Narratives of the Unspoken in Contemporary Irish Fiction: Silences that Speak

This book explores silence as an aesthetic practice and a textual strategy in contemporary Irish fiction, addressing its historical legacies and its potential as a valuable means of expression. It examines the conspiracies of silence in Catholic Ireland, the silenced structural oppression of Celtic Tiger Ireland, the recovery of silenced stories, and millennial disaffection.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 246 pages
Publication date: 20 June 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This Open-Access book is a compilation of essays that provide a comprehensive examination of silence as an aesthetic practice and a textual strategy that paradoxically speaks of the unspoken nature of many inconvenient hidden truths of Irish society in the work of contemporary fiction writers. The study recognizes Ireland's history of damaging silences and considers their legacies, but it also underscores how silence can serve as a valuable, even productive, means of expression. From a wide range of critical perspectives, the individual essays address, among other issues, the conspiracies of silence in Catholic Ireland, the silenced structural oppression of Celtic Tiger Ireland, the recovery of silenced stories/voices of the past and their examination in the present, as well as millennial disaffection and the silencing of vulnerability in today's neoliberal Ireland. The book's attention to silence provides a rich vocabulary for understanding what unfolds in the quiet interstices of Irish writing from recent decades. This study also invokes the past to understand the present and, thus, demonstrates the continuities and discontinuities that define how silence operates in Irish culture.

Funded by the Spanish Research Agency AEI and the European Regional Development Fund ERDF, this study explores the cultural practices of silence in contemporary Irish fiction. Through a multidisciplinary approach, it examines how silence is used as a tool to convey complex themes and narratives, challenge dominant ideologies, and explore the complexities of Irish society.

The book begins by exploring the historical context of silence in Ireland, including the role of the Catholic Church in suppressing dissent and the impact of the Celtic Tiger economic boom on social and cultural norms. It then moves on to examine how silence is used in contemporary fiction to depict the experiences of marginalized groups, such as women, immigrants, and the LGBT community.

One of the key themes of the book is the conspiracies of silence that pervade Irish society. The essays explore how silence is used to cover up abuse, corruption, and inequality, as well as to maintain the status quo. For example, the essay "Silenced Stories: The Recovery of Silenced Voices of the Past and Their Examination in the Present" examines how historical events and cultural practices have silenced certain groups and their stories, and how these stories can be recovered and examined in the present.

Another theme is the silenced structural oppression of Celtic Tiger Ireland. The essays explore how the economic boom led to a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few, while leaving many others marginalized and excluded. Silence is used to depict the experiences of those who are unable to speak up or challenge the dominant narrative, such as the essay "Millennial Disaffection and the Silencing of Vulnerability in Today's Neoliberal Ireland."

The book also examines how silence can serve as a valuable means of expression. The essays explore how silence can be used to create tension, suspense, and empathy, as well as to convey the complexity of human relationships. For example, the essay "The Conspiracies of Silence in Catholic Ireland" explores how silence is used to maintain the power and authority of the Catholic Church, while also revealing the inner struggles and conflicts of its members.

In conclusion, this Open-Access book provides a comprehensive examination of silence as an aesthetic practice and a textual strategy in contemporary Irish fiction. It explores how silence is used to convey complex themes and narratives, challenge dominant ideologies, and explore the complexities of Irish society. The study demonstrates the value of silence as a means of expression and highlights the need to address the conspiracies of silence that pervade Irish society.

Weight: 366g
Dimension: 146 x 211 x 143 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031304576
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023