IRISH-AMERICAN PATRIOTISM: THE TRANSATLANTIC POLITICS AND HUMANIST CULTURE OF COLUM MCCANN

Authors

  • Alfred Markey University of León, Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This article proposes the novel TransAtlantic, from the Irish-American writer Colum McCann, as an example of what Edward Said called a “countermemory.” Such a countermemory facilitates the taking of critical positions against what the British intellectual Tony Judt called the “Washington Consensus:” the ideological ‘pensée unique’ which has dominated the Western world in recent decades, resulting in the substitution of an ethically-informed public conversation by a powerful discourse which prioritises, above all, the values of the so-called marketplace. This article explores how, via his historical novel, his participation as a public intellectual and through his concept of identity as art, McCann gives us a world of different values, values of trans-national and universal solidarity which implicate figures from Frederick Douglass to Barack Obama or the Hollywood actor Gabriel Byrne, and are expressed perhaps most radically in the language of what we may call an Irish-American “patriotism.”

RESUMEN

Este artículo propone la novela TransAtlantic del escritor irlandés-americano Colum McCann como ejemplo de lo que Edward Said ha llamado una “contramemoria.” Dicha contramemoria sirve la toma de posiciones críticas ante lo que el intelectual británico Tony Judt denominó el “Consenso de Washington:” el ‘pensée unique’ ideológico que ha dominado el mundo occidental en las últimas décadas, y ha supuesto la sustitución de una conversación pública de carácter ética por un poderoso discurso que prima, por encima de todo, los valores del llamado mercado. El artículo explora como, a través de su novela histórica, de su participación como intelectual público y de su concepto de identidad como arte, McCann presenta un mundo de valores distintos, valores de solidaridad trans-nacional y universal que implican a figuras desde Frederick Douglass hasta Barack Obama o el actor de Hollywood Gabriel Byrne, expresándose quizá más radicalmente a través del lenguaje de lo que podemos llamar un “patriotismo” irlandés-americano.

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Author Biography

Alfred Markey, University of León, Spain

Department of Modern Languages

Lecturer in English

References

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Published

2020-12-25

How to Cite

Markey, A. “IRISH-AMERICAN PATRIOTISM: THE TRANSATLANTIC POLITICS AND HUMANIST CULTURE OF COLUM MCCANN”. Revista De Estudios Norteamericanos, vol. 24, Dec. 2020, pp. 135-57, https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/ESTUDIOS_NORTEAMERICANOS/article/view/12306.
Received 2020-07-29
Accepted 2020-11-11
Published 2020-12-25