aims to look at the ways in which women are touched physically, emotionally and mentally by societal forces. It will focus on such issues as self-identity and touching the inner self, violent or oppressive physical or sexual touch, the complex physical and emotional changes associated with the inner touch that is pregnancy, and finally the stigmas and difficulties facing Irish women who are deemed to be “Touched” by mental illness in Irish society. These analyses and examinations are undertaken with a view to building upon previous socio-cultural and literary academic works in relation to the representation of women in modern Irish society, whilst simultaneously opening new debates and iii discussions in relation to how the Irish female experience has changed in the advent of the twenty-first century. iv Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work and has not been submitted, in whole or part, by me or another person, for the purpose of obtaining any other qualification. Signed:__________________________________________________ Date: ___________________________________________________ v Dedication This work is dedicated to my parents; words cannot express what you have given me, and to Pat, who has touched my life. vi Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Eugene O’ Brien for all the support, encouragement and time that he has afforded me over the past number of years. His patience, help and friendship have meant so much to me during this entire process and will never be forgotten. I also wish to express my thanks to the English Department as a whole for providing financial support, a stimulating environment, and a home away from home in which to complete my research. Thanks too to Dr McDonagh, Dr Laing, Dr Beville and fellow students Miriam, Donna, Deirdre, Kristy and Conor for numerous discussions over coffee and snippets of advice, many of which came just at the right moment. I would also like to thank Helen Gallagher and Jeannette Ferguson in the Postgraduate office for all of their help and advice over the past number of years. I cannot move on without thanking my family for their undying patience and unswerving support for my work. To my mother, for proofreading my work for close to eight years now, for the numerous dinners, late-night phone calls, encouragement and complete faith that it would get finished. To my father, who provided support and advice, even from five thousand miles away, and to Pat, who lived through every minute of it, and mercifully, is still here, years later. And finally to Max, who will never read this, but who slept on my feet as I wrote through many late nights, a reminder that even the most basic touch can make all the difference. vii Portions of this thesis, and other relevant research, have been disseminated at the following conferences and publications: Conferences ‘For a Woman Nothing Has to Die’: An Examination of Death, Funerals, and Resurrection in Irish society as seen through the novels of John McGahern and Anne Enright, to be presented at AFIS 2014 France and Ireland: Celebrating Music, Words and Art, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 23rd-24th May 2014. ‘Being the Not Wife’: Representations of Secondary Relationships within an Irish Cultural Context as Evinced through the Literature of John McGahern and Anne Enright, at AFIS 2013 Outside the Frame: Challenging Representations of France and Ireland, Université de Haute Bretagne, 24th – 25th May 2013. ‘Noli Me Tangere’: An Exploration of Irish Interactions with the Female Body, at The Gender Question: A MIC and UL Sibeal Postgraduate Symposium, Mary Immaculate College, Wednesday 15th May 2013. ‘On the Other Side of the Mirror’: Recognition and Misrecognition of Irish Women in the Mirror in the Literature of Anne Enright, Brian Friel and John McGahern, at Talking Bodies: Identity, Sexuality, Representation at the University of Chester, 26th – 28th March 2013. ‘Isolated Fathers’: The Powerlessness of Powerful Fathers in the Works of John McGahern, at A Way of Seeing: 50 Years of John McGahern in Print, at Queen’s University Belfast, March 15th – 16th 2013. ‘The Expectant Presence’: An Exploration of the Bodily and Pregnant Presence in the Literature of Anne Enright, at Gendered Spaces, Gendered Times, a Sibèal viii Annual Conference at University College Cork, Saturday 24th November 2012. ‘The Weird Sisters’: Representations of Madness in Irish Society in the drama of Brian Friel, at the New Voices in Irish Criticism: Legitimate Ireland conference, Queen’s University Belfast, 19th – 21st April 2012. ‘Are We Not Men?’ The Effect of Cloning on Traditional Theories of Humanity and Personhood, at the Emerging Voices in English Research Studies English Postgraduate Research Conference at Mary Immaculate College, Thursday May 20th, 2010. Publications ‘‘Noli me Tangere’: An Exploration of Irish Interactions With the Female Body’. Abstract of this paper submitted for consideration for inclusion in the All Irish Issue of Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. (Acceptance pending) ‘‘Being the Not Wife’: Representations of Secondary Relationships within an Irish Cultural Context as Evinced through the Literature of John McGahern and Anne Enright’. Paper submitted for consideration for inclusion in the proceedings of AFIS 2013 Outside the Frame: Challenging Representations of France and Ireland Conference, 2013. (Acceptance pending) ‘‘Isolated Fathers’: The Powerlessness of Powerful Fathers in the Works of John McGahern’ in Raymond Mullen, Adam Bargroff and Jennifer Mullen (eds) John McGahern: Critical Essays, New York: Peter Lang, 2013, Vol 56, Reimagining Ireland Series, edited by Dr. Eamon Maher, pp.207-221. ‘‘Freeing The Smothered (M)other’: The Refocalisation of the Reluctant Mother in Modern Irish Society as Evinced Through the Works of Anne Enright’ in ix Otherness: Essays & Studies, Issue 3.2 (available for viewing at www.otherness.dk/otherness-essays-and-studies-3.2/). ‘‘Are We Not Men?’: The Effect of Cloning on Traditional Theories of Humanity and Personhood’, in Journal of Franco-Irish Studies, No 2 Winter 2011, ‘France and Ireland: Cultures en Crise’ (available for viewing at http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=jofis). Representations of Madness in Irish Society in the drama of Brian Friel’, in Etudes Irlandaises, Autumn 2012 issue: Feminist and Women’s Issues in Contemporary Irish Society, pp.113-125. x List of Figures Figure One: Print of hand isolated on white background………………………………i Figure Two: Spiritual Journey……………………………………………..…………12 Figure Three: Fear of woman victim of domestic violence and abuse………………60 Figure Four: Pregnant IV…………………………………………………………...131 Figure Five: Sad Woman Sitting Alone in an Empty Room………………………..216 xi List of Appendices Appendix One: Biblical Quotations Prohibiting Touch……………….................... 294 Appendix Two: Biblical Quotations Where Touch is Permitted…………………...299 xii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Declaration…………………………………………………………………………….v Dedication…………………………………………………………………………….vi Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..vii Dissemination………………………………………………………………………....ix List of Figures ............................................................................................................... xi List of Appendices ....................................................................................................... xii Contents ..................................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ...................................................................................................................

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