Ireland's Others

Ireland’s Others is a collection of essays by noted literary and cultural critic Elizabeth Butler Cullingford. In this volume, Cullingford assesses attempts by Irish writers to reverse hostile colonial stereotypes by creating analogies between their situations and those of other oppressed people. She analyzes the political costs and benefits of these analogies, and considers the plight of "others" within Ireland, including women, gays, travelers, and abused children. Cullingford illuminates the connection between gender, sexuality, and national identity by comparing modern Irish literature with contemporary Irish and American popular culture. Exploring the work of Boucicault, Shaw, Friel, Jordan, McGuinness, and others, she considers the impact of globalization on Irish culture.

“Ireland’s Others is a wide-ranging study packed with fascinating insights and enlightening readings. . . . One of the many and varied merits of this book is that it suggests avenues and strategies of reading that will benefit and inspire the authors of many studies to come.” —South Central Review, “Elizabeth Butler Cullingford’s book is a most revealing, wide-ranging, and stimulating addition to the growing field of Irish studies. Following . . . an introduction about her own journeys through shifting critical paradigms, the book takes off to deal deftly with issues of class, ethnicity, and gender in the construction of Irish identity within the broad sweep of modernity. She focuses on a wide range of Irish fiction, film, poetry, drama, and even politics. . . .” —James Joyce Quarterly

Elizabeth Butler Cullingford  is Jane and Rowland Blumberg Centennial Professor of English Literature and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas, Austin.