The child sex scandal and modern Irish literature: writing the unspeakable

Introduction: The enigmatic history of imperiled innocence -- "An iridescence difficult to account for" : sexual initiation in Joyce's fiction of development -- Between (open) secret and enigma : Kate O'Brien, The land of spices, and the stylistic invention of lesbian (in)visibil...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Valente, Joseph 1958- (Author) ; Backus, Margot Gayle 1961- (Author)
Contributors: O'Toole, Fintan 1958- (Writer of preface)
Format: Print Book
Language:English
Published: Bloomington, Indiana Indiana University Press 2020
In:Year: 2020
Online Access: Table of Contents
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Summary:Introduction: The enigmatic history of imperiled innocence -- "An iridescence difficult to account for" : sexual initiation in Joyce's fiction of development -- Between (open) secret and enigma : Kate O'Brien, The land of spices, and the stylistic invention of lesbian (in)visibility -- Country girl : groomed, seduced, and abandoned -- From the pits and ditches where people have fallen : sex scandal and the reinvention of the Irish public sphere in Keith Ridgway's The long falling -- Retrofitting Ireland's architecture of containment in Tana French's In the woods -- "Roaring inside me" : the enigma of sexual violence in The gathering -- Epilogue: What about Brendan?
"Even though the Irish child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church have appeared steadily in the media, many children remain in peril. In The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature, Joseph Valente and Margot Gayle Backus examine modern cultural responses to child sex abuse in Ireland. Using descriptions of these scandals found in newspapers, historiographical analysis, and 20th- and 21st-century literature, Valente and Backus expose a public sphere ardently committed to Irish children's souls and piously oblivious to their physical welfare. They offer historically contextualized and psychoanalytically informed readings of scandal narratives by nine notable modern Irish authors who actively, pointedly, and persistently question Ireland's responsibilities regarding its children. Through close, critical readings, a more nuanced and troubling account emerges of how Ireland's postcolonial heritage has served to enable such abuse. The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature refines the debates on why so many Irish children were lost by offering insight into the lived experience of both the children and those who failed them"--
Item Description:Includes bibliographical references and index
Physical Description:xxvi, 270 Seiten Illustrationen
ISBN:9780253053183
9780253053176