History, myth, and ritual in the fiction of John McGahern
Subtitle: strategies of transcendence
By: James Whyte.
Series: Studies in Irish literature ;; v. 8; Studies in Irish literature (Lewiston, N.Y.) ;; v. 8.
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Lewiston, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 271
Subjects: McGahern, John, 1934- -- Criticism and interpretation; Literature and history -- Ireland -- History -- 20th century; Transcendence (Philosophy) in literature; Ireland -- In literature; Ritual in literature; Myth in literature
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-265) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction 1; title: Chapter 1 The Social Context: Between Two Worlds 21; title: (i) The Socio-Historical Background 21; title: (ii) The Making of a Myth: McGahem's (Re)vision of History 26; title: (iii) 'Between Two Worlds': The Barracks and The Dark 32; title: (iv) A Changing World 45; title: (v) The World of Manners 51; title: Chapter 2 The Struggle for Form: McGahem's Aesthetic 59; title: (i) The Problem with the Novel Form 60; title: (ii) The Writer in a Changing Society 62; title: (iii) McGahern and his Audience: 'Cut off from the Public World'? 67; title: (iv) O'Crohan and the Search for an Epic Style 75; title: (v) A Fallen World 80; title: (vi) Language, Epic and Novel: Bakhtin in an Irish Context 87; title: Chapter 3 Religion and Ritual: Instinct and the Formal Pattern 95; title: (i) The Representation of the Church 97; title: (ii) Rituals and Images 102; title: (iii) Religion without the Church 111; title: (iv) Religion and Art 126; title: Chapter 4 The Family and Symbolic Stories 135; title: (i) The Family in a Changing World 136; title: (ii) Plot without Action? 138; title: (iii) The Family Drama 141; title: (iv) The Father 143; title: (v) 'Coming into his Kingdom': Moments of Transition 145; title: (vi) Fathers and Sons 151; title: (vii) Preparing to Murder 157; title: (viii) The Ritual of Return 161; title: Chapter 5 Centre and Periphery: Sexual Politics and the Ideology of Place 167; title: (i) The Stepmother Stereotype 167; title: (ii) Possessing Space 171; title: (iii) 'At the Centre of Life' 176; title: (iv) The Terrible Mother 182; title: (v) The Barracks: 'the fabricated structure of safe passions' 185; title: (vi) 'A Slip-up': 'in the shelter of her shadow' 193; title: (vii) 'The Beginning of an Idea': Art and Motherhood 196; title: (viii) 'Family Talk': Language and Nature in Amongst Women 202; title: Conclusion 217; title: Appendix: An Interview with John McGahem 227.