The Issue of Gender Contemporary Irish Literature - Essay Example

On the evidence of contemporary Irish Literature, the issue of gender has become the predominant source of anxiety in contemporary Ireland. (THE TASK IS TO EXAMINE SOME EXAMPLES OF CONTEMPORARY IRISH LITERATURE IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT GENDER IS THE PREDOMINANT SOURCE OF CULTURAL ANXIETY IN CONTEMPORARY IRELAND 1. Determining whether any one issue can be taken to be more predominant than another in causing cultural anxiety in present-day Ireland. The many issues that are manifested in recent writings of Irish authors are as complex as the nature of the entire Celtic Tiger phenomenon. To mention but a few: fluctuations in the composition of local and international population, advancing technologies, mobility of the work force, globalisation of business and culture, free flow of skills and products between nations and continents, increasing competition in the market place - particularly from the far East, tension in the Middle East, global warming, environmental disintegration, threat of war, nuclear proliferation; all of these and more, are issues receiving attention in the media and in contemporary Irish writing and are they are causing much anxiety and tension in Irish society. An exhaustive examination of the works with a view to identifying and systematising the issues so as to arrive at some kind of ranking would neither be feasible nor relevant to this discussion - issues in literature at least can mercifully not be reduced to the level of statistics and quantification. Furthermore, the problem with Celtic Tiger is that it is, like its namesake in the wild and in every sense of the word, a living organism and as such it must, of necessity, be prepared and willing to constantly adapt and evolve in order to survive and compete with the many other predators in the global arena that it has so wholeheartedly entered into as a member of the larger European Community. 2. The Celtic Tiger in "Hibernation" For many centuries after its natural borders had been violated and its territory ravaged, the Tiger had been kept at bay within the enforced boundaries of colonial domesticity and confinement. Being so close to the colonial oppressor meant that it was always relatively easy to control its naturally restless nature, and to suppress any activity that could offer a shot at freedom; no matter how tenuous. In due course this local form of colonial domination was greatly aggravated by conflict and turbulence resulting from the relentless drive for liberaty amongst other captive communities manipulated into colonial boundaries all over the globe. In this context Ireland had become even more useful to its not-so-distant master as it could serve as an example of compliance or, if rebellious, for demonstrating retaliation; a handy place where overt and covert methods of suppression and aggression could be tried and tested before putting them into practice further afield. 3. Wishful thinking. Even though Ireland had a stated policy of neutrality, the country was inevitably also affected by wars amongst nations beyond its borders. Powerful neighbours could demand aid and provisions, they could control harbours and communications and they could ration food supplies and other essential products. Active participation by individuals in support of Western Allies during the two World wars was not uncommon, though not generally acceptable amongst traditionally nationalist communities. 4. Long-term Effects of War After the Great wars many of the involved nations realised that the demographic composition of their populations had been drastically altered and the effects would prove to be permanent. They had lost of millions and millions of young men in the prime of their lives and there was no way of predicting the effects of these losses. Their younger generations of men had either perished in conflict or had subsequently succumbed to damage sustained on grim battle fields far away from home - all engaged in doing their perceived duty; on the one hand there was the propaganda-induced patriotic fervour of the aggressive male warrior and on the other hand the unavoidable duty to defend homeland territory, national honour and liberty. At least in all of these terrible events there is the redeeming knowledge that the majority of these lost generations of fighting men had been conscripted into service with scant opportunity for making choices, even if they objected to military action or had better ideas than their superiors for saving lives after the action had commenced. 