Writing Ireland's working class
Subtitle: Dublin after O'Casey
By: Michael Pierse
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Basingstoke
Language: eng
Number of pages: 345
ISBN-13: 9780230272279
Subjects: Working class in literature; English literature; In literature; Irish authors; History and criticism
Description: As a social other, Ireland's urban working class inhabits a 'non-place' in the national narrative, a place beset by galling levels of poverty and low social mobility. Its exclusion is not just social and economic, but cultural as well. Working-class Dublin in particular elicits little good press, and less in terms of academic commentary or cultural appreciation, so where and how does it appear in literature? Exploring the fiction and plays of this marginalised community after Sèn O'Casey, this book breaks new ground in Irish Studies scholarship, charting alternative directions for academic research and unearthing submerged narratives in the history of Irish culture. Most of the works examined have received little or no critical commentary to date, yet this book makes a compelling case for their centrality to the history and appreciation of Irish literature. From O'Casey to Roddy Doyle, a rich tapestry of urban life is illuminated and explored, which presents a robust challenge to stereotyped and staid views of Irish life and literature.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The shadow of Seán : O'Casey, commitment and the literature of Dublin's working class; title: Angry young men : class injuries and masculinity; title: From rocking the cradle to rocking the system : writing working-class women; title: Industry and the city : workers in struggle; title: Prison stories : writing Dublin at its limits; title: Return of the oppressed : sexual repression, culture and class; title: Revising the revolution : Roddy Doyle's A star called Henry, historiography, politics and proletarian consciousness.