My thesis research will examine John B. Keane and themes of migration, discussing specifically the identity of the returning migrant and those who were left behind in Ireland during the twentieth century. Keane’s personal experiences with relocation undoubtedly affected his perspective on migration into and out of rural Ireland. Much of his work reveals a … More Literature Review
The world of scholarly blogging: the land of semi-published work and research interests. My feelings about the scholarly blog have followed a cyclical pattern. Similar to my emotions about the conference presentation, I would similarly compare the blog emotions to the five stages of grief. But as time (and writing) marched on, I became more … More Blog Reflection
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries migrant and nationalist groups desired a set of “traditions” that they could claim were inherently Irish. Systematic migration and colonialism in Ireland had arguably decimated true Irish traditions. Socio-cultural survival and revival became vital to the preservation of an Irish identity. The Celtic Revival in Ireland was a … More Three Way Love Affair: Remnants of the Celtic Love Triangle in the Literature of John B. Keane
Textualities Conference 2017: Success! I don’t think there is much that can prepare you for your first conference. The emotions that go into presenting at a conference are much more cyclical than I could have expected. Psych Central claims that there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I would say … More The Six Stages of Conference Emotions
Literary representations of colonial societies often critique and reinforce the dichotomy of the colonizer and the colonized. In western society power is almost undoubtedly linked to masculinity. In the colonial relationship this concept is transferred to the colonizer maintaining masculine attributes and the colonizer accepting a feminine role. The control of the colonized society acts … More Masculinity, The Irish-American Urban Scene, and”Mean Girls”
Technology: my formidable enemy. There isn’t much that scares me in this world, but technology is one of them. Although I no longer consider myself ‘technologically illiterate, it is a factor that has the ability to strike fear in me, so finding out my class would be editing Wikipedia nearly gave me heart palpitations. Admittedly, … More The Only Thing We Have to Fear is…(Wikipedia) Itself. Or Maybe Not?
Across borders authors choose to write about the contemporary political climates. Their messages about group marginalization may be either pronounced or satirical, but that is the beauty of literature. We, as readers, must unpack the author’s message. We must choose to look at literature as a mirror of current events, and whether we agree with … More Querying Family Ties: A comparison of Chicana Feminism and John B. Keane
As many of you know, today is the day that president-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office. Whether you agree with the man’s policies or not, we have been left with a plethora of hilarious memes, GIFs, and spoof videos that are borderline comedic genius. In the past weeks however the performance … More Cultural Evolution in Irish America
Why are young, middle-class Americans willing and ready to leave the country? … More A Middle-Class American Diaspora?
My dealings with Shakespeare admittedly have not been too in depth, the only plays being forced down my throat at a secondary school level. I did not have a distaste for Shakespeare, in fact I appreciated his literary genius, but my interests lied elsewhere. I took the opportunity to attend the private class which was … More Goran Stanivukovic’s “The Art of Being Together: Shakespeare and Friendship”: A meditation on women’s involvement in early 20th century Irish nationalism.
An (American) Woman Without a Country: Erin A. Bergin 