Restriction lift date: 9999-12-31
The impact of the border on Irish fiction, 1969-2016
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Date
2019
Authors
McConigley, Martin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
Partition was a colonial imposition that facilitated the creation of two inward looking monocultures on the island ofireland. These nation-states, South and North, adhered to a conservative, heteronormative ideology that was suspicious of difference and punished nonconformity. In the North ofireland (North), the Catholic minority were construed as a dangerous Other. In the Republic ofireland (Republic), the powerful Catholic Hierarchy oversaw the development of a culture defined by fear and hidden trauma. However, partition did not simply divide two nation-states; it also created a liminal border space. At the periphery of both North and South, the border was a site beyond control that offered a physical and imaginative space for nonconformity and challenge. Partition divided two antagonistic 'peoples', but it also united individuals incapable of or unwilling to take a place within the hegemony of the nation-state. This study sets out to understand the impact of the border on the cultural development of the two states it came into being alongside. Through a close reading of Irish fiction, published since 1969, I will propose that the border has had, and continues to have, a significant influence on Irish writing. This, I will argue, is most clearly seen in the tendency of border fictions to reject standards of narrative development and to end in ambiguity and failure.
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Keywords
Irish fiction 1969-2016 , Irish writing , Irish border
Citation
McConigley, M. 2019. The impact of the border on Irish fiction, 1969-2016. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
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Copyright
© 2019, Martin McConigley.