5. Women and girls drawn into the mainstream. This bizarre scenario, the result of maniacal ambitions of political despots and psychopathic ideological tyrants, had profound effects not only on the people and property of imagined enemies, but also, ultimately, the aggressors destroyed themselves and their own way of life. Inevitably women and girls were drawn into the conflict and its aftermath on all fronts; during times of conflict their services were vital in all aspects of defence and maintenance of operations at home, while behind the front-lines they soldiered side-by-side with their men, wherever their support was essential for providing auxiliary services in fields where it was felt that they would be relativelysafe. By the time conflict had subsided and peace was negotiated, women had become an indispensable part of the workforce since all hands were now needed for the many programmes aimed at reconstruction of towns and cities and restoration of civil order and services. Exposure to the male-created and male-dominated world of industrial, commercial and professional activity began to create a greater awareness about women's disadvantaged and inferior status in society. They had now acquired at least some personal experience of the kind of freedom and independence and self-esteem that opportunities in the job market could offer. It soon became clear that women were never again going to be satisfied with virtually belonging to father, husband, custodian, or institution. Furthermore, continuing revelations of the unspeakable cruelties inflicted on innocent victims of the holocaust and reports of incidents of indiscriminate genocide and destruction behind popular banners such as guerrillas for liberation or social engineering for the sake of economic reform - all of these created an unbearable sense of outrage and disillusionment with accepted but ineffective norms of the old order; norms inevitably associated the "establishment" and attributed to and associated with male-dominated traditions. 6. Activism and Protest Movements. It was felt that new ways would have to be forged to ensure that the disasters of the 20th Century would never be repeated. Protest and activist groups began to emerge in many countries and, not surprisingly, women would be at the forefront for they had suffered as much as their men without having been consulted or directly involved in the causes or decisions. At the start women's groups were formed to strive for better conditions within the status quo; for greater respect for their role as mothers, daughters and nurturers; for greater acknowledgement of the value of these functions and better facilities for the needs of women and girls. These groups became known as the more liberal of women's movements. In due course, however, women's demands grew stronger as they became more discontented with the fact that they were still regarded, in the eyes of society, as less worthy than their male counterparts. Emphasis moved from such "liberal" demands to the more strident demands of the socialist-oriented feminist groups who insisted that women must be granted equal rights and equal status as human beings and citizens. Not only did they want equal rights but they also demanded new services and facilities to cater for the special needs of women and girls. Progress towards these goals and ideals was obviously slow and arduous in view of the fact that both men and women of the existing social order could not easily adapt to such major changes in their attitudes and their existing ways of seeing the world through the eyes of male-regulated social constructs and age-old traditions. 7. Women's Movements in Ireland. Women's movements in Ireland, though aligned with similar movements in other parts of the world, were perceived to be more forceful and more determined than many of the others. It is possible that Irishwomen's sense of outrage and frustration might have been compounded by the fact that their men-folk were outwardly regarded as relatively easy-going, witty and handy, but rather hapless, attitudes and impressions as the result of centuries of oppression, whereas behind the closed doors of church and home and officialdom, women's experiences were different. There, away from the public eye, men could be domineering, ungallant, manipulative, and sometimes even violent and abusive. This is not to say that similar conditions did not prevail elsewhere; it is only offered as a suggestion to explain why it is that these Irishwomen's organisations were so determined and why wave after wave of feminism swept over Ireland in the period after the World Wars of the 20th Century. (A brand of feminism that seems to subside from time to time, but is never really dormant and is inclined to flare up whenever there appears to be an issue in need of feminist-type action.) Irishwomen in particular, perhaps from being for so long at the bottom of the pile of the oppressed, felt discriminated against and victimised by most of the male-dominated institutions, including state, church and marriage. Demands grew into a manifest determination to cast off the shackles of house-bound suppression, not because women resented home-making and child-bearing, but because these responsibilities were regarded as second-nature to women, their inevitable lot in life, doing "what comes naturally" and therefore not valuable or worthy of reward in the same sense as men's work. In a sense girls continued to belong to fathers and husbands were custodians of their wives' affairs. 