Imagining Motherhood in Contemporary Irish and Caribbean Literature undertakes a comparative transnationalreading to develop more expansiveliterary models of good mothering. Abigail L. Palko argues that Irish andCaribbean literary representations of non-normative mothering practices do notreflect transgressive or dangerous mothering but are rather culturalnegotiations of the definition of a good mother. This original bookdemonstrates the sustained commitment to countering the dominant ideologies ofmaternal self-sacrifice foundational to both Irish and Caribbean nationalistrhetoric, offering instead the possibility of integrating maternal agency intoan effective model of female citizenship.
