Irish American Studies, United States History - Ethnic Histories, Literary Criticism - U.S. Fiction & Prose Literature - General & Miscellaneous

Reading Irish-American Fiction: The Hyphenated Self

Name: Reading Irish-American Fiction: The Hyphenated Self
Author: Margaret Hallissy
ISBN: 9781403970909

by Margaret Hallissy

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Overview

This study offers a reading of five modern novels in which the dual identity of Irish-Americans is a central issue. The main characters in these novels are hyphenated people: Americans who think of themselves as Irish but have little experience of Ireland or of the Irish people. Reading Irish-American Fiction explores novels by Thomas Moran, Lisa Carey, Katherine Weber, Alice McDermott, and Mary Gordon against the background of the mythological, folkloric, historical, and literary past of Ireland. The study examines the way in which the conjunction and disjunction between Irish and American cultures generate a divided sense of self within the American characters.

Synopsis

A study of Irish-Americna characters in five novels, all published between 1989 and 1999.

About the Author, Margaret Hallissy

Margaret Hallissy is Professor of English, Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus. She is the author of Venomous Woman: Fear of the Female in Literature (1987), Clean Maids, True Wives, Steadfast Widows: Chaucer's Women and Medieval Codes of Conduct (1993), and A Companion to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1995), as well as numerous articles on medieval and modern literature.