Troubles and Traumas Revisited: Sean O'Faolain, Edward Said and the Anti-Colonial Tradition

Abstract

Sean O’Faolain, writer, intellectual and prominent public figure throughout the twentieth century in Ireland, is known above all as one of the most influential critics of the Irish nationalism hegemonic in the decades following the declaration of Independence in the 1920s. Nonetheless, in spite of this reputation and the frequent identification of him as a “revisionist,” his writings on the Anglo-Irish conflict allow for an interpretation which, far from cementing his reputation as a revisionist, reveals ideological positions more in tune with the postcolonial critique which in recent decades has marked debates on Irish culture. Invoking particularly the critique of Edward Said, this article examines O’Faolain’s autobiography, Vive Moi!, and attempts to demonstrate how the mature reflections on the anticolonial movement from this ex-member of the IRA allow us to reinterpret his reputation in a manner which has important consequences for our understanding of the intellectual politics of twentieth century Ireland.