The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity, and Popular Culture
edited by Diane Negra contributions by Catherine M. Eagan, Sean Griffin, Natasha Casey and Maria Pramaggiore
Duke University Press, 2006 eISBN: 978-0-8223-8784-8 | Paper: 978-0-8223-3740-9 | Cloth: 978-0-8223-3728-7 Library of Congress Classification E184.I6I685 2006 Dewey Decimal Classification 700.452991620097
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Over the past decade or so, Irishness has emerged as an idealized ethnicity, one with which large numbers of people around the world, and particularly in the United States, choose to identify. Seeking to explain the widespread appeal of all things Irish, the contributors to this collection show that for Americans, Irishness is rapidly becoming the white ethnicity of choice, a means of claiming an ethnic identity while maintaining the benefits of whiteness. At the same time, the essayists challenge essentialized representations of Irishness, bringing attention to the complexities of Irish history and culture that are glossed over in Irish-themed weddings and shamrock tattoos.
Examining how Irishness is performed and commodified in the contemporary transnational environment, the contributors explore topics including Van Morrison’s music, Frank McCourt’s writing, the explosion of Irish-themed merchandising, the practices of heritage seekers, the movie The Crying Game, and the significance of red hair. Whether considering the implications of Garth Brooks’s claim of Irishness and his enormous popularity in Ireland, representations of Irish masculinity in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, or Americans’ recourse to a consoling Irishness amid the racial and nationalist tensions triggered by the events of September 11, the contributors delve into complex questions of ethnicity, consumerism, and globalization. Ultimately, they call for an increased awareness of the exclusionary effects of claims of Irishness and for the cultivation of flexible, inclusive ways of affiliating with Ireland and the Irish.
Contributors. Natasha Casey, Maeve Connolly, Catherine M. Eagan, Sean Griffin, Michael Malouf, Mary McGlynn, Gerardine Meaney, Diane Negra, Lauren Onkey, Maria Pramaggiore, Stephanie Rains, Amanda Third
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Diane Negra is Senior Lecturer in the School of Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia. She is the author of Off-White Hollywood: American Culture and Ethnic Female Stardom and a coeditor (with Jennifer M. Bean) of A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema, also published by Duke University Press.
REVIEWS
“Diane Negra has built a dynamic cultural studies anthology from the sophisticated research of a new generation of scholars. ‘Irishness,’ still an attractive or scandalous stereotype, is here understood through reflection on nation, ethnicity, class, and gender—reflection that is in turn animated by the obtuseness of ‘Irishness’ in its newly global situation. Expressing a variety of views through vivid examples, this anthology becomes itself exemplary.”—Dudley Andrew, Yale University
“The essays in this collection are to Irish studies what B. B. King and the Chicago Blues are to the Delta Blues: they draw on an existing body of work, virtuosically extend it, and at the same time electrify it, creating new forms in the process. In this respect, this collection is the book that many in Irish studies have been waiting for.”—Margot Backus, author of The Gothic Family Romance: Heterosexuality, Child Sacrifice, and the Anglo-Irish Colonial Order
“This sparkling, sophisticated, and original collection analyzes such diverse topics as the genealogical quest for Irish roots, Celtic white supremacists, and post–September 11 identity politics. Provocatively, Diane Negra suggests that ‘Irishness’ has become a way for Americans to claim a safe and fashionable ethnic identity. Essential reading for Irish and American cultural studies.”—Elizabeth Cullingford, author of Ireland’s Others: Gender and Ethnicity in Irish Literature and Popular Culture
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity, and Popular Culture / Diane Negra 1
“Still ‘Black’ and ‘Proud’”: Irish America and the Racial Politics of Hibernophilia / Catherine M. Eagan 20
The Wearing of the Green: Performing Irishness in the Fox Wartime Musical / Sean Griffin 64
“The Best Kept Secret in Retail”: Selling Irishness in Contemporary America / Natasha Casey 84
“Papa Don’t Preach”: Pregnancy and Performance in Contemporary Irish Cinema / Maria Pramaggiore 110
rish Roots: Genealogy and the Performance of Irishness / Stephanie Rains 130
Ray Charles on Hyndford Street: Van Morrison’s Caledonian Soul / Lauren Onkey 161
Garth Brooks in Ireland, or, Play That Country Music, Whiteboys / Mary McGlynn 196
“Does the Rug Match the Carpet?”: Race, Gender, and the Redheaded Woman / Amanda Third 220
Dead, White, and Male: Irishness in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel / Gerardine Meaney 254
“A Bit of Traveller in Everybody”: Traveller Identities in Irish and American Culture / Maeve Connolly 282
Feeling Éire(y): On Irish-Caribbean Popular Culture / Michael Malouf 318
Irishness, Innocence, and American Identity Politics before and after September 11 / Diane Negra 354
Contributors 373
Index 377
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity, and Popular Culture
edited by Diane Negra contributions by Catherine M. Eagan, Sean Griffin, Natasha Casey and Maria Pramaggiore
Duke University Press, 2006 eISBN: 978-0-8223-8784-8 Paper: 978-0-8223-3740-9 Cloth: 978-0-8223-3728-7
Over the past decade or so, Irishness has emerged as an idealized ethnicity, one with which large numbers of people around the world, and particularly in the United States, choose to identify. Seeking to explain the widespread appeal of all things Irish, the contributors to this collection show that for Americans, Irishness is rapidly becoming the white ethnicity of choice, a means of claiming an ethnic identity while maintaining the benefits of whiteness. At the same time, the essayists challenge essentialized representations of Irishness, bringing attention to the complexities of Irish history and culture that are glossed over in Irish-themed weddings and shamrock tattoos.
