Between Tradition and Renewal: The Representation of Identity in the Contemporary Irish Short Story

Abstract

This paper introduces a doctoral research study on the representation of Irish identity in the contemporary short story from writers such as Kevin
Barry, Gerard Donovan, Colin Barrett, Claire Keegan and William Trevor. In
the study, which is currently in progress, the goal is to identify how the  political, economic and social transformations through which Ireland went in the recent years helped shaping the national identity – or identities – that make up the country, historically known for a well-established image of Irishness that was, in some way, dictated by art.