A Family Affair: Family and Feminism in Contemporary Irish Women's Fiction

• Main Author: Ryan, Mary
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: contemporary women's fiction; Ireland and Irish society; family; female friendships; lesbian continuum
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/budhi/vol16/iss1/2; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/budhi/article/1064/viewcontent/Budhi_2016.1_205_20Article_20__20RYAN.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Despite the fact that the contemporary women’s fiction genre of chick lit is most commonly considered in terms of its apparent focus on romantic relationships, this paper suggests that these are not the only relationships that chick lit heroines embark on. Examining a selection of specifically Irish chick lit novels, this paper explores how they present Irish families in the twenty f irst century, and discusses the genre’s demonstration of how the notion of “family” is changing for many Irish women who, no longer secluded and repressed within the home as many Irish women once were, now increasingly f ind additional comfort and support from their “urban families”— that is, their circle of friends. This paper examines the novels from a primarily feminist perspective, by discussing how the novels are providing women with a sense of identity and status within the family, and support outside the family in the form of strong female friendships, with extra theoretical support from adrienne rich’s notion of the lesbian continuum, which places positive emphasis on all of the women-centred relationships that women encounter throughout their lives.