Contemporary Irish Republican Prison Writing

"An original study. In addition to using his readings of prison literature to highlight the continuing influence of a subtly conservative modernist aesthetic within the academy, Whalen also refutes elements of the poststructural theory that has represented new criticism s most widely-accepted alternative, rejecting in particular poststructuralism s pessimism concerning the possibility of human agency. Whalen s readings are superb; he deftly balances descriptions of the overall pieces he explicates, the historical and material conditions under which they were created, and the telling details on which he founds his surprisingly weighty arguments." - Margot Backus, University of Houston