Global Identities in Transit: The Ethics and Politics of Representation in World Literatures and Cultures explores the myriad aspects of identity formation and identity representation in an increasingly globalized world. Covering a variety of cultural and historical experiences in addition to several texts of world literatures, the contributors discuss the configurations of transnationality and transculturality in our postcolonial and globalized world. Acknowledging that nationality, ethni...

Joining the emergent interdisciplinary investment in bridging the social sciences and the humanities, Childhood, Agency, and Fantasy: Walking in Other Worlds explores linkages between children’s agency and fantasy. Fantasy as an integral aspect of childhood and as a genre allows for children’s spectacular dreams and hopeful realities. Friendship, family, identity, loyalty, belongingness, citizenry, and emotionality are central concepts explored in chapters that are anchored by hum...

Christmas falls on 25 December with faithful inevitability. Indeed, our entire Western system of time is based upon it. It may seem as though it has always been this way, but like many facts of the holiday’s history, the date of Christ’s birth contains a complex story wrapped in controversy. Despite the deep traditions that bind a culture to its version of Christmas – the pageantry, food and folklore – its longevity has always depended on its ability to evolve.Christmas: The Sa...

Consuming Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century aims to bring together detailed analyses of the cultural myths, or fictions, of consumption that have shaped discourses on consumer practices from the eighteenth century onwards. Individual essays provide an excitingly diverse range of perspectives, including musicology, philosophy, history, and art history, cultural and postcolonial studies as well as the study of literature in English, French, and German. The broad scope of this c...

BLUE-EYED GIRL is a powerful, compelling family drama telling the story of a family torn apart by secrets.Anya Keating loves her job as PA to Macdara Fitzgerald, owner of the stunning Lismore estate and its string of racehorses. Macdara is an indulgent and generous employer and Anya has grown very fond of him. But when he rashly proposes marriage, their friendship - and her position - is threatened, and Anya is torn between her loyalty to Macdara and her feelings f...

RSVP is a sumptuous family saga, packed with sex, love and betrayal.The Granville Midsummer Ball is always an affair to remember. The who's who of Irish society gather at Carrickcross House - the rural family estate - for a night of revelry. But this year's soiree is extra-special: matriarch Honoria is announcing her grandson Rossa's engagement to Ashling Morrison.Ashling has been swept off her feet. Tall, dark and handsome, Rossa's the perfect catch, but i...