Examining how Irishness is performed and commodified in the contemporary transnational environment, the contributors explore topics including Van Morrison’s music, Frank McCourt’s writing, the explosion of Irish-themed merchandising, the practices of heritage seekers, the movie The Crying Game, and the significance of red hair. Whether considering the implications of Garth Brooks’s claim of Irishness and his enormous popularity in Ireland, representations of Irish masculinity in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, or Americans’ recourse to a consoling Irishness amid the racial and nationalist tensions triggered by the events of September 11, the contributors delve into complex questions of ethnicity, consumerism, and globalization. Ultimately, they call for an increased awareness of the exclusionary effects of claims of Irishness and for the cultivation of flexible, inclusive ways of affiliating with Ireland and the Irish.
Contributors. Natasha Casey, Maeve Connolly, Catherine M. Eagan, Sean Griffin, Michael Malouf, Mary McGlynn, Gerardine Meaney, Diane Negra, Lauren Onkey, Maria Pramaggiore, Stephanie Rains, Amanda Third
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Diane Negra is Senior Lecturer in the School of Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia. She is the author of Off-White Hollywood: American Culture and Ethnic Female Stardom and a coeditor (with Jennifer M. Bean) of A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema, also published by Duke University Press.
REVIEWS
“Diane Negra has built a dynamic cultural studies anthology from the sophisticated research of a new generation of scholars. ‘Irishness,’ still an attractive or scandalous stereotype, is here understood through reflection on nation, ethnicity, class, and gender—reflection that is in turn animated by the obtuseness of ‘Irishness’ in its newly global situation. Expressing a variety of views through vivid examples, this anthology becomes itself exemplary.”—Dudley Andrew, Yale University
“The essays in this collection are to Irish studies what B. B. King and the Chicago Blues are to the Delta Blues: they draw on an existing body of work, virtuosically extend it, and at the same time electrify it, creating new forms in the process. In this respect, this collection is the book that many in Irish studies have been waiting for.”—Margot Backus, author of The Gothic Family Romance: Heterosexuality, Child Sacrifice, and the Anglo-Irish Colonial Order
“This sparkling, sophisticated, and original collection analyzes such diverse topics as the genealogical quest for Irish roots, Celtic white supremacists, and post–September 11 identity politics. Provocatively, Diane Negra suggests that ‘Irishness’ has become a way for Americans to claim a safe and fashionable ethnic identity. Essential reading for Irish and American cultural studies.”—Elizabeth Cullingford, author of Ireland’s Others: Gender and Ethnicity in Irish Literature and Popular Culture
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity, and Popular Culture / Diane Negra 1
“Still ‘Black’ and ‘Proud’”: Irish America and the Racial Politics of Hibernophilia / Catherine M. Eagan 20
The Wearing of the Green: Performing Irishness in the Fox Wartime Musical / Sean Griffin 64
“The Best Kept Secret in Retail”: Selling Irishness in Contemporary America / Natasha Casey 84
“Papa Don’t Preach”: Pregnancy and Performance in Contemporary Irish Cinema / Maria Pramaggiore 110
rish Roots: Genealogy and the Performance of Irishness / Stephanie Rains 130
Ray Charles on Hyndford Street: Van Morrison’s Caledonian Soul / Lauren Onkey 161
Garth Brooks in Ireland, or, Play That Country Music, Whiteboys / Mary McGlynn 196
“Does the Rug Match the Carpet?”: Race, Gender, and the Redheaded Woman / Amanda Third 220
Dead, White, and Male: Irishness in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel / Gerardine Meaney 254
“A Bit of Traveller in Everybody”: Traveller Identities in Irish and American Culture / Maeve Connolly 282
Feeling Éire(y): On Irish-Caribbean Popular Culture / Michael Malouf 318
Irishness, Innocence, and American Identity Politics before and after September 11 / Diane Negra 354
Contributors 373
Index 377
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE