Introduction: Silences that Speak

This chapter provides a critical overview and a theoretical introduction to Narratives of the Unspoken in Contemporary Irish Fiction: Silences that Speak. Drawing on a wide range of perspectives and considerations on silence through a broad diversity of themes and functions, this introductory essay reclaims an unprecedented attentiveness to the unspoken in today’s Irish fiction. The chapter argues that in Irish contemporary writing silence features as multivalent and multifaceted: it can function as a form of resistance, a strategy of defiance, empowerment and emancipation, but also a way of covering up stories which remain untold and invisible, thus distorting or directly concealing inconvenient truths from the public eye. Ultimately, as the book itself demonstrates, for contemporary Irish writers, the unspoken is not just a constraint but a productive site of enquiry, a silence that “speaks”.The research for this chapter was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the European Regional Development Fund and the Spanish Research Agency through the Research Projects “INTRUTHS Inconvenient Truths: Cultural Practices of Silence in Contemporary Irish Fiction” FFI2017-84619-P AEI/FEDER, UE and “INTRUTHS 2: Articulations of Individual and Communal Vulnerabilities in Contemporary Irish Writing” PID2020-114776GB-I00 MCIN/AEI

Ulysses at 100

The year 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses. The following reflections express different sentiments and thoughts about the novel that gave T. S. Eliot “all the surprise, delight, and terror that I can require.

Rompiendo el silencio consensuado a través del relato: narrativas de conciencia y justicia social en The Cruelty Men de Emer Martin

In recent years Irish society has witnessed an upheaval in public opinion before the discovery of conspiracies of silence hiding stories of institutional abuse which had remained concealed from the public domain. These narratives of secrecy have been consistently identified and stripped away by writers like Emer Martin whose novel The Cruelty Men (2018) denounces the fact that forgetting and silence are woven into the fabric of society and politics in Ireland. Drawing on the notion of consensual silence, the article explores The Cruelty Men as a text that addresses institutional abuse and challenges official discourses by rescuing the unheard voices of the victims and inscribing their untold stories into the nation’s cultural narrative. As the article will discuss, ultimately the novel calls attention to the healing power of storytelling as a way of renegotiating  Ireland’s relationship with the silences of the past.En años recientes la opinión pública irlandesa se ha conmocionado ante las frecuentes noticias de abusos en el seno de las instituciones y la existencia de una conspiración de silencio para evitar que los escándalos saliesen a la luz. Estos secretos encubiertos han sido identificados y abordados por escritores y escritoras como Emer Martin, cuya novela The Cruelty Men denuncia precisamente que el silencio y el olvido están inextricablemente vinculados al devenir mismo de la sociedad y la política en Irlanda. Basándose en el concepto de silencio consensuado, este artículo analiza The Cruelty Men como un texto que expone el tema de los abusos y contradice los discursos oficiales al rescatar las voces silenciadas de las víctimas e inscribirlas en la narrativa cultural de la nación. El artículo concluye que la novela subraya el poder regenerador del relato por su capacidad de renegociar la relación de Irlanda con los silencios del pasado

Women on the Move: Mobility in Evelyn Conlon’s Fiction

This article explores the representation of women’s mobility in Evelyn Conlon’s fiction and focuses on texts in which the female protagonists are depicted as “women on the move” and coded as transgressors and trespassers. The article discusses Conlon’s fiction of mobility in the light of patterns of displacement and dislocation which are recurrent in the novels and stories analyzed. Although the writer consistently disrupts unified patriarchal narratives of “at-homeness”, the article argues that her works expose also the need for connection and continuity and, thus, embody a reformulation of more open forms of belonging and a proposal for more inclusive identity paradigms

Global attitudes in the management of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 pandemic: ACIE Appy Study

Background: Surgical strategies are being adapted to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations on the management of acute appendicitis have been based on expert opinion, but very little evidence is available. This study addressed that dearth with a snapshot of worldwide approaches to appendicitis. Methods: The Association of Italian Surgeons in Europe designed an online survey to assess the current attitude of surgeons globally regarding the management of patients with acute appendicitis during the pandemic. Questions were divided into baseline information, hospital organization and screening, personal protective equipment, management and surgical approach, and patient presentation before versus during the pandemic. Results: Of 744 answers, 709 (from 66 countries) were complete and were included in the analysis. Most hospitals were treating both patients with and those without COVID. There was variation in screening indications and modality used, with chest X-ray plus molecular testing (PCR) being the commonest (19\ub78 per cent). Conservative management of complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis was used by 6\ub76 and 2\ub74 per cent respectively before, but 23\ub77 and 5\ub73 per cent, during the pandemic (both P < 0\ub7001). One-third changed their approach from laparoscopic to open surgery owing to the popular (but evidence-lacking) advice from expert groups during the initial phase of the pandemic. No agreement on how to filter surgical smoke plume during laparoscopy was identified. There was an overall reduction in the number of patients admitted with appendicitis and one-third felt that patients who did present had more severe appendicitis than they usually observe. Conclusion: Conservative management of mild appendicitis has been possible during the pandemic. The fact that some surgeons switched to open appendicectomy may reflect the poor guidelines that emanated in the early phase of SARS-CoV-2