The Literature of Northern Ireland: Spectral Borderlands

228 Pages·2015·2.774 MB·English

by  Maureen E. Ruprecht Fadem (auth.)

The Literature of Northern Ireland
New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature
Claire A. Culleton, Kent State University
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Ireland and the New Journalism
edited by Karen Steele and Michael de Nie (July 2014)
The Literature of Northern Ireland: Spectral Borderlands
by Maureen E. Ruprecht Fadem (January 2015)
The Literature of

Northern Ireland
Spectral Borderlands
Maureen E. Ruprecht Fadem
THE LITERATURE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Copyright © Maureen E. Ruprecht Fadem, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-47474-2
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-50161-8 ISBN 978-1-137-46623-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137466235
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fadem, Maureen E. Ruprecht
The Literature of Northern Ireland : Spectral Borderlands / Maureen E.
Ruprecht Fadem.
pages cm. — (New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. English literature—Irish authors—History and criticism. 2. Politics
and literature—Northern Ireland—History—20th century. 3. Literature
and society—Northern Ireland—History—20th century. 4. Northern
Ireland—In literature. I. Title.
PR8891.N67F33 2015
820.9(cid:25)9416—dc23 2014028020
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.

First edition: January 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my children, Cynthia and Michael Fadem,
who’ve taught me all the really important things
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Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
One “Au contraire”: The Spectral Borderlands of
Northern Irish Literature 13
Two S elf-Contradiction in a Small Place: Anne Devlin’s
“Other at the Edge of Life” 63
Three Outlining Silence in the Poetry of Medbh McGuckian 99
Four Specter and Doubt in Anna Burns’ No Bones 137
Notes 181
Bibliography 195
Index 211
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Acknowledgments
For your support of this project and all your graciousness and profes-
sionalism through the process, much thanks to the crew at Palgrave
Macmillan. Sincere gratitude to my excellent Kingsborough students,
research assistants Anna Sacerdote and Jamila Wallace, for their gen-
erous support of this project—including jumping through unexpected
hoops more than once. To my children and family, my students,
friends, and colleagues, hearty thanks for the support, time, and
friendship—especially Lital Levin, Liza Bruna, Chaumtoli Huq, and
Alisha Ali, friend and discussant who hung in there through this proj-
ect’s many undulations. To my teachers and department chairs, espe-
cially Eileen Ferretti, Glenn Burger, and Meena Alexander for your
superb and much needed mentorship. And, to Wayne Koestenbaum:
for . . . everything.