Sean and Julia O'Faolain: Generationally Conceptualizing Collective Memories of Trauma in Fiction
Humanities
History 196: Modern Irish History
This paper is a study on two Irish writers, father and daughter Sean and Julia O'Faolain. It places the O'Faolains' work in the context of Irish history to explore how generation influences understandings of past and present. Both O'Faolains produced bodies of work that deal with problems specific to two generations in Ireland. Sean O'Faolain, one of the most prolific and respected writers Ireland ever produced, was born in 1900. He grew up to fight in the War of Independence and Civil War before embarking on a career as a writer. Much of his fiction is about the trauma of war and violence, and coming to terms with disappointment after a revolution did not deliver on its promises. These were some of the biggest issues Irish people of Sean O'Faolain's generation had to contend with. Julia O'Faolain, born in 1932, followed in her father's footsteps by becoming a talented and influential writer in her own right. Her work deals with the problems specific to the generation that came of age in the 1950s and 1960s, namely Ireland's social conservatism and ongoing oppression of women.
