IRISH YOUTH’S POST-CELTIC TIGER IDENTITY IN SALLY ROONEY’S NORMAL PEOPLE
IRISH YOUTH’S POST-CELTIC TIGER IDENTITY IN SALLY ROONEY’S NORMAL PEOPLE

Summary/Abstract: Irish Youth’s Post-Celtic Tiger Identity in Sally Rooney’s Normal People. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Irish literature has increasingly turned its attention to the emotional and psychological repercussions of the economic crash on younger generations. In this context, Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2018) offers a realistic portrayal of the Irish youth during the Post-Celtic Tiger era. This paper argues that the novel’s protagonists, Marianne and Connell, construct fragmented identities shaped by gender and power dynamics, social status, vulnerability, and internalized guilt. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in close reading, the paper focuses on how these characters’ identities are products of economic precarity and prevailing social conventions. Findings suggest that Rooney’s depiction of identity formation exemplifies a broader generational struggle, in which personal agency clashes with the societal structures of present-day Ireland.

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