第一章 “我看起来很摩登”：日常叙事中的政治隐喻
多伊尔以“日常经验”为基础的个体化书写回应了爱尔兰复兴文学中“家-国”同构的叙事模式，对自由主义所宣传的“民主”和“法制”思想表示了认同。在爱尔兰，民族主义者以宪法形式予以保护的“家-国”同构政治模式有其深刻的经济、宗教和文化内涵。从文学角度来看，这一模式既影响了文学创作的素材选择、价值取向与美学风格，也影响了文学批评的论辩焦点与情感倾向。自20世纪70年代以来，极端民族主义的恐怖行径引发了公众对民族主义的重新审视，不断曝光的教会丑闻严重削弱了天主教在社会意识形态领域的统治地位，这一切使民族国家的结构和功能成为保守主义与自由主义争论的焦点，前者坚持“家-国”同构的政治模式，后者要求区分“民族”与“国家”，强调个体作为公民的权利。多伊尔是支持后者的，他以未婚先孕、中年失业、家庭暴力为题材，挖掘家庭作为政治隐喻的丰富内涵，探讨的是在实现民族独立之后，国家应该如何处理社会监督与个体自由的矛盾，如何以公平、公正为根本原则维护公民的合法权利。
Chapter One “I Look Modern”
：Family as a Political Construct
This chapter explores how “family problems”(marital breakdown, unmarried pregnancy, and domestic violence) have been utilized in The Barrytown Trilogy, Paddy Clarke and The Woman to develop a critique of the ills of the Church's monopoly on public morality, and also to represent the dynamics of the political campaigns for/against nationalist ideology of the ideal Irish family in contemporary Ireland．For all its “allegorical”style, Doyle's family stories enact the liberal narrative of “a modern Ireland”as it is embodied in a joyous celebration of sex, increasing social acceptance of abortion and legal change on divorce.
The “sanctity of the family”in nationalist ideology was enshrined in the 1937 Constitution and envisioned by de Valera in a greatly admired radio broadcast on St．Patrick's Day in 1943：
That Ireland which we dreamed of would be the home of a people who valued material wealth only as the basis of right living …… who were satisfied with frugal comfort and devoted their leisure to the things of the spirit—a land whose countryside would be bright with cosy homesteads, whose fields and villages would be joyous with the sounds of industry, with the romping of sturdy children, the contests of athletic youths and the laughter of comely maidens; whose firesides would be the forums of the wisdom of serene old age．(My emphasis)
De Valera's speech defined the ideal Irish family as a place where tradition, faith, work and enjoyment can blend naturally with each other and harmonize together．Specifically, nationalist construction of the space of the family home associated life based around the Irish “cosy homestead”with an agricultural economy (which to some extent defines the roles of the family members), religious piety, and the parallel between the national solidarity and the familial stability and security.
Looking at her wedding photographs taken in the Church, Paula thinks, “I look modern”(W, 128)．The immediate context is related to a juxtaposition of a more secular, commodified narration (photography) and a sacred moment (a church wedding)．Camera, as an expensive consumer item in the 1970s, performs the crucial role of transforming the experience of a religious ritual into a spectacle．The camera is a metaphor．It is one of the most intimate agents of the incoming consumer culture which poses a direct threat to the official culture of Catholic Ireland．With the demise of the small family farm, which was “finally sealed by the transformation of Irish agriculture following entry into the EEC in 1973”(Kennedy 6), de Valera's vision of Irish family/society as a pre-modern “cosy homestead”where people would be satisfied with “frugal comfort”was undermined by a capitalist, consumption-oriented economy．Indeed, Doyle's characters experience a shift from “sufficiency”to “inadequacy”．Describing his childhood in the suburb of Dublin in the late 1960s, Paddy says, “There were no supermarkets yet, just grocers and shops that sold everything．Once when we were out on a walk, Ma asked for the Evening Press, four Chocpops, a packet of Lyons Green Label and a mouse trap and the woman was able to get them all without stretching”(P, 156)．In his recollection of the decisive decade in Ireland, Tobin identifies the emergence of supermarket as one conspicuous feature of the new economy：“Supermarkets effected a subtle but decisive change in urban lifestyle．Not only were the intimacy and credit facilities of the neighborhood grocer superseded, but the habit of shopping by day, a strong one in working-class areas, was weakened．Supermarkets …… transformed shopping form a partly social activity into a purely consumer one”(100).
In an age suffused with mass production and consumerism,Paddy's nostalgia, as McGlynn points out, sounds a critical note．But of equal importance is Paula's willingness to accept the “modern”and the “new”．An implied repudiation of “de Valera's dream”in the new era was as much a political and ideological shift as it was a shift in economic policy．The transformation involved a reconfiguration of Irishness as urban and metropolitan, a condition that can be secured through a repudiation of the supposedly conservative rural and Catholic nationalism, in favor of a progressive and a more secular and liberal mindset．People of a liberal persuasion advocate a brand-new representation of Ireland whether in media or in literature．Commenting on present Irish suburban novels, Fintan O'Toole argues,
New places have been born, places without history, without the accumulated resonances of centuries, places that prefigure the end of the fierce notion of Irishness that sustained the state for seventy years．Sex and drugs and rock “n”roll are more important in the new places than the old Irish totems of Land, Nationality and Catholicism．(O'Toole 1)
For Doyle, however, the past should not be prioritized over the present, but nor should it be forgotten or commodified．Looking at a newspaper headline about the Six Day War, Paddy asks his father “Was Ireland ever in a war？”His dad says no, but Paddy continues, “We were in a war against the English, weren't we？”“Yes.”Then, Paddy says, “That was a war”(P, 30)．While Mr．Clarke doesn't take the trouble to explain “the past”to his son, Paddy's insistence on the answer highlights the issue of patriotism and citizenship education．In an Irish history class, Miss Watskins, Paddy's teacher, brings them a tea towel with a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence and repeatedly asks them, “Nach bhfuil se go h'alainn, lads？” (P, 20) As many attentive readers observe, she is entirely unaware of the fact that tea towels covered with “Irish kitsch”are often sold as tourist souvenirs．Here, both the quotation of the teacher's Irish and her use of tourist souvenirs convey a strong sense of irony, raising a question concerning the commodified stereotypes of Irish national identity．When Miss Watskins reads the proclamation, Paddy mistakes Thomas J．Clarke, one of the proclamation's signers, for his grandfather, claiming that “Clarke, like my name”(P, 20)．Considering the ironic tone in the context, we would agree with McGlynn on that “Paddy sees this moment as a place for self-identification, not national identification”(“Useful Nostalgia”, 96).
Indeed, none of Doyle's Barrytowners in the first five novels inflicts on him/herself an obsession with England．For all his characters, as in Paddy's case, their disconnection with the colonial or nationalist past is more a matter of fact than that of betrayal．In particular, the society in which they live is presented as one quickly exploiting its tradition and local culture in the name of tourism and one more quickly influenced by Anglo-American popular and mass culture largely via the media, especially through the television screen．This is vividly exemplified by a scene in the film adaptation of The Commitments：on the wall of the Rabbitte household the portrait of Elvis Presley is hung over that of Pope John Paul II, “the Pope of pop”above “the moral leader of the world”．That the American popular singer would take precedence over the Pope as “a figure of adulation”is not beyond expectation (Booker 27), as the novel itself is about the son's ambition to be a band manager．The television is a ubiquitous presence in all Barrytown households．It is no exaggeration to say that most Barrytown families get their sense of reality from TV．Fathers may read newspapers, but at night the whole family will stay at home to keep up with their favorite TV programs, The Fugitive, Eastenders, Thirtysomething, Hawaii Five-O, The Man from U．N．C．L．E and The Virginians.
The introduction of the domestic television service into living rooms was “the most important new event in Irish life in 1962”(Tobin 63)．President de Valera's often quoted address deserves repetition：
I must admit that sometimes when I think of television and radio and their immense power, I feel somewhat afraid…… Never before was there in the hands of man an instrument so powerful to influence the thoughts and actions of the multitude．A persistent policy pursued over radio and television, in addition to imparting knowledge, can build up the character of a whole people, including sturdiness and vigor and confidence．On the other hand, it can lead, through demoralization, to decadence and dissolution．(qtd．in Tobin, 63)
The President's opening remarks reflected the government's reservations about the “troublesome and unpredictable medium”(Tobin 63)．Cardinal Dalton, too, warned parents not to let their children become television addicts. They had every reason to fear the television as an agent of Anglicisation．As the above list of the TV programs watched by Barrytown families shows, popular imported drama and situation comedy held “a commanding position in Irish TAM ratings”(Tobin 65)．The only home-produced program which has an immediate significance for Barrytowners is “Late, Late Show”, a topic show “evolve[ing] into a late night light entertainment and serious discussion”(Finnegan 144)．Gay Byrne, the presenter and producer of the program, is “a self-made young bourgeois”(Tobin 142)．As a “very personification of the new Irishman：natty metropolitan, and slightly liberal in some of his views”(Tobin 142), Byrne often invites funny and sharp-witted celebrities to the show and initiates debates on some social, moral and even political issues that were not supposed to be discussed in public in the age before television.
