Grazia Deledda (1871-1936) and Irish women writers : nation and transgression

Abstract

This analysis explores the connections between Nobel Prize winner Grazia Deledda (1871-1936) and Irish women writers, many of whom despite popularity at the time have been met with critical silence. Two dominant themes emerge, both in the cultural background in Sardinia and Ireland, and in the narratives considered: nation and transgression. Engaging with these themes, chapter one introduces Deledda within the framework of cultural nationalism, and as a woman writer in the Sardinian and Italian contexts. It examines the cultural parallels in Ireland and illustrates the unorthodox voices of Irish women writers, many of whom have been occluded from literary criticism by a skewed focus on the Irish revival. Chapter two details the nuts and bolts of Deledda's Sardinia, from her focus on land, legend and language to the mechanism of crime and punishment, the recurring theme of temptation and the rebellious heroine breaking out of her mould. The subsequent close readings employ the theories of linguist and philosopher Julia Kristeva, particularly her ideas on identity and alterity. Chapter three examines concepts of national and personal identity in a comparison between Deledda, Katharine Tynan (1859-1931) and M.E. Francis (1859-1930), exploring ideas of separation and loss in the text.