English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

4-13-2000

Abstract

Using the recent novels of Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle, and Patrick McCabe, I examine the ways in which they confront contemporary Irish identity through the structure of the Bildungsroman. This dissertation focuses on the following novels: O'Brien's Time and Tide (1992) and Down by the River (1997); Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993) and The Woman Who Walked Into Doors (1996); McCabe's The Butcher Boy (1992), The Dead School (1995), and Breakfast on Pluto (1998). Though coming-of-age novels typically chronicle a youthful protagonist's development, I argue that these authors use the traditional features of the genre to show the grotesque spiritual and psychological deformation that results when protagonists, both mature and immature, confront the problems of an Ireland no longer dominated by colonial or religious authority. My dissertation shows how the circumstances – and sometimes the characters themselves – become grotesque when regression and stagnation supersede maturation. In addition to deconstructing a well known genre, these authors have another agenda that differs in focus from the traditional Bildungsroman. While character development has typically been the essence of that genre, these novels are works of scathing social criticism. The authors suggest that, despite the current roar of the "Celtic Tiger," contemporary Irishness is threatened by the failure of its institutions, its stifling patriarchal codes of behavior, and its colonization by American popular culture. Alienated from traditional icons of Irish identity, the protagonists of these Bildungsromane often identify with the American heroes they see on film and television, violent heroes whose exploits conflict with the communal character traditionally associated with Irish society. My dissertation also shows how this grotesque deformation is further emphasized by rhetorical techniques that mirror the protagonist's condition. Linguistic tension, between the English and Irish languages, has often been the subject of Anglo-Irish literature. That tension likewise informs these contemporary novels, which reflect modernism's hyperconsciousness of language. O'Brien attempts to confuse and disorient the reader. mirroring the experiences of her central characters. Doyle uses language to signify emotional detachment and spiritual fragmentation. McCabe juxtaposes humor and horror to mimic both personal and political instability.

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Mary Jane Power

Second Committee Member

LynnDianne Beene

Third Committee Member

David Richard Jones

Fourth Committee Member

Alan J. Hudson

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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