Research Catalog

Title

Gangsters or Guerrillas? : representations of Irish Republicans in 'troubles fiction' / by Patrick Magee.

Author

Magee, Patrick

Publication

Belfast : Beyond The Pale, 2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

248 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

"'When I mention having studied "Troubles fiction" while in prison, that is, prose fiction dealing with the conflict in the North of Ireland since the late 1960s, I often meet with polite silence ... '" "This is how Patrick Magee begins his fascinating study of the strange world of novels about the conflict in Ireland. Beginning while he was interned in Long Kesh in 1974, he worked his way through hundreds of the 700 works of fiction produced to date. No one is better placed to introduce the reader to the 'Provo godfathers', 'psychopaths', and 'romantic nationalists with a death wish' who inhabit this fictional universe. And no one is better placed to critically assess these representations of republicans than an active republican like Patrick Magee." "The popularity of 'Troubles fiction' lies in the genre's success in performing a key ideological and political function for the British reading public, argues the author. The fiction often serves to denigrate the enemy, idealise 'our side' and over-simplify the reasons for political conflict. In this way it has played a crucial role in the propaganda war over the last three decades. As a consequence, there has been little insight provided into the real world of Irish republicans. As the author puts it, 'to read these works uncritically is to accept at face value many assumptions that continue to hinder a resolution of the divisions of Ireland'. His task therefore is to read the fiction critically."--Jacket.

Subject

• Authors, Irish > Homes and haunts > Northern Ireland
• English fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
• English fiction > History and criticism
• Gangsters in literature
• Guerrillas in literature
• Ireland > In literature
• Irish Republican Army > In literature
• Nationalism in literature
• Northern Ireland > In literature
• Political violence in literature
• Politics and literature > Ireland
• Politics and literature > Northern Ireland
• Republicanism > Ireland
• Republicanism > Northern Ireland
• Republicanism in literature
• Social conflict in literature

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-245) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

ISBN

1900960141

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library