John McGahern : authority and vision / edited by Željka Doljanin and Máire Doyle.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Doljanin, Željka, editor.

Doyle, Máire, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McGahern, John, 1934-2006--Criticism and interpretation.

McGahern, John.

McGahern, John, 1934-2006.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 229 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This book explores the work of John McGahern, one of the greatest Irish prose writers of the twentieth century. The fifteen essays collected here address McGahern's legacy from a range of fresh perspectives drawn from the fields of literary criticism, history, sociology, education, journalism and creative writing. Examining his novels, short stories, memoir and prose writings, these essays interrogate the ways in which his writing responds to key issues in these subject areas. Featuring an afterword by Declan Kiberd and contributions from experts and scholars from a variety of disciplines, along with distinguished writers and cultural practitioners such as Frank McGuinness, Roy Foster, Paula Meehan and Melvyn Bragg, this unique volume both deepens and broadens the McGahern conversation, opening his work to students and readers in a new way. It delivers richly informed insights on the writer's early career and traces his persistent concerns with style and from, with the task of the writer and with a secular spirituality that manifests itself in ethical concerns about our relationship to our social, cultural and natural environment and the individual's struggle to find a way to be in the world. The book also includes a late interview with McGahern; a valuable new resource for students, researchers and general readers, illuminating some of the discussion in the preceding essays and providing insights into his approach to literature. The essays in this collection offer demanding but lucid and accessible studies of McGahern's body of work and will be of interest to students and teachers at all levels of academic study along with the appreciative reader of McGahern's work. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction / Zeljka Doljanin Doljanin, Zeljka, Máire Doyle Doyle, Máire 1

2 X: A Quarterly Review and McGahern's modernism / Tom Walker Walker, Tom 9

3 John McGahern: landscape and the lost republic / Nicholas Allen Allen, Nicholas 25

4 Hand-rails to the past: McGahern and the memory of the Irish revolution / R. F. (Roy) Foster Foster, R. F. (Roy) 37

5 'What was it all for?' John McGahern's critique of Irish republican nationalism: an ethical reading / Ciaran Ross Ross, Ciaran 49

6 The stranger in the fiction of John McGahern / Zeljka Doljanin Doljanin, Zeljka 62

7 John McGahern's 'Oldfashioned' and Anglo-Irish culture / David Clare Clare, David 78

8 Learning to love the world: the educational vision of John McGahern / Kevin Williams Williams, Kevin 94

9 Love and sex: McGahern's personal and detached reflections / Tom Inglis Inglis, Tom 110

10 Love and the world: marriage and McGahern's late vision / Máire Doyle Doyle, Máire 124

11 'Extraordinary breathing space': afterlife vision and redemption in the work of John McGahern / Catriona Clutterbuck Clutterbuck, Catriona 140

12 Writing violence: John McGahern and Flannery O'Connor / Frank McGuinness McGuinness, Frank 155

13 The lived narrative versus the learned narrative / Linden MacIntyre MacIntyre, Linden 168

14 Inside McGahern's workshop / Paula Meehan Meehan, Paula 180

15 John McGahern / Melvyn Bragg Bragg, Melvyn 191

16 An interview with John McGahern / Stanley van der Ziel Ziel, Stanley van der 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-223) and index.

ISBN:

9781526100566

1526100568

OCLC:

992432821