The Gothic Art of Edna O'Brien's Mother Ireland
Keywords:
Edna O'Brien, Irish Literature, 20th Century Literature, Irish Cultural History, Gothic Novels, Mother Ireland, Travelogue, Gender & SexualityAbstract
This essay examines the accordance to and subversion of the Gothic novel genre by Edna O’Brien’s Mother Ireland as a means of understanding the author’s motivations for leaving Ireland, while having the country remain as subject matter to much of her literature. I argue that while the text exposes Ireland’s 1950s social forces of church and patriarchy as pernicious and necessitating of exile, her memories of these forces – most accessible and potent while abroad – ultimately become valuable to her on account of their continuous role in artistic inspiration and ferment.
References
Bibliography
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• Brown, Terence. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922-2000. London: HarperCollins, 2004.
• Colletta, Lisa and O’Connor, Maureen,. Wild Colonial Girl: Essays on Edna O’Brien. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006.
• Colley, Linda, ‘Britishness and Otherness: an Argument’, Journal of British Studies 31 (1992), 309 – 329.
• Eagleton, Terry, Heathcliff and the Great Hunger: Studies in Irish Culture. London: Verso, 1995.
• Eckley, Grace. Edna O’Brien. Cranbury: Associated University Press, 1974.
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• Gibbons, Luke. Transformations in Irish Culture. Cork: Cork University Press, 1996.
• Gillespie, Gerald., Engel, Manfred., and Dieterle, Bernard., eds. Romantic Prose Fiction. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007.
• van Gorp, Hendrik ‘The Gothic novel as a Romantic narrative genre’ in Gerald Gilespie et. al (eds) Romantic Prose Fiction Volume XXIII. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007.
• Greenwood, Amanda. Edna O’Brien. Tavistock: Northcote House Publishers, 2003.
• Grogan, Maureen L. "Using Memory and Adding Emotion: The (Re)Creation of Experience in the Short Fiction of Edna O'Brien." The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 22, no. 2 (1996), 9-19.
• Heaney, Seamus. Death of a Naturalist. London: Faber & Faber, [1966] 2006.
• Herr, Cheryl. "The Erotics of Irishness." Critical Inquiry 17, no. 1 (1990), 1-34.
• Hoeveler, Diane. ‘Regina Maria Roche's The Children of the Abbey: Contesting the Catholic Presence in Female Gothic Fiction’. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, 31, no. 1 (2012), 137-158.
• Hughes Kersonwski, Alice, ed. Conversations with Edna O’Brien. Jackson: The University of Mississippi Press, 2014.
• Ingman, Heather. ‘Edna O’Brien: Stretching the Nation’s Boundaries.’ Irish Studies Review 10, no. 3 (2002), 253-265.
• Killeen, Jarlath. The Emergence of Irish Gothic Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
• Kruger, Roberta, L., The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Laing, Kathryn., Mooney, Sinead., and O’Connor, Maureen., eds. Edna O’Brien: New Critical Perspectives. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2006.
• Lee, Hermione. Body Parts: Essays on Life Writing. London: Pimlico, [2005] 2008.
• James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. London: Penguin, [1916] 1992.
• Martin, Augustine, ed. W.B. Yeats Collected Poems. London: Vintage [1990], 1992.
• Marcus, Laura. Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• O’Brien, Edna. Mother Ireland. London: Penguin, [1976] 1978.
• O’Brien, Edna. James Joyce. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999.
• BFI, dir. Mother Ireland, BFI,1976. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubYJMNCo8-0. Last Accessed 20th December 2020.
• Pelan, Rebecca. ‘Edna O'Brien's “Stage-Irish” Persona: An “Act'”of Resistance.’ The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 19, no. 1 (1993), 67-78.
• Pelan, Rebecca. ‘Edna O'Brien's "World of Nora Barnacle".’The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 22, no. 2 (1996): 49-61.
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• Wellek, René/ Warren, Austin. 1956 [1948]. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace.
