This book offers a wide-ranging analysis of the entire corpus of Medbh McGuckian's published work. Its objective is to provide both a readable synthesis of existing criticism, in a fashion which will be generally useful to academics and students, and also to offer an original contribution to the field of contemporary Irish literary studies on the basis of new research. The book investigates a variety of previously neglected themes, in particular McGuckian's exploration of ideas of creativity and performativity in her poetry. Over the past two decades McGuckian has been recognized by both her fellow poets and by literary critics as one of the most original, daring and important poetic voices in contemporary Ireland. Since 1982 she has published fifteen volumes of poetry, extraordinary not merely for its sustained quality and linguistic and technical virtuosity, but also for its constant evolution and reinvention. This book provides an original perspective on her work both thematically and methodologically. From a thematic perspective, the process of artistic creation is a key preoccupation of McGuckian's poetry which recurs in every volume of her oeuvre but has previously escaped critical attention. By adapting and refining theories of singularity and creativity, the book allows for a coherent analysis of this central aspect of McGuckian's work. Methodologically it differs from previous studies in the scope of its approach. Uniquely, it pursues its investigation across the entire breadth of the poet's published output and emphasizes the thematic unity of individual volumes in the light of the poet's constant change and development. Throughout the book, the reading of McGuckian's work concentrates on poems in their entirety, an approach which has not figured to any notable degree in the existing secondary literature on the poet, not least because of the perceived difficulty of her writing. A critical investigation, however, which respects both the integrity of the individual poems and the internal coherence of her various volumes allows for a far deeper understanding both of the poet's thematic preoccupations and of the evolution of her distinctive poetic voice.
Borbala Farago is Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow in the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University Budapest.
Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction One Literary Performance in Medbh McGuckian's Early Volumes: The Flower Master, Venus and the Rain, On Ballycastle Beach, and Marconi's Cottage Two The Politicized Aesthetic in Captain Lavender, Shelmalier, and Drawing Ballerinas Three Death and Spirituality in The Face of the Earth, Had I a Thousand Lives, and The Book of the Angel Four Inward Journeys: The Currage Requires No Harbour, My Love Has Fared Inland, and The High Caul Cap Five Thematic Readings of Medbh McGuckian's Work Afterword Bibliography About the Author Index
Borbala Farago's monograph Medbh McGuckian commits to examining a relatively diverse and interpretatively opaque body of poetry through the poet's biography.... Accompanied by regular references to published interviews and occasional private correspondence, this critical approach affords McGuckian an elevated position shaping the critical reception of her work. In opting for this approach, Farago has succeeded in producing a primary introductory text to McGuckian studies.... Medbh McGuckian works...to produce a thorough introduction to and detailed readings of poems, collections, an overview of the poetic career and an extensive bibliography which will orient the uninitiated McGuckian reader very well indeed. * Irish Studies Review *
