Reading Irish-American Fiction: The Hyphenated Self

This study offers a reading of five modern novels in which the dual identity of Irish-Americans is a central issue. The main characters in these novels are hyphenated people: Americans who think of themselves as Irish but have little experience of Ireland or of the Irish people. Reading Irish-American Fiction explores novels by Thomas Moran, Lisa Carey, Katherine Weber, Alice McDermott, and Mary Gordon against the background of the mythological, folkloric, historical, and literary past of Ireland. The study examines the way in which the conjunction and disjunction between Irish and American cultures generate a divided sense of self within the American characters.