Empowering the marginalised voices of the Irish female immigrants in Mary Anne Sadlier’s selected novels through the standpoint theory

This study focuses on the research problem of how Irish female immigrant characters in selected novel by Mary Ann, namely Bessy Conway or The Irish Girl in America (1861); Elinor Preston: or Scenes at Home and Abroad (1861), Old and New; or, Taste versus Fashion (1862), and Con O’Regan; or, Emigrant Life in the New World (1864), face social prejudices and cultural displacement while transitioning to their new lives in America. The selected texts offer underexplored perspectives on the accounts of 19th-century Irish female immigrants, particularly racial prejudice, social exclusion, and gendered oppression following the Great Potato Famine. Employing the Standpoint Theory by the American philosopher, Sandra Harding, this study investigates how Sadlier explores the themes of marginalisation and resilience for these Irish female immigrants, also known as the ‘Irish Bridgets’. The study applies the concepts of ‘marginalised group’, ‘standpoint’ and ‘strong objectivity’ by Harding to address the issues of the Irish female immigrant characters. The study uses Harding’s theoretical framework to investigate how these Irish Bridgets develop unique standpoints regarding immigrant status, cultural identity, and social positioning to acquire what Harding terms ‘strong objectivity’. The study explicitly explores three key aspects: the marginalised positions of the characters as Irish female immigrants, the reconstruction of identity, and their gradual acquisition of strong objectivity regarding their social conditions. The challenges brought by the Great Potato Famine (1845) were crucial in recognising the existence of these Irish female immigrants. It also gave rise to a unique sociocultural phenomenon which led to acknowledging the historical presence and overlooked narratives of the Irish Bridgets. Therefore, the objectives of the study are to examine how Sadlier portrays the selected Irish female immigrant characters as a marginalised group within their community and the host community in the selected novels, using Harding’s concept of marginalisation, to explore how Sadlier’s depictions of the daily life experiences of the selected Irish female immigrant characters reflect their responses to racial and social marginalisation, leading to the formation of individual and collective standpoints and to investigate how Sadlier portrays the selected Irish female immigrant characters’ responses to social oppression, which help them to construct their knowledge and attain strong objectivity within the contexts of their struggles and resilience. The findings reveal how the Irish female immigrants encounter a gradual awakening that empowers them to achieve a standpoint after overcoming marginalisation and attaining strong objectivity. The female characters analysed ultimately attain social advancement, radically subverting the 19th-century ideological paradigms of social hierarchies and prejudices. Her novels also reassert the importance of the Great Potato Famine era and its effects on the migration experiences of Irish female immigrants. Findings from the study can lead to examining how the Irish-American culture could offer valuable insights into the intricate relationship between ethnicity, identity, and colonial interactions. Further research could also explore the complex connection between and the Irish Bridgets and postcolonialism, delving into how these narratives challenge and conform to postcolonial critiques on the intricate issue of marginalisation.

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