Author(s): Michael G. Cronin

Literary Studies | Coming Soon

An ambitious and wide-ranging study of the Irish gay novel, not merely in relation to a broader Irish political and historical narrative, but also a global one of increasing neoliberal domination legitimated by liberal social politics. Revolutionary Bodies provides a detailed study of the erotics and politics of the male body in Irish fiction. Some of the authors discussed in the book include: Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan, John Broderick, Colm Tóibín, Keith Ridgway, Jamie O’Neill, Micheál Ó Conghaile and Barry McCrea. The book critically analyses the emergence of contemporary Irish gay fiction since 1993, especially its most notable genres: the coming out romance and the historical romance. It assesses the role of the novel in the evolution of Irish LGBT politics, mapping a literary and cultural space where the utopian aspirations of sexual liberation have clashed with the reformism and neo-liberal political rationality of identity politics.Revolutionary Bodies offers a unique critical intervention into our understanding of queer Irish cultures in the wake of the 2015 referendum and the Varadkar election.

June 2024