Cultural Approximations to Migration and Mobility in Colum McCann's Work

Abstract

This study analyses the literary representations of migration and mobility in the following novels of Irish author, Colum McCann: Songdogs (1995), Zoli (2006), LTGWS (2009), and Apeirogon (2020). Relying on a theoretical framework derived from cultural concepts such as multiculturalism, transculturality, transnationalism, and the analysis of the literary form based on a model developed by Mary McGlynn, this study proposes a diachronic analysis of the novels, following the change of focus from migration to mobility throughout McCann’s career. Irish migration is examined across four different historic periods, thereby setting the phenomenon into the Irish context. Combining the transcultural, transnational, and McGlynn’s features in terms of meaning and form of literary texts, a new model was developed to advance the analysis of the selected novels. In applying this new model, it was possible to identify the features used by McCann corroborate his alignment with these cultural concepts.