Recent years have witnessed an extraordinary growth in the richness and diversity of Irish fiction, with the publication of highly original and consistently challenging work by both new and established writers. Contemporary Irish Fiction provides an invaluable introduction to this exciting but largely uncharted area of literary criticism by bringing together 12 accessible, authoritative and stimulating essays by leading critics from Ireland, Britain and North America. Using a variety of critical methods and theoretical approaches, the contributors examine changing fictional narratives of...

The concept of community is increasingly the focus of political argument in Britain, the United States and elsewhere around the world. The sense people have of belonging to communities provides a powerful motivation which continues to affect the political and social face of the world. Recently, debate about the relationship between individuals and their communities has become central to the making of both American and European social policy. In the United Kingdom this is especially apparent in the area of health care, where ideas of community have informed recent legislation concerning...