The Identity of Space and the Space for Identity in the Novel Redemption Falls
The Identity of Space and the Space for Identity in the Novel Redemption Falls

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines identity in relation to space, to the Irish immigrants in the USA in the second half of the 19th century, and to the Irish language they continued to use even after moving there, in the novel Redemption Falls by Joseph O’Connor. The space, shared by various characters in the novel who identify and perceive it in a different manner, is analysed from the perspective of Gaston Bachelard’s work, The Poetics of Space. The Irish language can be viewed as a bridge that connects the Irish immigrants in the new country. On the other hand, when it is used by them as some kind of a secret language, it can become a boundary between the immigrants and the others who do not speak or understand the language. The Irish immigrants’ claim to space for their identity in the new country is viewed in relation to Derrida’s concept of “hospitality.” Finally, the reconstruction of the boundaries of the main character’s identity is analysed with regard to Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of “deterritorialization” and “reterritorialization”.

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