Queer Possessions: Creative Criticism and Modern Irish Literature (Irish Studies)

Too often, fleeting moments rooted in queer experience have appeared in popular fiction, only to be little remarked upon, often noted only as a sign of continuing neoliberal social advances. In <i>Queer Possessions: Creative Criticism and Modern Irish Literature, </i>Patrick Mullen makes the case for a more personal analysis of these moments, finding ways for readers to create new meaning and explore closer readings of key texts. <i>Queer Possessions </i>is divided between close readings of modern Irish novels and films and creative readings of the same texts, to give readers the tools to engage more deeply with the process of analysis and criticism. In the first mode, Mullen examines how modern Irish literature has frequently featured comedy to represent queer sexuality and economic crisis in the twenty-first century. This analysis allows for the second mode, in which the text helps readers to assume a critical role, encouraging their own creative readings of texts and imagining more of the works. Equal parts critical and playful, <i>Queer Possessions </i>works to rediscover misplaced queer history, encourage new forms of experiencing text, and empower readers to create new interpretations and works.

<b>Patrick R. Mullen </b>is an associate professor of English at Northeastern University. He is the author of <i>The Poor Bugger’s Tool: Irish Modernism, Queer Labor, and Postcolonial History.</i>