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By examining portrayals of male homosociality in Sally Rooney's novels, the book documents how male relationships are formed, challenged, and often disavowed and the profound negative effects this can have for the wellbeing of men. The book also highlights the importance of the sociocultural context within which male relationships are formed and supports that the potential for healthy and meaningful relationships between men depends on how they are brought up to view themselves as men and their role in the society they live in. That is, despite the many examples whereby space for authentic and meaningful male homosociality is limited and well concealed, the book also offers a more optimistic potential for men's relationships by illustrating the significance of broader understandings of masculinity, unfettered by homophobia and misogyny, in allowing for male homosociality with the potential of emancipating men from heteropatriarchal norms which dictate their behaviour toward themselves and others.
List of contents
Introduction, Chapter 1. Impossible Male Homosociality, Chapter 2. Male Homosociality in the (Un)Making, Chapter 3. Antagonistic and Affectionate-but-Invisible Male Homosociality, Chapter 4. Making Male Homosociality Possible?, Conclusion
About the author
Dr Angelos Bollas is Assistant Professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University. His research focuses on masculinity and sexuality studies. He writes about cultural representations of masculinities in television and literature, expressions of masculinities which challenge normative understandings of gender and sexuality, as well as pedagogical considerations around inclusion and diversity.
Summary
By examining portrayals of male homosociality in Sally Rooney's novels, the book documents how male relationships are formed, challenged, and often disavowed and the profound negative effects this can have for the wellbeing of men.
Report
Bollas' latest book should be considered a valuable contribution to the field of both Irish literary studies as well as the wider area of masculinity studies.Bollas provides a fruitful lens through which to re-read Rooney'snovels in order to re-conceptualise the relationships between men in contemporary Irish society, and to leave behind heteropatriarchal ideas of masculinity that have long prevailed in past and present Ireland. Bollas' analysis not only challenges heteropatriarchal homosociality but calls for the liberation of male-to-maleinteractions to achieve homosocial relationships that are not only unrestricted but alsomeaningful and restorative.
Bollas provides a lot of sociological research to link the observations made in his literary analyses to current evaluations of masculinity formation and homosocial bonding. Another significant merit of the book in this context is the integration of additional sociological accounts of specifically Irish constructions of masculinity, and of digital homosociality. Undeniably, the book thrives on the intricate interweaving of sociology and literary analysis, drawing much of its quality from the extensive and meticulous close-readings.
--Dilâra Yilmaz, Kiel University, Germany
