A Life of Their Own: Women's Mid-Life Quest in Contemporary Irish Women's Short Stories
15 Mar 2016-Journal of Irish Studies (Asociación Española de Estudios Irlandeses (AEDEI))-Iss: 11, pp 33-44
TL;DR: In this paper, Boada-Montagut et al. argue that Irish women's stories serve both as a vibrant narrative genre within Irish literary tradition, and as a strategic device by Irish women writers who are seeking to engage with a collective, and evolving, Irish feminist awareness.
Abstract: Introduction: The Lonely Other Voice There have been some notable, if gradual, changes in many aspects of Irish women's role and life in general since "the other voice" emerged in Irish society in the post-Eamon De Valera period from the 1960s. It is evident, possibly inevitable, that these changes in Irish women's lives are echoed in contemporary Irish women's stories, some writers of which are self-declared feminists or have engaged actively with the Irish women's movement. (1) Consequently, their literary works tend to be gynocentric, concerned overtly with women's issues and seek explicitly to give voice to women's quest for justice within male-dominated Irish society. This essay evaluates a recurrent motif in stories by Clare Boylan, Eilis Ni Dhuibhne, Stella Mahon, Mary Dorcey and Marilyn McLaughlin, the motif of "quest". As opposed to the traditionally male genre of the "monomyth" or "Bildungsroman", Irish women's quest motif is about a heroine who embarks on a different kind of adventure with the aim of achieving a different kind of goal. (2) This female quest involves subversion of the social norm, rebellion against a socially prescribed role and destiny, and reclamation of a lost place within Irish society. This essay argues that Irish women's stories serve both as a vibrant narrative genre within Irish literary tradition, and as a strategic device by Irish women writers who are seeking to engage with a collective, and evolving, Irish feminist awareness. Typically, such stories focus on women who start by accepting passively a socially imposed role and life as wife or mother, subsequently become "bad" by diverging from the traditional patriarchal view of women's role in Irish society, and undergo, ultimately, a transformative inner journey of self-discovery which leads them towards emotional independence and individuality. The short story genre as a strategic narrative device for Irish women has roots in Ireland's literary tradition and heritage. According to Frank O'Connor, the short story in an Irish literary context is a "natural form" deriving from the Irish storytelling tradition "embedded in the Irish psyche" (Casey 1990: 9), a genre associated closely with Irish history as well as with Irish women's writing. The short story is considered to be a "natural progression of story-telling, letter-writing, diary-keeping, and even school essay-writing", forms of writing with which women were already familiar in their lives (Madden-Simpson 1984: 13, 18). The skills and techniques inherent in the short story medium are also relevant when seeking to reach a broad and diverse audience through printed, visual or social media. (3) Traditionally, the short story also plays an essential role in Irish culture and politics. (4) O'Connor argues also that the short story is a vital expressive tool for the "submerged population" of a country, such as Ireland, in a post-colonial state (O'Connor 1963: 20). In the light of Frank O'Connor's view, Colm Toibin, echoed by Boada-Montagut, connects the prominence of the Irish short story to Ireland's status as a country with a broken and traumatic past. (5) Toibin's or Boada-Montagut's association of a political discourse with the short story genre may suggest a reason for the significant appeal of the short story genre within contemporary Irish women's writing. The short story serves Irish women's purpose of expression because, among the submerged population, Irish women as the "Double Other" have actually experienced the legacy of a double dispossession (Edge 1998: 215-6; Boada-Montagut 2003: 10). (6) Within the male-dominated Irish literary canon and tradition, women's writing has tended to be marginalised. (7) In this essay we suggest that Irish women may find the short story both an effective and also an instinctive way of expressing varied issues related to women as well as a medium which offers fresh scope for women to create a distinctive style of literature, a literature of their own (Boada-Montagut 2003: 38). …
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TL;DR: To the Editor.
Abstract: To the Editor.— Crosby ( 219 :1212, 1971) wrote, "Had Michelangelo really been with it, he would not have put the spear wound at the traditional location above the liver, but knowing that blood and water came from the wound, he would have placed it close to the symphysis pubis." Under Roman law, the sentence of death by crucifixion was executed on the Tau cross—the horizontal beam (patibulum) rested on the vertical stake (stipes). Most crosses were low (humilis), 6 feet 8 inches. Jesus approached the Agony under terrifying conditions. Scourging at the Pillar, pain, skin-avulsions, bleeding, crowning with a cap of thorns, facial contusions, nasal-bone fracture, climbing the 650 yards of the Via Dolorosa, carrying the patibulum (about 150 lb), producing contusions of the right shoulder and back, and injuries from falling. These traumata plus the exquisite pain of the nails in the wrists (not the palms) and the lacerations
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TL;DR: Kelly's A Life of Her Own (1976) as discussed by the authors is a short story about a woman who is no longer the personification of the Virgin Mary, and who actively rebels against her environment.
