Synopses & Reviews
During the Northern Irish Troubles of the past 30 years, a war of words has accompanied the actual conduct of violence in complex ways. This book explores the way literature of the period participates in this war of words. It draws on a range of contemporary authors and on a variety of printed sources, including journalists' reports, political speeches, interviews, memoirs, pamphlets, and autobiography. The book places the Northern Ireland conflict within a broad European debate about the legitimate use of force, and provides an original analysis of the inter-relationship between language, literature, and violence.
Synopsis
During the Northern Irish Troubles of the past thirty years, a war of words has accompanied and interpenetrated with the actual conduct of violence in highly complex ways. This book considers how literature of the period engages and participates in this war of words. It draws on a range of contemporary authors and on a variety of printed sources, including journalists' reports, political speeches, interviews, memoirs, pamphlets and autobiography. The book places the Northern Ireland conflict within a broad European debate about the legitimate use of force, and provides an original analysis of the inter-relationship between language, literature and violence.
About the Author
Patrick Grant is Professor of English at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Table of Contents
Introduction: At War with Words * The Iron Circle: On the Core Mechanisms of Violence * Equivocations of the Fiend: Self-Deception and Poetic Diction * The God of Battles: Violence and Sectarianism * Shoot the Women First * Breaking the Circle