8. Women and The Church. As if these conditions were not demeaning enough, the church, as represented by the clergy, whose decision-makers and enforcers of rules were always male, also demanded control over women's personal lives in terms of even their most excruciatingly private issues such as conception and contraception and, above all, of child-bearing and submission. Quite literally, the outlook for most wives was that once they were married, they had virtually no further say over their own biological future; they would be subject to decisions made by husbands, priests and government and they would also, in their child-bearing capacity, be subjects of the Vatican. The blatant use of the all-encompassing power of the church to manipulate and control the personal lives of women is amply illustrated in a poem by 1 Austen Clarke, "The Redemptorist" in which he describes how a wretched woman who finds herself in terrible circumstances, desperately weak and run-down, already with six 1. Clarke, A., Selected by Donovan, Katie, A. Norman Jeffares, Brendan Kennelly. Ireland's Women : Writings Past and Present, Select W.W. Norton & Company, New York - London, 1994, From: Ireland's Women : Writing Past and Present, p.18. children and inconsiderate husband, is warned by her priest, to whom she has obviously turned for advice, that she has committed some immortal sin and cannot be forgiven until she goes home and conceives yet again. As predicted by her doctor, the outcome for her is death and for her children, the orphanage. It could be said that this situation is over-dramatised by the poet, but not likely as it would appear that such travesties of moral justice could not have been entirely uncommon. By all accounts it is true that women were expected to carry on conceiving and bearing children regardless of such considerations as health or income; contraceptives were not permitted in Ireland until very recently, even when safe scientific methods were freely available to their sisters in other countries, and even, ironically, over the border with the North. 9. Women's Entitlement to Appropriate Services. Clearly women newly-informed women would find these circumstances outrageous and unacceptable; especially the younger generations generations of women, and they were not going to submit to such indignities forever; they would in future fight for freedom of choice in marriage and family planning; they would demand access to clinics for the special needs of girls and women; they would look forward to the day when contraception would be legalised and when modern contraceptive methods would be freely available to all women irrespective of social or financial status. In other words, women wanted full and autonomous citizenship in their own country. but along with that they also made it quite clear that women had special needs and that they do whatever it takes to get these needs recognised and to be sure that facilities for these needs would be created. The efforts of women's and feminist movements have not been in vain as all over the country there is evidence of facilities such as well-women's clinics, women's studies departments in universities and colleges; research projects for the study of women's emotional and physical problems and afflictions and integrated sports and social activities. By and large women are impressed with the progress that has been made, but there are still many problems to be addressed, and many of these problems, such as sexual abuse and violence at home and beyond, sexual harassment, unequal wages, representation in government - all these matters are the cause of a great deal of anxiety are subjects for discussion in the media and in contemporary literature. 10. Women poets, writers, journalists, and publishers. Expressing needs was one thing but getting politicians and organisations to take notice would depend on getting sufficient public enthusiasm and support. This could only be achieved by creating a great deal of publicity and it was soon discovered that the more controversial the issues, the more the media would get involved. Media were important to project issues and demands into the public domain for serious consideration. Not to have to rely on established media services, women began to produce their own journals, newspapers, and books with protest and political works often as the overriding theme. Some examples of these are: The Banshee: Journal of Irishwomen United; Fownes Street Journal; Women's News Magazine. In 1984 a feminist publishing house, The Attic Press, was established in Dublin. The Salmon Press in County Clare is another example of a publishing group which has done a great service for women writers and is still actively engaged in promoting women's poetry. 11. The Irish Counter-Culture and Globalisation. Women writers and artists, with their focus on issues not previously discussed in public, began to attract a great deal of attention and in this exhilarating atmosphere a kind of Irish counter-culture was conceived and in time would come to flourish and exist side-by-side in a kind of dissonant but highly-successful partnership with the established social order; still regarded as male-created and largely male-dominated. This almost schizophrenic setting, where men and women found themselves sometimes in opposition and at other times in harmony, became fertile ground for the discovery, exploitation and promotion of creative talents (music, literature, architecture) as well as all the other Celtic Tiger attributes, such as commercial, industrial and technological expertise and energy as are currently associated with the Irish success phenomenon. One can only wonder if the Tiger would have thrived so well without the ferocious nurturing that it has received from its female sponsor. 