Description
The New Irish Studies demonstrates how diverse critical approaches enable a richer understanding of contemporary Irish writing and culture. The past two decades in Ireland and Northern Ireland have seen an astonishing rate of change, one that reflects the common understanding of the contemporary as a moment of acceleration and flux. This collection tracks how Irish writers have represented the peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland, the consequences of the Celtic Tiger economic boom in the Republic, the waning influence of Catholicism, the increased authority of diverse voices, and an altered relationship with Europe. The essays acknowledge the distinctiveness of contemporary Irish literature, reflecting a sense that the local can shed light on the global, even as they reach beyond the limited tropes that have long identified Irish literature. The collection suggests routes forward for Irish Studies, and unsettles presumptions about what constitutes an Irish classic.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction Paige Reynolds; Part I. Legacies: 2. People: race and class on the contemporary Irish stage Michael Pierse; 3. Nation: reconciliation and the politics of friendship in post-troubles literature Stefanie Lehner; 4. Migration: migrant artists changing the rules in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland Charlotte McIvor; 5. Language: 'world literature' and contemporary Irish language writing Máirín Nic Eoin; 6. Land: neoliberal wastelands in contemporary post-apocalyptic Irish cinema Emma Radley; Part II. Contemporary Conditions: 7. The global contemporary: the humanitarian legacy in Irish fiction Matthew Eatough; 8. The queer contemporary: time and temporality in queer writing Ed Madden; 9. The feminist contemporary: the contradictions of critique Claire Bracken; 10. The maternal contemporary: pregnancy, maternity, and non-maternity on the Irish stage Emilie Pine; 11. The aging contemporary: aging families and generational connections in Irish writing Margaret O'Neill and Michaela Schrage-Früh; Part III. Forms and Practices: 12. Ireland's real economy: post-crash fictions of the Celtic Tiger Adam Kelly; 13. Northern Irish poetry Eric Falci; 14. Essayism in contemporary Ireland Julie Bates; 15. Killers, lovers, and teens: contemporary genre fiction Susan Cahill; 16. 'One hundred years a nation': new modes of commemoration Margaret Kelleher; 17. Coda: a new Irish studies Paige Reynolds.
