Postnationalist subversion of the constituents of Irishness: Land, religion and family in the plays of Martin Mcdonagh and Dermot Bolger

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Öğrenci: SEDA ÖRMENGÜL

Danışman: MARGARET JEANNE M. SÖNMEZ

Özet:

The social, political and economic changes undergone by the Republic of Ireland since the 1990s resulted in critical changes in the perception of Irish national identity and nationalist ideology. It was a new period characterized by its epithet, the Celtic Tiger, a period of rapid economic growth, and the opening up of Irish economy and politics to the world. The Irish society was now characterized by the diversity and complexities as a consequence of its interaction with the globalized world. In this context, nationalism began to give way to postnationalism which promoted plural and complicated definitions of Irishness drawing attention to the diversity and complexities of the Irish society. Changes in the perception of Irishness were reflected in theatre as well. Playwrights writing in the 1990s challenged the concept of a stable and coherent Ireland and Irishness by problematizing the very notion of nation and by celebrating plurality and multiplicity. They attempted to problematize the foundational elements of traditional Irishness, such as land, nationalistic fervor and Catholic religion. The aim of this study is to analyze the plays of Martin McDonagh and Dermot Bolger as plays written in a postnational context, and explore how they treat the constituents of Irishness – land, religion and family - and reconfigure them from a postnationalist perspective.