12. Irish Literary Achievements. This is not to say that there had ever been a dearth of Irish talent in the field of literature, for Irishness had long been associated with story-telling, poetry and, particularly from late 19th century and into the 20th century, Irish writers such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett were widely-read and greatly acclaimed, to the extent that there were already three Nobel Prize winners amongst them by the time women writers joined in the writing fray. During the time in question, literary methods had evolved from the formal style and objectivist/omniscient point of view of the 19th century to the modernist fashions of the 20th century where authors and artists would move away from the objective and begin to explore the worlds of their experience subjectively - examining inner impressions and drawing from what came to be known as inner states of consciousness, as in the works of James Joyce. And this is no wonder for much was being made of the popular ideas of psychologists such as Edmund Freud who were probing the sub-conscious and unconscious mind in order to discover the origins and vagaries of human behaviour. The modernistic outlook had, however, only recently evolved from the previously accepted formal traditions, and was not fully comfortable with too much fragmentation of the inner experience whereas later writers, who had been exposed to so much fragmentation in real life, began to accept and embrace the freedom of expression, movement, and transformational opportunities that the postmodern era could offer. Writers could grasp each moment, whatever its content, as it occurred, without undue reference to tradition, form, or cultural constraints. 13. Eavan Boland. In the work of Eavan Boland this evolution from realism to modernism to Post-modernism can be quite clearly observed. As she says herself in the 1Preface to her "Collected Poems": "In a certain sense, I began in a city and a poetic world where the choices and assumptions were near enough to those of the nineteenth century poet. The formal poem was respected The wit of the stanza was admired more than its drama. Most importantly, the poet's life - in the small circle I knew and even beyond it in the culture -was exalted in ways which were poignant and suspect at the same time. In my first collection those features of my environment showed up in poems which described a safe and well-lighted circle I can see myself as I was then trying to get cadences right and counting out stresses on a table. The poems are the visible evidence. (p. xi). The poems she is referring to include: "Athene's Song'; "New Territory"; "Migration"; "Three Songs for a Legend". In the process of her migration from formalism to postmodernism, Boland's work begins to show her increasing awareness of feminine concerns; issues of gender in 1. Eavan Boland, Collected Poems, Carcanet Press Ltd., London, 1995. p.ix. Irish private and public life and the predicament of women in striving to survive in the isolation of suburban home and duties. The poem 1 "In His Own Image", reflects many of these elements: "I was not myself, myself, The celery feathers, the bacon flitch, the cups deep on the shelf and my cheek coppered and shone, in the kettle's paunch, my mouth blubbed in the tin of the pan they were all I had to go on. How could I go on With such meagre proofs of myself I woke day after day. Day after day I was gone From the self I was last night. And then he came home tight. Such a simple definition How did I miss it Now I see that all I needed was a hand to mould my mouth, to scald my cheek was this concussion by whose lights I find my self-possession where I grow complete. He splits my lip with his fist shadows my eye with a blow,] knuckles my neck to its proper angle. What a perfectionist! His are a sculptors hands. they summon form from the void they bring me to myself again I am a new woman. 1. E. Boland, Collected Poems, Carcanet Press, Manchester, 1995, pp. 57-58. In this poem there is an exploration of many of the exclusively feminine predicaments and issues which are extensively examined in contemporary literature, in the press, by women's organisations, in the Dail and, and, as a result, many cases are reported and taken to court: In the lines, 'I was not myself, myself' there is fear and confusion, a typical identity crisis, aggravated by the soul-destroying boredom of daily household chores and suburban isolation; women's tenuous position as useful sexual object: 'my cheek coppered and shone in the kettle's paunch, my mouth blubbed in the tin of the pan they were all I had to go on."; desperation and feeling of striving and yet going nowhere: 'How can I go on With such meagre proofs of myself' Drunken domestic abuse, as in: 'And then he came home tight Now I see that all I needed was a hand to mould my mouth, to scald my cheek He splits my lip with his fist, shadows