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

Isabel Yi FLECHA-CORBACHO; Noelia CARMONA-RIVERO

doi:10.24193/subbphilo.2026.3.05

Authors

Isabel Yi FLECHA-CORBACHO University of Extremadura , Kalamazoo College https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1432-4913
Noelia CARMONA-RIVERO University of Granada , University of Extremadura https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6951-2469

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2026.3.05

Keywords:

Post-Celtic Tiger, Irish youth, identity formation, Sally Rooney, Normal People

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.

Article history: Received 02 May 2026; Revised 15 August 2026; Accepted 27 August 2026; Available online 30 September 2026; Available print 30 September 2026.

Author Biographies

Isabel Yi FLECHA-CORBACHO, University of Extremadura, Kalamazoo College

Postgraduate student at the University of Extremadura; Teaching Assistant at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Email: iflechac@alumnos.unex.es
Noelia CARMONA-RIVERO, University of Granada, University of Extremadura

PhD student at the University of Granada; Substitute Lecturer at University of Extremadura. Email: noeliacr@unex.es

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