In this Book
- The Myth of Manliness in Irish National Culture, 1880-1922
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of Illinois Press
summary
This study aims to supply the first contextually precise account of the male gender anxieties and ambivalences haunting the culture of Irish nationalism in the period between the Act of Union and the founding of the Irish Free State. To this end, Joseph Valente focuses upon the Victorian ethos of manliness or manhood, the specific moral and political logic of which proved crucial to both the translation of British rule into British hegemony and the expression of Irish rebellion as Irish psychomachia. The influential operation of this ideological construct is traced through a wide variety of contexts, including the career of Ireland's dominant Parliamentary leader, Charles Stewart Parnell; the institutions of Irish Revivalism--cultural, educational, journalistic, and literary; the writings of both canonical authors (Yeats, Synge, Gregory, and Joyce) and subcanonical authors (James Stephens, Patrick Pearse, Lennox Robinson); and major political movements of the time, including suffragism, Sinn Fein, Na Fianna E Éireann, and the Volunteers.
The construct of manliness remains very much alive today, underpinning the neo-imperialist marriage of ruthless aggression and the sanctities of duty, honor, and sacrifice. Mapping its earlier colonial and postcolonial formations can help us to understand its continuing geopolitical appeal and danger.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page
- p. 4
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
- Abbreviations
- pp. xi-13
- 1. The Manliness of Parnell
- pp. 27-62
- 3. The Mother of All Sovereignty
- pp. 94-139
- 4. Brothers in Arms
- pp. 140-186
Additional Information
ISBN
9780252090325
Related ISBN(s)
9780252035715
MARC Record
OCLC
841172533
Pages
304
Launched on MUSE
2014-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2011