Abstract
The very public downward spiral of Sinead O’Connor’s mental health in recent years, culminating in her public appearance with TV therapist Dr. Phil (2017), the bemused response to her ordination in a Catholic sect (1999) and the long-standing and persistent critique of her apparent rejection of feminism (Miley Cyrus exchange, 2013) all combine to present the artist as out of touch and unstable, if not broken, and increasingly irrelevant in 21st century popular music. This chapter discusses the failure of such reception history to take into account fully the complex intersection of O’Connor’s Catholic faith, republican-inflected post-colonialism and local performance traditions in Ireland that underpin a consistent historically and culturally informed approach to protest, even in the face of mental illness. While her complex and often ambivalent positionalities are manifest in her voice and in her body, her music and life provide a kaleidoscopic insight into different registers and experiences of Irish womanhood more broadly. Such stories are powerful, complex, poignant and resonant in the current moment within Ireland and in the broader context of the 2017 #MeToo movement.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Made in Ireland |
Subtitle of host publication | Studies in Popular Music |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 54-66 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780429811869 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781138336025 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2020 |