Research Catalog

Title

Reading Irish-American fiction : the hyphenated self / Margaret Hallissy.

Author

Hallissy, Margaret.

Publication

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

211 pages; 22 cm

Summary

"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 disfunction between Irish and American cultures generate a divided sense of self within the American characters."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• American fiction > Irish American authors > History and criticism
• Irish Americans in literature
• Irish Americans > Intellectual life

Bibliography (note)

• "Videography, discography, song lyrics": p. 206.
• Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-205) and index.

Contents

Preface : connections and separations -- Introduction : Irish types, American patterns -- 1. What Americans know and how they know it : song -- 2. What Americans know and how they know it : story -- 3. "Picture postcard Ireland" : Thomas Moran's The world I made for her -- 4. Naming the past : Lisa Carey's The mermaids singing -- 5. The pain of not knowing : Katharine Weber's The music lesson -- 6. Bringing paddies over : Alice McDermott's Charming Billy -- 7. The rage of the dying animal : Mary Gordon's The other side -- Conclusion : the journey.

ISBN

1403970904 (alk. paper)

LCCN

• 2005051333
• 9781403970909

OCLC

• OCM61123179
• SCSB-5226126

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries