Bringing together the diverse and marvelously articulate voices of women
of Irish and Irish-American descent, editors Caitriona Moloney and Helen
Thompson examine the complicated maps of experience that the women's
public, private, and literary lives represent--particularly as they
engage in both feminism and postcolonialism.
Acknowledging Mary Robinson's revised view of Irish identity--now global
rather than local--this work recognizes the importance of identity as a
site of mobility. The pieces reveal how complex the terms "feminism" and
"postcolonialism" are; they examine how the individual writers see their
identities constructed and/or mediated by sexuality. In addition, the
book traces common themes of female agency, violence, generational
conflicts, migration, emigration, religion, and politics to name a few.
As it represents the next wave of Irish women writers, this book offers
fresh insight into the work of emerging and established authors and will
appeal to a new generation of readers.