Masculinity in Crisis

Recent sociological and cultural narratives have suggested that there exists a current «crisis» in masculinity. This crisis has been explained and defined in many ways; it is a burgeoning sense of victimised identity in reaction to the feminist movement, a confused response to the complex and contradictory narratives of contemporary masculine identities, or traditional masculine working practices and behaviour being eroded by modern consumer societies . The purpose of this book is to locate this sense of crisis within Irish contexts, fill a current gap in academic discourse surrounding literary, theatrical and cinematic depictions of Irish masculinity, and discuss how fictional representations of masculinity and maleness in contemporary Ireland have addressed, explored and discussed images of men in states of anxiety, crisis and chaos.

CONTENTS: Catherine Rees: When two tribes go to war: The battle of the sexes in Gary Mitchell’s post cease-fire dramatic battlefield - Declan Brennan: Men Making a Show: Depictions of men in contemporary Irish monologues - Ciara Murphy: «Is this what it means to be men?» – The Transformation of Masculine Identity Through Crisis in Frank McGuinness’s - Richard Connolly: Determinism, Heredity, Interpellation and Societal Structures – A Depiction of A Young Man’s Form of Suicide in Billy Roche’s - Michael Richardson/Gwilym Lawrence: : «What you’ve been through ... is what we’ve all been through» - Stephanie Jones/Sarah Martindale: Brendan, Ken and Gerry: Cinematic Lenses on Irish Masculinity in Crisis - Cathrin Ruppe: The Influence of Cinematic Representation on Masculine Identities and Violence in Northern Ireland - Anne Duflos: Alienated Masculinities in Robert McLiam Wilson’s : Between Stereotypical Forms of Masculinity and Rejection of Essentialized Male Identities - Charlotte Beyer: «Still a Respected Man»: Irish Masculinity in Crisis and Crime Fiction - Adam Bargroff: The Crypt and the Iceberg: Intergenerational and Intertextual Transmission in John McGahern’s «Korea» - Alan Bairner: Ordinary Men in an Abnormal Society: Men and Masculinity in David Park’s Fiction.