Edna O'Brien

Since the publication of her debut novel The Country Girls in 1960, Edna OBrien has experimented with an impressive range of forms and genres. Her most recent trilogy, completed in 1999 with the publication of Wild Decembers, focuses on issues surrounding contemporary Ireland such as terrorism, decolonisation and abortion law. Concentrating mainly on the novels from 1960 to the present day Amanda Greenwood contests critical perceptions of OBrien as a narrow chronicler of womens inner lives, arguing that OBriens writings are not only radical but deeply revealing of the position of women under patriarchy in Ireland and beyond; the later texts suggest the need for revisions of the social and symbolic orders. Drawing on French feminism, gender issues, Irish studies and ecocriticism, Greenwood explores OBriens representations and deconstruction of femininity, masculinity and Irishness'.