Trauma, Memory and Silence of the Irish Woman in Contemporary Literature: Wounds of the Body and the Soul

This volume studies the manifestations of female trauma through the exploration of multiple wounds, inflicted on both body and mind (Caruth 1996, 3) and the soul of Irish women from Northern Ireland and the Republic within a contemporary context, and in literary works written at the turn of the twenty-first century and beyond. These artistic manifestations connect tradition and modernity, debunk myths, break the silence with the exposure of uncomfortable realities, dismantle stereotypes and reflect reality with precision. Women’s issues and female experiences depicted in contemporary fiction may provide an explanation for past and present gender dynamics, revealing a pathway for further renegotiation of gender roles and the achievement of equilibrium and equality between sexes. These works might help to seal and heal wounds both old and new and offer solutions to the quandaries of tomorrow.

Madalina Armie earned a master’s degree in English language and literature (2014) from the University of Almería. She completed her PhD on the contemporary Irish short story at the turn of the twenty-first century at the University of Almería (2019), for which she obtained the EIDUAL Dissertation Award 2019 for Best Doctoral Dissertation (2021) and the honorary second prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation in Studies for Equality and the Fight against Gender Violence of the University of Almeria (2022). Her current areas of research include the contemporary Irish short story and Irish women’s writing. She has published articles and reviews in international journals, such as Irish Studies Review, Estudios Irlandeses, Review of Irish Studies in Europe (RISE) and Studi Irlandesi. Armie is the author of the monograph The Irish Short Story at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: Tradition, Society and Modernity also published by Routledge. She is currently teaching at the University of Almeria, Spain.

Veronica Membrive completed her PhD at the University of Almería (2017) on Irish travel writers in Spain during the twentieth century. She has published articles and book chapters on Walter Starkie, Kate O’Brien, Aidan Higgins, Pearse Hutchison and their travels in Spain. She is currently teaching English at the University of Almería. She has been awarded the International George Campbell Award for her research on Hiberno-Spanish cultural relations (University of Málaga, 2018).