Abstract: . Women in Irish fiction have been largely the creation of male writers, and the embodiment of religious virtues such as purity and passivity, conventionally regarded as "feminine." Not only the Roman Catholic Church but also the State progressively contributed to the social construct of Irish womanhood as inferior and, above all, domestic. From the 1960s onwards many women writers have tried relentlessly to reimage women in their fiction. Feminist activist Maeve Kelly is an outstanding example of such writers whose work remains virtually unexplored. Very often Kelly's protagonists are women in their conventional roles as wives and mothers who struggle for happiness and independence. This essay focuses on her collected stories A Life of Her Own (1976), and particularly on her short story "The vain woman," in which Kelly presents us with a "new Irish woman" who is no longer the personification of the Virgin Mary, and who actively rebels against her environment. Key Words. Irish Feminism, Irish Short Story, Maeve Kelly, Empowerment, Rebellious Women Resumen. Las mujeres en la ficcion irlandesa han sido en gran medida creadas por escritores varones, encarnando virtudes religiosas tales como la pureza y la pasividad, convencionalmente consideradas como "femeninas." No solo la Iglesia catolica sino tambien el Estado contribuyeron progresivamente a la construction social de la feminidad irlandesa como inferior y, sobre todo, domestica. Desde la decada de 1960 en adelante muchas escritoras han intentado implacablemente cambiar esta imagen de la mujer en su ficcion. La activista feminista Maeve Kelly es un ejemplo sobresaliente de estas escritoras cuya obra se encuentra practicamente inexplorada. Normalmente, las protagonistas de las historia de Kelly son mujeres que desempenan su rol tradicional como esposas y madres y que luchan por la felicidad y la independencia. Este ensayo se centra en su coleccion de relatos A Life of Her Own (1976), y en particular "The vain woman," en el que Kelly nos presenta una "nueva mujer irlandesa" que se aleja de la personification de la Virgen Maria y que se rebela activamente contra su entorno. Palabras clave. Feminismo irlandes, relato corto irlandes, Maeve Kelly, empoderamiento, mujeres rebeldes Introduction: Constructing and De-constructing Irish Womanhood Women in Ireland have been traditionally associated with frailty and passivity, qualities that have been also linked to the nation itself. Ireland has often been represented as a woman in both song and literature, following a tradition that can be traced back to eighteenth-century Gaelic poetry. In colonial times, Ireland was portrayed as a woman victimised by the colonising English male, leading womanhood to be associated with inferiority and weakness. (1) Throughout the 19th century, Irish nationalists continued to identify their country as "feminine." Ireland became Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Mother Ireland, Sean-Bhean Bhocht, Dark Rosaleen, or the Poor old Woman; a woman who needed the help of young Irish men willing to fight and sacrifice themselves to free Ireland from colonial rule. Besides, the Devotional Revolution of the mid-19th-century added the cult of the Virgin Mary, and Ireland and Irish women became the embodiment of purity (Igman 2007: 7). The construction of Catholic womanhood drew on the Bible as well as on a series of Papal encyclicals--as noticed by Beaumont (1997), or Tighe-Mooney (2011). Encyclicals such as Rerum Novarum (1891), Quadragesimo Anno (1931) or Casti Connubii (1930) elaborated on the "natural" role of women. They posited that women should be confined to the domestic sphere and stressed the sanctity of marriage and the prohibition of artificial birth control and of abortion. The Church's glorification of women's domesticity permeated the legislation of the Irish Free State. The State intruded into private family life with the banning of divorce and artificial birth control, and consolidated the public image of Irish femininity as wife and mother in the 1937 De Valera's Constitution. …
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TL;DR: The Power of Myth as discussed by the authors is a seminal work that combines the spiritual and psychological insights of modern psychoanalysis with the archetypes of world mythology and creates a roadmap for navigating the frustrating path of contemporary life.
Abstract: Joseph Campbell's classic cross-cultural study of the hero's journey has inspired millions and opened up new areas of research and exploration. Originally published in 1949, the book hit the New York Times best-seller list in 1988 when it became the subject of The Power of Myth, a PBS television special. The first popular work to combine the spiritual and psychological insights of modern psychoanalysis with the archetypes of world mythology, the book creates a roadmap for navigating the frustrating path of contemporary life. Examining heroic myths in the light of modern psychology, it considers not only the patterns and stages of mythology but also its relevance to our lives today--and to the life of any person seeking a fully realized existence. Myth, according to Campbell, is the projection of a culture's dreams onto a large screen; Campbell's book, like Star Wars, the film it helped inspire, is an exploration of the big-picture moments from the stage that is our world. It is a must-have resource for both experienced students of mythology and the explorer just beginning to approach myth as a source of knowledge.
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TL;DR: Gilbert and Gubar's multi-volume history of women in literature began in 1980 with the publication of The Madwoman in the Attic as discussed by the authors, followed by No Man's Land: The Place of Women Writers in the 20th Century (1988).
Abstract: Gilbert and Gubar's multi-volume history of women in literature began in 1980 with the publication of The Madwoman in the Attic. It was followed by No Man's Land: The Place of Women Writers in the 20th Century (1988). Gilbert and Gubar's books were the first to review in a complete way the place of women both as literary figures and as writers. Drawing on the work of Harold Bloom regarding poetic identity, they argued that women could not become writers and assume a writer's identity until they found appropriate models for themselves in the tradition. Given the way women were represented, that was a difficult task at best. Their argument in this selection is that even the positive images of wpmen in literature express negative energies and desires on the part of male writers.
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TL;DR: A collection of essays and other writings does justice to Virginia Woolf's reputation as a major essayist and critic, offering appraisals of Aphra Behn, Mary Wollestonecraft, the Duchess of Newcastle, Dorothy Richardson, Charlotte Bronte and Katherine Mansfield among others.
Abstract: This collection of essays and other writings does justice to Virginia Woolf's reputation as a major essayist and critic, offering appraisals of Aphra Behn, Mary Wollestonecraft, the Duchess of Newcastle, Dorothy Richardson, Charlotte Bronte and Katherine Mansfield among others. Gathered too are her timeless commentaries on subjects ranging from "The Intellectual Status of Women" and "Professions for Women" to "Indiscretions".
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