Language, Identity and Liberation in Contemporary Irish Literature

201 Pages·2009·0.761 MB·

by  Jennifer Keating-Miller (auth.)

Language,Discourse,Society
SeriesEditors:StephenHeath,ColinMacCabeandDeniseRiley
Selectedpublishedtitles:
MatthewTaunton
FICTIONSOFTHECITY
Class,CultureandMassHousinginLondonandParis
LauraMulvey
VISUALANDOTHERPLEASURES
Secondedition
PeterdeBollaandStefanH.Uhlig(editors)
AESTHETICSANDTHEWORKOFART
Adorno,Kafka,Richter
MishaKavka
REALITYTELEVISION,AFFECTANDINTIMACY
RealityMatters
RobWhite
FREUD’SMEMORY
Psychoanalysis,MourningandtheForeignBody
TeresadeLauretis
FREUD’SDRIVE
Psychoanalysis,LiteratureandFilm
MarkNash
SCREENTHEORYCULTURE
RichardRobinson
NARRATIVESOFTHEEUROPEANBORDER
AHistoryofNowhere
LyndseyStonebridge
THEWRITINGOFANXIETY
ImagingWartimeinMid-CenturyBritishCulture
AshleyTauchert
ROMANCINGJANEAUSTEN
Narrative,RealismandthePossibilityofaHappyEnding
ReenaDube
SATYAJITRAY’STHECHESSPLAYERSANDPOSTCOLONIALTHEORY
Culture,LabourandtheValueofAlterity
JohnAnthonyTercier
THECONTEMPORARYDEATHBED
TheUltimateRush
EricaSheenandLornaHutson
LITERATURE,POLITICSANDLAWINRENAISSANCEENGLAND
Jean-JacquesLecercleandDeniseRiley
THEFORCEOFLANGUAGE
GeoffGilbert
BEFOREMODERNISMWAS
ModernHistoryandtheConstituencyofWriting
StephenHeath,ColinMacCabeandDeniseRiley(editors)
THELANGUAGE,DISCOURSE,SOCIETYREADER
JenniferKeating-Miller
LANGUAGE,IDENTITYANDLIBERATIONINCONTEMPORARYIRISHLITERATURE
MichaelO’Pray
FILM,FORMANDPHANTASY
AdrianStokesandFilmAesthetics
JamesA.Snead,editedbyKaraKeeling,ColinMacCabeandCornelWest
RACISTTRACESANDOTHERWRITINGS
EuropeanPedigrees/AfricanContagions
PatriziaLombardo
CITIES,WORDSANDIMAGES
ColinMacCabe
JAMESJOYCEANDTHEREVOLUTIONOFTHEWORD
Secondedition
MoustaphaSafouan
SPEECHORDEATH?
LanguageasSocialOrder:aPsychoanalyticStudy
Jean-JacquesLecercle
DELEUZEANDLANGUAGE
PiersGray,editedbyColinMacCabeandVictoriaRothschild
STALINONLINGUISTICSANDOTHERESSAYS
GeoffreyWard
STATUTESOFLIBERTY
TheNewYorkSchoolofPoets
MoustaphaSafouan
JACQUESLACANANDTHEQUESTIONOFPSYCHOANALYTICTRAINING(Translatedand
introducedbyJacquelineRose)
StanleyShostak
THEDEATHOFLIFE
TheLegacyofMolecularBiology
ElizabethCowie
REPRESENTINGTHEWOMAN
CinemaandPsychoanalysis
RaymondTallis
NOTSAUSSURE
ACritiqueofPost-SaussureanLiteraryTheory
IanHunter
CULTUREANDGOVERNMENT
TheEmergenceofLiteraryEducation
Language,Discourse,Society
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Language, Identity
and Liberation in
Contemporary Irish
Literature
Jennifer Keating-Miller
CarnegieMellonUniversity
©JenniferKeating-Miller2009
Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2009 978–0–230–23750–6
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
For Nana
If the notion of “Ireland” seemed to some to have become prob-
lematic,thatwasonlybecausetheseamlessgarmentoncewrapped
likeagreenflagaroundCathleenníHoulihanhadgivenwaytoa
quiltofmanypatchesandcolours,allbeautiful,alldistinct,yetall
connected too. No one element should subordinate or assimilate
the others: Irish or English, rural or urban, Gaelic or Anglo, each
hasitspartinthepattern.
(DeclanKiberd,InventingIreland)
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Preface x
1 A“HabitableGrief”?:TheLegacyofCulturalandPolitical
StrifeinIreland’sContentiousLanguageSystems 1
2 ARepublicofOne:Individuality,Autonomyandthe
QuestionofIrishCollectivityinSeamusDeane’sReadingin
theDarkandDermotHealy’sAGoat’sSong 24
3 WritingRepublicanism:ABetrayalofEntrenchedTribalism
inBelfast’sOwnVernacular 58