As told by John Horgan, “The program, which was broadcast on Saturday evenings, became—for an Irish public unaccustomed to the public flouting of taboos—an unmissable weekly occasion.”(89) Paddy was allowed to stay up and watch the program when his teacher Mister Arnold was once on the show, “playing guitar with another man and two ladies”(P, 62)．It is unclear what topic they discuss, but Paddy tells us how his mother is attracted to it．His father who prefers to read rather than watch TV also puts down his newspaper．Colm Toibin reminds us that the biggest “taboo”which had become publicly discussed is unsurprisingly related to sex：
In Enniscorthy when I was a lad we all sat glued to it．We were often embarrassed that someone was talking about sex：there were older people in the room who didn't like sex being talked about …… If any other program talked about sex, it would have been turned off．Turn that rubbish off．But nobody ever turned the Late Late Show off．The show was too unpredictable：you just never knew about what you might miss．(Toibin 87)
The program was also about religion．When Paula reflects on the night Charlo walked her home, she writes, “I remember it well and I don't care if anyone can prove that it was raining, like the man on the Late Late Show who could prove that Annie Murphy got ridden by the Bishop of Galway”(W, 53)．This offhand reference to the media exposure of church scandals indicates the development of “a new orthodoxy”that challenges the old, Catholic hegemony．The Church, believing itself to be the arbiter of morality and behavior, felt unfairly represented and even insulted by the media when subjects of sex, abortion, divorce as well as scandals were publicly discussed．The tension between the Church and the media was best illustrated by a famous episode in 1966．On the show a couple was asked the same questions without being heard by each other．One of the questions was about the color of the nightdress on their wedding night．The lady could not remember what color it was and said that she might have worn nothing at all．This provoked Bishop Thomas Ryan of Clonfert to protest vigorously in “fairness to Christian morality”.
As Finnegan argues, “each has viewed the other as responsible for all the ills of Irish society．The media see the Church as retrogressive, authoritarian, and preoccupied with sex, and the Church views the media as liberal, hedonistic, and preoccupied with sex”(145-146)．The Church's outright dissatisfaction with the show did not prevent it from being one of the most watched programs at the time．The reasons for its popularity, as Horgans remarks, were “related to the social context, to the silence about issues which had become an all-enveloping fog”(90)．Echoing this view, O'Toole says, “Surrounded by that silence, we wanted, in the 1960s, to hear ourselves speak in a charming, sophisticated and worldly-wise voice”(Mass, 168)．Here arises the question：what underlies the “charming, sophisticated and worldly-wise voice”？As a revolutionary agent of new liberal ideas coming from America and Britain, the program embodies the prevailing liberal consensus that is committed to revitalizing and secularizing a previously conservative state．It would certainly be a mistake to conclude (as one might from the evidence of the fiction alone) that Doyle is an uncritical celebrator of the “presentness”of contemporary Ireland．Indeed, part of the complexity of Doyle's fiction is it suggests that the “sexual liberalization”secularizes the country but at the same time contains the seeds of its own destruction.
Fairly early in Doyle's first novel The Commitments, and in its film version, the protagonist Jimmy Rabbitte describes the Irish as “the niggers of Europe”(BT, 13)．Requested by two of his friends to reinvent their music band, Jimmy Jr．soon persuades them to abandon the original name “And And Exclamation Mark”for a name that is able to evoke Dubliners' search for Soul：“The Commitments”．That naming of the band initiates the subsequent speeches by which Jimmy attempts to immerse his band in soul music and its culture．Committing himself to “instill[ing] souls”first into the band, Jimmy has delivered “sermons”to the Commitments quite often; “…… he'd give them a talk．They all enjoyed Jimmy's lectures．So did Jimmy．They weren't really lectures; more workshops”(BT, 34)．The idea of commitment, often associated with religious activity as well as nationalist course, is here transformed into a band's name．Much discussion tends to focus, positively or negatively, on the postcolonial thrust of Jimmy's argument．Valuable as such studies are, another story has been overlooked．For Jimmy, to invoke a connection to the Black Power Movement by playing soul music is to justify the band's challenge to the Church's monopoly over the discourse of sexuality．Soul is a “double-edged”sword, as Jimmy preaches, “—The first side is sex, righ', said Jimmy．—An' the second one is—REVOLUTION！”(BT, 37)
Soul is physical and material．The Commitments listen to soul music, watch soul performance, imitate the body language of soul musicians, and even put themselves “on a strict soul diet”(BT, 31)．Inspired by Joey The Lips Fagan, Jimmy gives the band members their stage names like James The Soul Surgeon, Clifford and Billy The Animal Mooney．In order to reactivate a connection to black soul music, Jimmy has Deco study “James for the growls, Otis for the moans, Smoky for the whines”(BT, 31, my emphasis)．The animalized spiritual transformation of the Commitments runs counter to Joyce's personification of the inanimate city．Indeed, as the origins of soul music manifest, soul is a secularization of gospel songs．It exploded largely through the work of American southern artists' like James Brown．Stylistically, it secularized gospel songs by searing vocal intensity and extravagant melisma．Calling for a high degree of self-expressiveness, soul music resonates with self-assertion, culminating in Brown's “Say It Loud—I'm Black and I'm Proud”(1968) and George Clinton's “Free your mind and your ass will follow”. Brown's songs especially incorporated vivid images of sensory pleasure．On the cover page of the novel, Doyle quotes lines from his “Super Bad”：
I got soul and I'm super bad, huh！
I'm a lover, I love to do my thing ha
An a, an I don't need no one else
Sometimes I feel so nice, good Lord！
I jump back, I wanna kiss myself！
I've got soul, huh, and I'm super bad, HEY！
I said I'm super bad
Twelve “I”s in seven short lines forcefully express self-concentration and self-confidence．Words like “feel”, “jump”, and “kiss”are action verbs blazing sensory pleasure．“I got soul”but “I'm super bad”—the black singer is rejecting Euro-American religious and moral standards by shamelessly exposing his bodily self-indulgence．“What Doyle achieves through Brown's ironically echoic vocabulary”, as McCarthy puts it, “is not only a merging of alien and native discourses, but in effect a challenging of traditional Irish-Catholic religious-spiritual meanings and values by the African-American secular meanings and values of the same words”(25).
