Telling Irish stories, narrating Irish selves

Combining insights from research into narrative and identity, memory theories and narratology, this study explores the relationship between the self and narrative in works by contemporary Irish writers. Storytelling is a frequent subject in Irish prose and, as the author demonstrates, a growing number of Irish writers investigate the relationship between narrative, identity and memory, and ask probing questions about the right of individuals to challenge and retell past stories. The study examines these different visions of narrative self-making, paying particular attention to the process of the 'liberating' of identities - the growing sense of the constructability of identity, and the increasing recognition of the possibility of retelling the stories of self and society.