my eye with a blow, knuckles my neck to its proper angle. What a perfectionist! His are a sculptor's hands: they summon up form from void, they bring me to myself again. I am a new woman.' (in the isolation of nuclear family life in the suburbs, the male has the social power and physical strength to decide whether his wife's behaviour is good or bad, whether she needs to be reformed, whether he can batter and mould her to his passing standards of perfection, to transform her in 'his own image' so that, at least for the time being, for as long as it pleases him, she is a 'new woman'. It is not uncommon for 'him' to be quite innocent when the new day arrives and he is more sober, when, at such times he could even resort to charming and apologetic behaviour so that his wife is convinced that she could be to blame and his reaction could have been a mere lapse. She finds then, that she cannot explain to herself how it is that: 'Day after day I was gone from the self I was last night'. Even though Boland does not set out to produce political works, she discovers that evening in the act of writing about themes, predicaments, mundane objects, chores and complex problems that are the province of women's lives, she has joined the political arena. In her own version of the postmodern style, she is able to record, as a poet, both the ordinary and extraordinary, to catch a fleeting glimpse, whether profound or ordinary, to bring bits and fragments together and to and to blend all of these loosely-related elements into a composite picture reflecting time, space, fashion, and subjective imagination. Boland's feminine predicament as an isolated and busy housewife in a suburban setting prompted her to realise that she could not indulge in the customary life of the city-bound poet. Henceforth she would have to take advantage of any free moment and to sketch in words the images of routines and objects that she observed. Her suburban poems focus, whether intentionally or not, on gender issues; issues that women must contend with, such as raising children, dealing with their problems, enjoying their childhood and yet fearing the time when they would have to leave the safety of home; issues of the crushing boredom of housework; relationships at home and in the neighbourhood; issues of womanhood and married life. It was not only adult womanhood that concerned her. Boland, with her own childhood and young life always vividly remembered, could identify with the problems of modern girls and young women In her poem, 1 Anorexic, she explores the possible conscious and unconscious turmoil as experienced by younger females trying to cope with the pressures of growing up, confusion arising from physical and emotional metapmorphosis, devastating feelings of guilt associated with real or 1. Eavan Boland, Collected Poems, Carcanet Press, Manchester, 1995, p.58. imaginary sexual encounters and the pressures of peer groups and contemporary demands of fashion. The poem: Flesh is heretic, My body is a witch I am burning it. Yes I am torching her curves and paps and wiles. they scorch in my self denials. How she meshed my head in the half-truths of her fevers till I renounced milk and honey and the taste of lunch. I vomited her hungers now the bitch is burning I am starved and curveless I am skin and bone. She has learned her lesson. Think as a rib I turn in sleep. My dreams probe a claustrophobia a sensuous enclosure How warm it was and wide. Once by a warm drum, once by a song of his breath and in his sleeping side Only a little more, only a few more days sinless, foodless. I will slip back into him again as if I have never been away Caged so I will grow angular and holy past pain keeping his heart such company as will make me forget in a small space the fall Into forked dark into python needs eaving to hips and breasts and lips and heat and sweat and fat and greed. With the writer as subject, though herself the subject, as is possible in the postmodern style, Boland seems to have gained a powerful insight into how it happens that a some young women are prone to choosing the way of starvation in order to escape from the pain and anguish they feel in the process of migrating from the innocence of childhood to the perceived burdens adult womanhood. The poem highlights the obsessive concern with the self, the search for causes and reasons and the fact that ultimately and inevitably, the body itself must be the guilty party, as in: "My body is a witch" (v.1) Once the guilty party is identified, it is a foregone conclusion that it must be punished, and the best way of doing this is to starve that very body, as though it is a separate entity bent on destroying its host. In an unrelenting campaign of spite and revenge, the young woman is going to "torch" the "burning bitch", she will starve the living daylights out of it until it is: "skin and bone thin as a rib" and then, just maybe, she (the body) will have "learned her lesson". In the course of this schizophrenic inner drama, the young woman finds further causes for self-destruction, she either remembers a real encounter with the opposite sex, or an imaginary one. In her state of confusion this is not clear. But what is clear is that