Irishness In Frank O’Connor’s Short Stories:a Perspective Of Diaspora Criticism

Frank O’Connor(1903-1966)was a celebrated short story writer in the twentieth century and a representative “cultural diaspora” in the Post Colonization.“Diaspora” not only vividly suggests the basic features of Frank O’Connor’s living conditions,but also indicates the writer’s creating styles.thus,it is highly likely that the short story of Frank O’Connor displays a distinctive Irishness.In terms of diaspora criticism,this thesis employs the methodology of close reading and relative theory of post-colonialism,taking O’Connor’s experience of exile into consideration,aiming at exploring his Irishness that displayed in his short stories.This thesis also puts O’Connor’s short stories into the discourse of the specific history and culture,surveying his Irishness from three aspects: diasporic group,small-town world and family cell,which helps to give a further understanding and research on O’Connor’s short stories as well.There are six chapters in this thesis,among which chapter 4 and chapter 5are main body of this thesis.These two main chapters firstly outline Frank O’Connor’s Irishness in terms of his special experiences on exile and then analyze how his Irishness is displayed in his short stories.Chapter 4 illustrates that Frank O’Connor has been exiled two times because of the sensitive social and cultural background of Ireland.He suffered from the cultural loss and tried to build his distinctive Irishness in such a “rootless”condition.Chapter 5 analyzes the most representative short stories of Frank O’Connor,generalizing his Irishness from three aspects: the identity crisis of submerged group and illegitimate children’s pursuit for homeland;confusion and conflict of small-town world;critique of Catholic life and pursuit for spiritual homeland.This thesis has two innovative viewpoints.One of them is that this thesis probes into the experiences of Frank O’Connor’s exile from the perspective of diaspora,thus providing a correct and comprehensive understanding for his Irishess.The second one is that this thesis examines Frank O’Connor’s unique and profound Irishness in the writer’s “rootless”condition.