David Kenney
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies
- dkenney3@nd.edu
Dr. David Kenney specializes in Irish and British literature of the 19th century. His work examines how competing cultural and historical narratives have shaped aesthetic evaluation and canon formation. Focusing on neglected Irish novels of the 19th century, he is particularly interested in scrutinizing evolving genre conventions, such as gendered allegories and forms of colonial representation, and challenging dominant narratives of literary history.
As the W.B. Yeats Fellow in Irish Literature, Dr. Kenney will research evolving conventions in the national romance and picaresque genres of the early Anglo-Irish novel. Reevaluating authors such as Sheridan Le Fanu, Charles Lever, and Rosa Mulholland, he seeks to offer new methods of assessing the complexity and authenticity of novelists of their time. By exploring both their influences and legacies, his work aims to help further incorporate novels from this century into broader discussions of the progression of Irish literature and the development of the modern Irish novel.
Dr. Kenney earned his doctorate in English from Marquette University and his master's degree in Irish studies from the National University of Ireland, Galway. In addition to an extensive background in teaching writing and rhetoric, he has developed courses on Irish and Gothic literature. He has also published several works of short fiction.
Focus: Irish and British Literature of the nineteenth century