• Wills, Clair. The Best are Leaving: Emigration and Post-War Irish Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
• Bartlett, Thomas, The Fall and Rise of the Irish Nation: The Catholic Question, 1690 – 1830. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1992.
• Brown, Terence. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922-2000. London: HarperCollins, 2004.
• Colletta, Lisa and O’Connor, Maureen,. Wild Colonial Girl: Essays on Edna O’Brien. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006.
• Colley, Linda, ‘Britishness and Otherness: an Argument’, Journal of British Studies 31 (1992), 309 – 329.
• Eagleton, Terry, Heathcliff and the Great Hunger: Studies in Irish Culture. London: Verso, 1995.
• Eckley, Grace. Edna O’Brien. Cranbury: Associated University Press, 1974.
• Foster, Roy. Modern Ireland 1600-1972. London: Penguin, [1988] 1989.
• Gibbons, Luke. Transformations in Irish Culture. Cork: Cork University Press, 1996.
• Gillespie, Gerald., Engel, Manfred., and Dieterle, Bernard., eds. Romantic Prose Fiction. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007.
• van Gorp, Hendrik ‘The Gothic novel as a Romantic narrative genre’ in Gerald Gilespie et. al (eds) Romantic Prose Fiction Volume XXIII. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007.
• Greenwood, Amanda. Edna O’Brien. Tavistock: Northcote House Publishers, 2003.
• Grogan, Maureen L. "Using Memory and Adding Emotion: The (Re)Creation of Experience in the Short Fiction of Edna O'Brien." The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 22, no. 2 (1996), 9-19.
• Heaney, Seamus. Death of a Naturalist. London: Faber & Faber, [1966] 2006.
• Herr, Cheryl. "The Erotics of Irishness." Critical Inquiry 17, no. 1 (1990), 1-34.
• Hoeveler, Diane. ‘Regina Maria Roche's The Children of the Abbey: Contesting the Catholic Presence in Female Gothic Fiction’. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, 31, no. 1 (2012), 137-158.
• Hughes Kersonwski, Alice, ed. Conversations with Edna O’Brien. Jackson: The University of Mississippi Press, 2014.
• Ingman, Heather. ‘Edna O’Brien: Stretching the Nation’s Boundaries.’ Irish Studies Review 10, no. 3 (2002), 253-265.
• Killeen, Jarlath. The Emergence of Irish Gothic Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
• Kruger, Roberta, L., The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Laing, Kathryn., Mooney, Sinead., and O’Connor, Maureen., eds. Edna O’Brien: New Critical Perspectives. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2006.
• Lee, Hermione. Body Parts: Essays on Life Writing. London: Pimlico, [2005] 2008.
• James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. London: Penguin, [1916] 1992.
• Martin, Augustine, ed. W.B. Yeats Collected Poems. London: Vintage [1990], 1992.
• Marcus, Laura. Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• O’Brien, Edna. Mother Ireland. London: Penguin, [1976] 1978.
• O’Brien, Edna. James Joyce. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999.
• BFI, dir. Mother Ireland, BFI,1976. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubYJMNCo8-0. Last Accessed 20th December 2020.
• Pelan, Rebecca. ‘Edna O'Brien's “Stage-Irish” Persona: An “Act'”of Resistance.’ The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 19, no. 1 (1993), 67-78.
• Pelan, Rebecca. ‘Edna O'Brien's "World of Nora Barnacle".’The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 22, no. 2 (1996): 49-61.
• Roberts, ‘George Moore: A Wild Goose's Portrait of His Country’. Irish University Review 22, no. 2 (1992), 305-318.
• RTÉ, dir. The Original Country Girl. RTÉ History, 1975. RTÉ Player. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/0326/1038765-edna-obrien-returns-to-clare/. Accessed 5th January, 2021.
• Torode et al, ‘No Country for Old Men’ in Simon Oliver ed., A Sense of Ireland. Dublin: A Sense of Ireland Ltd, 1980.
• Wellek, René/ Warren, Austin. 1956 [1948]. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace.
• Wills, Clair. The Best are Leaving: Emigration and Post-War Irish Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
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Published
2021-12-06
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