4 TheMisfitChorusLine:IrelandfromtheMarginsinPatrick
McCabe’sCallMetheBreeze 100
5 CastingCathleen:FemininityandMotherhoodonthe
ContemporaryIrishStage 136
Notes 176
WorksCited 179
Bibliography 182
Index 189
vii
Acknowledgements
FirstandforemostIwouldliketothankJamesF.Knapp,ColinMacCabe
and Stephen Carr at the University of Pittsburgh, and Paul Hopper at
CarnegieMellonUniversity,whoeachcontributedtothegrowthofthis
project,oversawitsdevelopmentandsupportedmeinmyeffortstosee
it come to print. I am also in debt to individuals throughout Ireland
whoagreedtobeinterviewedinmyresearchprocess,includingSeamus
Deane,DermotHealy,PatrickMcCabe,GerryAdams,DannyMorrison,
LawrenceMcKeownandPamBrighton.Ibenefitedaswellfromlibrary
facilitiesatUniversityCollegeCork,Queen’sUniversityBelfast,theUni-
versityofPittsburghandtheUniversityofRochester.Specialthanksgo
to my godfather, Brian Allen, who assisted in scheduling interviews in
IrelandwhileIwasintheUnitedStates,toAnne-MarieMurray,formerly
ofDubbeljointTheatreCo.,forassistingmeinnavigatingBelfast,andto
DavidBleichandBethOlivares,fornumerousdiscussionsasmyresearch
progressedoverthelastseveralyears.ImustalsothanktheIrishNation-
ality Room Committee at the University of Pittsburgh for a generous
research grant in the summer of 2004 that enabled me to launch this
entire escapade, and to the University of Pittsburgh for a Pre-Doctoral
AndrewMellonFellowshipin2007–2008tosupportmycompletionof
thiswork.
IwouldliketothankChristabelScaife,ChristineRanftandallofthe
editorial and support staff associated with Palgrave Macmillan. Addi-
tionally, I would also like to extend thanks to the following publishers
for permission to cite from their authors’ work: Declan Kiberd’s Invent-
ing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation, published by Jonathan
Cape,reprintedbypermissionofTheRandomHouseGroupLtd.Patrick
McCabe’sCallMetheBreeze,reprintedbypermissionfromHarperCollins
Publishers. Gerry Adams’ The Street (1992) reprinted with permission
fromBrandon/MountEaglePublications.DermotHealy’sAGoat’sSong,
copyright1994byDermotHealy.UsedbypermissionofVikingPenguin,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Eavan Boland “A Habitable
Grief”&“MotherIreland”:“AHabitableGrief”,“MotherIreland”,from
The Lost Land by Eavan Boland. Copyright 1998 by Eavan Boland.
Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. “A Habitable
Grief,” “Mother Ireland” from The Lost Land by Eavan Boland. Copy-
right1998byEavanBoland.UsedbypermissionofCarcanetPressLtd.
viii
Acknowledgements ix
in UK/Commonwealth excluding USA/Canada. Seamus Deane’s Read-
ing in the Dark, copyright 1996 by Seamus Deane. Used by permission
of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. Christina Reid,
Plays 1, used by permission from Methuen Drama, an imprint of A&C
Black Publishers who are also thanked for permission to quote from
Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”. I would like to
thank Danny Morrison et al. for permission to cite from “Binlids.”
ThanksalsogotoPearseElliottforpermissiontocitefrom“AMother’s
Heart.”
IwouldespeciallyliketothankmyhusbandBillyandmysonLiam,
who patiently support my work and reward me with their smiles and
laughter.Iwouldalsoliketothankmyparents,JohnandMaureen,for
their unyielding emotional, financial and intellectual support for each
andeveryoneofmyendeavors.Thanksarealsoextendedtoallmyfam-
ilyandfriendsintheUS,Irelandandelsewhere,whohaveencouraged
methroughouttheyears.Withoutyouall,Iamlost.