Colin Graham, Deconstructing Ireland (Edinburgh University Press, 2001)
You can download a full text pdf of the book here (1.7MB): (Colin Graham-Deconstructing Ireland (2002)
Richard Kearney, reviewing Deconstructing Ireland in The Irish Times, wrote that it is a book that ‘bristles with bright ideas. It is a powerful example of how contemporary theoretical models … can be used to shed new light on the study of Irish culture. This book is a valuable contribution to the expanding Irish studies industry. It is written with panache and, at times, with ingenuity’.
Books Ireland called the book a ‘Fascinating cultural history … [with] some wonderful ideas and observations’
The journal Political Studies said ‘Graham’s critique of post-nationalism is arguably one of the most insightful yet published’
The reviewer in the Modern Fiction Studies wrote: ‘Deconstructing Ireland is a new kind of cultural history … a brilliant history of Irish literary criticism’
And the review in College Literature said: ‘Graham’s study covers a wide range of subjects, as he examines historical constructions of Irishness, architecture, literature and popular culture, His readings are fresh and exciting, applying postcolonial theory widely and helpfully, and the text as a whole is informative and, at many points, entertaining’
Colin Graham 