Ireland and Cultural Theory: The Mechanics of Authenticity

by Colin Graham, Richard Kirkland

Overview

This book is a unique and timely collection offering the first major assessment of how theoretical readings of Ireland and Irish culture have begun to question the grounds of debate in Irish studies. Contributions engage with the concept of the "authentic" in Irish culture through analyses of film, television, literature, emigration, and institutional critical practice. This lively and challenging volume will be of interest to all who are interested in the fields of cultural studies, Irish studies and critical theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333675960
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/16/1998
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	249
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

CLAIRE CONNOLLY Lecturer, School of English Studies, University of Wales, Cardiff
TOM HERRON Lecturer in English, University of Aberdeen
EAMONN HUGHES Lecturer, School of English, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland
JIM MACLAUGHLIN Political Geographer, University College Cork
LANCE PETTITT Senior Lecturer in Irish Studies, St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill
SHAUN RICHARDS Head of Literature, Staffordshire University
GERRY SMYTH is currently working on a book on contemporary Irish fiction
BRONWEN WALTER Senior Lecturer in Geography, Anglia Polytechnic University

Table of Contents

List of Figures Notes on the Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction; C.Graham & R.Kirkland '... maybe that's just Blarney': Irish Culture and the Persistence of Authenticity; C.Graham Decolonisation and Criticism: Towards a Theory of Irish Critical Discourse; G.Smyth 'Pestilence on their Backs, Famine in their Stomachs': The Racial Construction of Irishness and the Irish in Britain; J.MacLaughlin Gendered Irishness in Britain: Changing Constructions; B.Walter Breaking the 'Cracked Mirror': Binary Oppositions in the Culture of Contemporary Ireland; S.Richards Troubles, Terminus and The Treaty ; L.Pettitt Reading Responsibility in Castle Rackrent ; C.Connolly 'Could Anyone Write it?': Place in Tom Paulin's Poetry; E.Hughes The Body's in the Post: Contemporary Irish Poetry and the Dispersed Body; T.Herron Questioning the Frame: Hybridity, Ireland and the Institution; R.Kirkland Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

Assesses how theoretical readings of Ireland have begun to question the established grounds of debate in Irish culture, by analyzing film, television, literature, emigration, and institutional critical practice. Examines how the Authentic interacts with and underlies the construction of Irish identity and its cultural forms and politics. Draws on cultural theory and postcolonial theory to questions whether the latter can be applied so as to produce a triumphant Irishness. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Booknews

'This book is a timely provocation to rethink our accepted notions of Irishness and Britishness in the light of recent debates in literary theory, gender research and the postcolonial controversy. A pioneering publication at the cutting edge of contemporary cultural studies' - Richard Kearney, Professor of Philosophy, University College Dublin, author of Postnationalist Ireland

From the Publisher