Darby O'Gill and the construction of Irish identity

Abstract

This thesis investigates the role of the term ?Darby O?Gill? in the modern Irish consciousness as a signifier of a pejorative construction of Irish identity and the extent to which it is justified when all cultural incarnations of Darby O?Gill and the version of Ireland that he inhabits are taken into account. It investigates not only whether it is justified to apply this cultural signifier to Darby O?Gill but also whether the emphasis that is placed upon the signifier in Irish cultural discourse obscures a more complex and interesting construction of Irish identity. This thesis constitutes the first sustained and comprehensive scholarly analysis of either the literary or the cinematic incarnation of Darby O?Gill. It examines the origins of Darby O?Gill and his Ireland in the literary fairy tales of Anglo-Irish-American children?s author Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, which were published in the diasporic space of Irish America at the turn of the twentieth century. It also examines the 1959 live-action film adaptation by Walt Disney Productions, Darby O?Gill and the Little People, upon which Darby O?Gill?s notoriety appears to be founded. This examination will consist of close textual analysis, socio-historical and cultural contextualisation, the application of relevant literary and cultural theories and relevant, pre-existing scholarship and findings from archival research which has been conducted for this project. The main areas of literary and cultural thought that feature in this thesis relate to fairy tales and folklore, children?s literature, Irish-American literature, representations of Irishness in American popular culture and, most especially, Irish-American ethnic identity in the diasporic space.