Masculinities in Mid-Twentieth-Century Irish Fiction and Culture, 1931-1965

The Men We Dreamed Of
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-83430-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 246 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 515 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Irish Literature

Masculinities in Mid-Twentieth-Century Irish Fiction and Culture, 1931-1965 is a critical analysis of the construction, consolidation, and regulation of post-colonial Irish masculinity as evidenced by Irish fiction published during the mid-twentieth century. Investigating the years of the Irish Free State, Éire, and the Republic of Ireland, this book uses the years preceding the enactment of Bunreacht na hÉireann (the Irish Constitution) in 1937 and the years following the First Programme for Economic Expansion in 1958 as its span for research. The analysis in this book incorporates contextual work on the masculinities of election rhetoric, Church and State visions of an idealised Irish masculinity, and the role of popular culture and fiction in promoting or rejecting official versions of Irish manhood. Therein, this book crucially analyses both critically acclaimed Irish authors such as Kate O’Brien, John McGahern, and Elizabeth Bowen alongside lesser-known writers who fell victim to the mid-century’s rigorous culture of censorship such as M. J. Farrell, Norah Hoult, and John Broderick. Wright’s research in this book provides a holistic approach to scrutinising the construction of post-colonial Irish masculinity, including analysis on drinking culture, civil service employment, queer relationships, and the value of violence in masculine currencies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wright, Loic

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Irish Masculinity and the Nation

PART ONE: RULES OF MASCULINITY

Chapter One: Breadwinning, Fatherhood, and the Biopolitics of Post-Colonial Irish Masculinity

Chapter Two: Sexualities and Masculinity

Chapter Three: Rural, Urban, and Emigrant Masculinities

PART TWO: TOOLS OF MASCULINITY

Chapter Four: Regulation, Punishment, and Violence

Chapter Five: Masculinity, Alcohol, and the Pub

Conclusions

Über Autor(innen)

Loic Wright completed his Irish Research Council funded PhD at University College Dublin (UCD) in 2023. Loic has worked as an occasional lecturer at UCD, the International Learning Academy in Dublin (ILA), and the James Joyce Cultural Centre in Dublin. His research interests focus on English, American, and Irish literature and culture, gender, censorship, society, and politics.