It is fitting that Brown should be Jimmy's hero．As the Black Power Movement placed more emphasis on civil rights, black artists became more politically aware．The Black Power Movement and the much wider discourse of the “sexual revolution”of the 1960s would serve as a successful model for an alliance between politics and music, the deployment of sexuality and the hermeneutics of self．Significantly, however, “having all the Commitments ‘fancy’ the same woman, Imelda, but nobody ends up with her”(McGlynn “The Commitments”, 245-46), Doyle parodies Hollywood's celebration of sexual freedom and romantic love fantasies．When Joey The Lip's romantic affairs with all three Commitmentettes, especially with Imelda, are exposed, the band falls into a chaotic fight．In effect, the seed of discord is sown when Deco, the lead singer, repeatedly pushes himself forward as the “soul”of the band．As his self-importance becomes more and more obnoxious, Billy, the drummer, quits．It is noteworthy that Deco has been “endured”for the sake of the band, the “surrogate family”in White's words (White 61)．The collective mindset is expressed especially when Dean starts taking an interest in jazz．Almost a beginner at playing saxophone, Dean spreads his wings under Joey's instruction．But when he discovers a talent and passion in classical jazz, Joey is quick to reprimand him．Describing jazz as music enjoyed by the “intellectual, middle-class and elitist”, Joey claims that “Strictly speaking, Brother, soul solos aren't really solos at all …… Dean's solo didn't have corners．It was a real solo …… That's what jazz does．It makes the man selfish．He doesn't give a fuck about his Brothers”(BT, 115)．According to Joey, jazz is individualistic, and individuality is not soul.
Dean defends himself by saying that he just wants to become a better musician：“I went through hell tryin' to learn play the sax…… Now I can play it．An' I'm not stoppin'．I want to get better …… I express myself, with me sax …… That's why I'm getting' into the jazz．There's no rules．There's no walls.”(BT, 122) Dean's self-improvement is different from Deco's self-importance．When Jimmy asks him whether he plans to leave the band, he unequivocally answers “no”．Instead, he feels gratitude to the band because it is the band that “teaches him a lot”and thus awakens his desire．Jimmy finally admits that he agrees with Dean on the importance of freedom to express oneself．Joey's theory of soul and jazz, as McGlynn rightly points out, is about “reception”, reducing the dialectic of individual and collective identities to tautological equations between music genres and music players/listeners．Doyle gives significant discursive attention to the soul/jazz debate but it does not mean that he supports Joey's view．To Doyle's credit, Joey is a fairly “round”character in the novel．The youth were not impressed by Joey when they first met, because he “looked like a da, their da; small, bald, fat making tea”(BT, 28)．But Joey soon became the “Godfather”of the band after he was able to overwhelm them with the list of prominent figures he had played with and a philosophy of sexuality and identity．When he was caught kissing Natalie behind the door, he absolved himself of guilt by quoting Freud for his own purpose：“havin' it off”with the girl(s) is “the soul man's libido”(BT, 57, 60)．As Linden Peach suggests, Joey “earned his nickname ‘lips’ not from his trumpet playing but the number of women he seduced”(145)．After the Commitments disbanded, he told Jimmy that “he didn't think soul was right for Ireland”(BT, 139) and was going to play soul in the States for Joe Tex．Ironically, at the end of the novel the reader is informed by Jimmy that Joe Tex is already dead, and a real reason for Joey's leaving is he believes he has made Imelda pregnant.
