‘Some degree of hope’ A queer reading of two young adult novels in post-agreement Northern Ireland

Abstract

In 2018, a report published by Stonewall UK revealed that 52 per cent of LGBT individuals struggled with depression in the past year. The same year, an article claimed that Northern Ireland had the highest prevalence of mental illness and the highest rate of suicides in the UK. This thesis will explore how LGBTQ youths are portrayed in two literary fictions set in contemporary Northern Ireland. The Unknowns (2017) and Every Sparrow Falling (2019), both written by Shirley-Anne McMillan, are young adult novels that depict and comment on how LGBTQ youths are perceived in contemporary Northern Ireland. By reading these two novels through the theoretical framework of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler ,this thesis will elucidate a perhaps less prominent legacy of the Troubles than the politics of segregation. Because the novels are written for young adults, this thesis will also provide extensive discussion of historical and contemporary context in order to make sense of the novels in relation to the physical and psychological landscape of Northern Ireland.