History, myth, and ritual in the fiction of John McGahern : strategies of transcendence /
Whyte, James,1969-
Lewiston, N.Y. : Edwin Mellen Press,
c2002.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-265) and index.
Machine generated contents note: Introduction 1 -- Chapter 1 The Social Context: Between Two Worlds 21 -- (i) The Socio-Historical Background 21 -- (ii) The Making of a Myth: McGahem's (Re)vision of History 26 -- (iii) 'Between Two Worlds': The Barracks and The Dark 32 -- (iv) A Changing World 45 -- (v) The World of Manners 51 -- Chapter 2 The Struggle for Form: McGahem's Aesthetic 59 -- (i) The Problem with the Novel Form 60 -- (ii) The Writer in a Changing Society 62 -- (iii) McGahern and his Audience: 'Cut off from the Public World'? 67 -- (iv) O'Crohan and the Search for an Epic Style 75 -- (v) A Fallen World 80 -- (vi) Language, Epic and Novel: Bakhtin in an Irish Context 87 -- Chapter 3 Religion and Ritual: Instinct and the Formal Pattern 95 -- (i) The Representation of the Church 97 -- (ii) Rituals and Images 102 -- (iii) Religion without the Church 111 -- (iv) Religion and Art 126 -- Chapter 4 The Family and Symbolic Stories 135 -- (i) The Family in a Changing World 136 -- (ii) Plot without Action? 138 -- (iii) The Family Drama 141 -- (iv) The Father 143 -- (v) 'Coming into his Kingdom': Moments of Transition 145 -- (vi) Fathers and Sons 151 -- (vii) Preparing to Murder 157 -- (viii) The Ritual of Return 161 -- Chapter 5 Centre and Periphery: Sexual Politics and the Ideology of Place 167 -- (i) The Stepmother Stereotype 167 -- (ii) Possessing Space 171 -- (iii) 'At the Centre of Life' 176 -- (iv) The Terrible Mother 182 -- (v) The Barracks: 'the fabricated structure of safe passions' 185 -- (vi) 'A Slip-up': 'in the shelter of her shadow' 193 -- (vii) 'The Beginning of an Idea': Art and Motherhood 196 -- (viii) 'Family Talk': Language and Nature in Amongst Women 202 -- Conclusion 217 -- Appendix: An Interview with John McGahem 227.
McGahern, John, 1934-2006
Literature and history
Transcendence (Philosophy) in literature.
Ritual in literature.
Myth in literature.