Feminist Discourse in Irish Literature

Gender and Power in Louise O'Neill's Young Adult Fiction

Jennifer Mooney

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781032076850
• eBook ISBN: 9781000603163
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: English Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Feminist Discourse in Irish Literature addresses the role of young adult (YA) Irish literature in responding and contributing to some of the most controversial and contemporary issues in today's modern society: gender, and conflicting views of power, sexism and consent. This volume provides an original, innovative and necessary examination of how "rape culture" and the intersections between feminism and power have become increasingly relevant to Irish society in the years since Irish author Louise O'Neill's novels for young adults Only Ever Yours and Asking For It were published. In consideration of the socio-political context in Ireland and broader Western culture from which O'Neill's works were written, and taking into account a selection of Irish, American, Australian and British YA texts that address similar issues in different contexts, this book highlights the contradictions in O'Neill's works and illuminates their potential to function as a form of literary/social fundamentalism which often undermines, rather than promotes, equality.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• SeriesPage
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Historical Contexts
• 2. Louise O’Neill and Feminist Theory
• 3. Only Ever Yours
• 4. Asking For It
• 5. Alternatives to the Didacticism of “Rape Culture”
• 6. “Lad”- dishness
• 7. Radical AUTHORity in Irish YA Literature
• All Works Cited
• Index