"Besides the Obvious": Postcolonial Criticism, Drama, and Civil Society

Abstract

This paper is a reflection on the proposition that, in Irish theatre criticism, some important aspects of civil society in Independent Ireland are written to the margins of public consciousness, if not written out altogether. I begin with some remarks on Independent Ireland (1922-present), on colonialism and its aftermath, nationalism, subjectivity, human agency, and the state. I consider the condition of contemporary theatre criticism — both journalistic and academic — and offer a view as to its implications for the art form, drama, and society in Ireland, as the cultural mutations of globalisation elaborate in the early years of the twenty-first century.