there was a sense of rejection, so it was not only a misdemeanor on her part, but it was also a humiliating experience - an experience that leaves her with an overwhelming feeling of disgust. A multitude of gender issues is evident in the "Anorexic" - anorexia being one of the most prevalent of contemporary female problems; one that seems to defy all logical explanation, solution or treatment. In the poem there is also a possible reference to a past experience of sexual abuse, a subject presently causing a great deal of anxiety, particularly amongst the clergy and other institutions who were supposed to have been responsible for the care of the young and disadvantaged of society. This poem is only one example of the many poems, articles, books, and films that are currently dealing with gender issues, and the greater the focus, the greater the level of anxiety and desire to find solutions. 14. Men's Gender Issues. Gender issues are, however, not limited exclusively to women's problems and concerns and they are not written about only by women. Paul Durcan is a contemporary postmodernist poet who treats both male and female subjects of gender in his work and often from an ironical or mocking point of view, as in 1 The Kilfenora Teaboy Teaboy': "Oh indeed my wife is handsome, She has a fire lighting in each eye, You can pluck laughter from her elbows, And from her knees pour money's tears; I make all my tea for her, I'm her teaboy on the hill, And I do a small bit of sheepfarming on the side." Like other postmodern writers, his work can often appear disjointed or fragmented as he explores the inner consciousness of his subject matter. He reveals much more than 1. 1. Colm Toibin. (ed.), The Kilfenora Teaboy: A Study of Paul Durcan, New Island Press, Dublin, 1996, p. 63. just concerns with gender issues, however. Contemporary subjects such as consumerism and obsessions with commercial symbols of wealth and egotistical achievement have become as ubiquitous as the advertisements that promote their proliferation by creating greater and greater needs. Like Boland, he sees himself as a transitional phantom in a universe to appears to be drifting and a world that is threatening to deconstruct itself. The imagery of a stairway to represent his indefinite position between shifting levels is similar to the way in which Boland uses the staircase imagery. Both have, in a sense, become fragments of the universe, never at home in any particular place, yet not particularly discontented as there are advantages in being able to shed the responsibilities associated with any physical address and if affords an ideal vantage point for observing the passing scene. 15. Conclusion. After considering some of the most prominent contemporary issues in Irish writing, it might well be said that the gender issue could well be accorded he predominant position, not because it is definitely so in terms of quantity or intensity of treatment, but rather because it could have created a forum for protest literature of all kinds and consequent opportunities for many other issues to be addressed, discussed and possibly even to be resolved. Local issues and concerns over the burgeoning numbers of asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, and migrant workers are causing a great deal of anxiety and tension. Other problems highlighted in the media and literature include predictions of hardship in years to come when demands of the ageing population are expected to exceed available resources; rising criminal activity and inability of the criminal and justice systems to deal with these problems; pros and cons of globalisation; inefficient medical services; inadequate child care facilities; the frightening effects of the increasing gap between rich poor; bribery and corruption - all of these issues are constantly raising public levels of anxiety and causing tensions between different groups. It is inevitable that these issues will be reflected in contemporary writing and it might not be far-fetched to suggest that the benefits achieved for women by themselves have inspired other many other groups to demand changes for the better, for themselves, for the global community and particularly to alleviate third-world poverty and disease. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Boland, E. New Territory. Cahill and Co., Ltd., Dublin, 1967. Boland, E. Night feed. Arlen House Limited, Dublin, 1982. Boland, E. The Journey and other poems. Carcanet Press Limited, Manchester, 1987. Boland, E. Collected Poems, Carcanet Press Limited, Manchester, 1995. Boland, E. Object Lessons : The Life of the Woman and the Poet in our time, Vintage, London, 1966. Boland, E. Outside History, Carcanet Press Limited, 1990. Connolly, L. and T. O'Toole. Documenting Irish Feminism : The Second Wave, The Woodfield Press, Dublin, 2005. Donovan, K., A. Norman Jeffares and B. Kennelly (eds.), Ireland's Women : Writings Past and Present. W.W. Norton & Company, New York - London, 1995 Ryan, R. (ed.). Writing in the Irish Republic : Literature, Culture, Politics 1949 - 1999, MacMillan Press Limited, London, 2000. Toibin, C. The Kilfenora Teaboy : A Study of Paul Durcan, New Island Books, Dublin, 1996 Read More