“The best tradition of womanhood”: Negotiating and Reading Identities in Emma Donoghue’s Landing

Abstract

This article reads Emma Donoghue's 2007 novel Landing as an intersectional romance. The novel's conflict emerges not only from the distance between the two lovers, the Irish flight attendant Síle and the Canadian curator Jude, but from several intersecting differences: gender identity, class, race, age, sexual orientation, and nationality. Specifically, this article lays out how Síle’s nationality and sexuality are compromised through invisibility, and unpacks how her race and gender contribute to this invisibility. While Jude is recognizably queer and Canadian, as a femme of colour Síle’s identity requires more explanation and affirmation. Through Landing, Emma Donoghue examines how Síle can find happiness without compromising her identity as an Irish racialized femme.

Keywords

• literatura canadiense
• literatura irlandesa
• queer
• amor romántico