"Unique in its blending of native-born and first- and second-generation Irish, its feminist analysis, and its postcolonial interrogation of these women and their work. . . . The book will be a valuable primary reference tool for those studying contemporary women writers."—Donna Perry, author of "Bad Girls/Good Girls:" Women, Sex, and Power in the Nineties
Description
Bringing together the diverse and marvelously articulate voices of women of Irish and Irish-American descent, editors Caitriona Moloney and Helen Thompson examine the complicated maps of experience that the women’s public, private, and literary lives represent—particularly as they engage in both feminism and postcolonialism.
Acknowledging Mary Robinson’s revised view of Irish identity—now global rather than local—this work recognizes the importance of identity as a site of mobility. The pieces reveal how complex the terms “feminism” and “postcolonialism” are; they examine how the individual writers see their identities constructed and/or mediated by sexuality. In addition, the book traces common themes of female agency, violence, generational conflicts, migration, emigration, religion, and politics to name a few. As it represents the next wave of Irish women writers, this book offers fresh insight into the work of emerging and established authors and will appeal to a new generation of readers.
About the Author
Caitriona Moloney is assistant professor of English at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. She is coeditor of Ireland as Postcolonial, a special edition of the Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies.
Helen Thompson, assistant professor of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is currently completing a book of the works of Edna O'Brien.
March 2003
