David Kenney

David Kenney

Dr. David Kenney specializes in Irish and British literature of the nineteenth century. His work examines how competing cultural and historical narratives have shaped aesthetic evaluation and canon formation. Focusing on neglected Irish novels of the nineteenth 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 be researching evolving conventions in the national romance and picaresque genres of the early Anglo-Irish novel. Developing reevaluations of 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 is done 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 PhD in English from Marquette University and MA 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.