Opening the Field: Irish Women, Texts and Contexts [Hardcover]

One of the defining moments in late twentieth-century Irish literature was the publication of The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (1991), which immediately created a controversy. This extensive collection, covering more than a thousand years, was marked by the virtual absence of female writers. To fill this gap, Cork University Press published The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing: Irish Women???s Writing and Traditions in 2002.

In response to both of these texts, Opening the Field offers a collection of essays in which ten prominent critics each examine a text by an Irish woman, applying a specific feminist perspective. The strategy behind the book is to demonstrate the different varieties of feminist criticism and the numerous ways in which books by Irish women can be read, taking into account both the text under consideration and the contexts in which it was written and can/might be read.

This collection will be valuable for scholars in both Irish Studies and Women???s Studies; it will also serve as a useful classroom text, as its several perspectives combine with close readings of many works thus serving well as supplementary reading for classes in Irish literature.
Acknowledgements; Introduction???Patricia Boyle Haberstroh and Christine St. Peter; 1) Engendering the Postmodern Canon? The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Volumes IV & V: Women???s Writing and Traditions???Gerardine Meaney; 2) Becoming the Patriarch? Masculinity in Maria Edgeworth???s Ormond???Eil??an Ni Chuillean??in; 3) Stuck on the Canvas: Harriet Martin???s Canvassing and Locational Feminism???Heidi Hansson; 4) Re-reading Peig Sayers: Women???s Autobiography, Social History and Narrative Art???Patricia Coughlin; 5) ???But Greek???usually knows Greek???: Recognizing Queer Sexuality in Kate O???Brien???s Mary Lavelle???Katherine O???Donnell; 6) Feminist Meanings of Presence and Performance in Theatre: Marina Carr???s Portia Coughlan???Cl“W