Consultation Hours Academic Year 2011-12

Tuesday 13.30-14.30; Thursday 12.00-13.00

Colin’s research interests are in literary and cultural theory, Irish writing, and photography. Colin’s publications include Deconstructing Ireland (Edinburgh University Press, 2001) and Ideologies of Epic: Nation, Empire and Victorian Epic Poetry (Manchester University Press, 1998). He is co-editor, with Richard Kirkland, of Ireland and Cultural Theory (Macmillan, 1999) and, with Glenn Hooper, Irish and Postcolonial Writing (Palgrave, 2002). He is currently co-editor of The Irish Review. He has also edited Robert Browning, Men and Women and Other Poems (1993) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Selected Poems (1996). Colin is a regular contributor to The Vacuum, an arts magazine based in Belfast.

Recent Publications

Deconstructing Ireland

Deconstructing Ireland examines the course by which the history of modernity and colonialism has constructed an idea of “Ireland,” produced more often as a citation than an actuality. The author's approach—using Derridean deconstruction in alliance with positions in postcolonial and Subaltern Studies—illuminates the way in which national identity is constructed and reconfigured through a fascinating range of material, including literature, political writing, and popular cultural forms such as television, film, and advertising. Click here to purchase this publication.

Irish and Postcolonial Writting

Cutting across geographical boundaries, literary genres and historical periods, Irish & Postcolonial Writing examines the complex, sometimes contested legacy of Ireland's postcolonial history. From the Act of Union to the present day, these essays consider how Irish writing responded to the history of colonial contact, in what ways in drew on the experience of other cultures, and how those comparative histories were translated and utilised. Opening with a number of essays dealing with the theoretical implications of a postcolonial reading of Ireland, the book's three-part structure then presents a series of comparative essays which appraise Ireland in relation to the Caribbean, the Orient, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, while a final section offers a number of readings of twentieth century writers. Underlining the necessity for an integration of history, theory and practice, these essays examine a range of influences and interconnections, with contributors engaging with debates within cultural and gender studies, historiography, and nationalism. A much needed response to the expanding interest in Irish and Postcolonial studies, this essay collection brings together the work of several established as well as younger scholars. Click here to purchase this publication.