Beyond Postcoloniality: Meta-nationalism and National Irish Identity in the Modern Irish Novel

For critics such as Tom Inglis and Anthony Giddens identity is defined as the fruit of meticulous internal interactions between the geographical qualities, as in one’s nationality, social norms and personal features. While Inglis’s rationalization highlights the significance of the land as a major personal and social ‘marker’ in appropriating identity, he fails to address the most obvious question in the context of postcolonial Irish identity: what makes the contemporary Irish literature a difficult reflection of postcolonial identity, a variety which neither accepts the State’s atavistic nativism nor identifies with neocolonial parties and statesmen. The result, as this paper shall address by exploring the available literature, is what I call a Meta-national Irish identity, namely, a non-conformist mindset that seeks independence and recognition beyond Irish postcoloniality.