Irish theme in Daphne du Maurier’s novel Hungry hill

The theme of the internal “other” is a significant component of national self-identification in the English literature of the twentieth century. This is evidenced by the appeal to this theme by a variety of authors. Thus, the English writer Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) repeatedly appeals to interethnic relations within the UK in her creative works. The aim of this article is an analysis of her novel Hungry Hill (1943) in terms of representing the Irish theme. The method of post-colonial research, as well as cultural-historical and imagological methods are used in this work. The relevance of the study is due to the interest in the issue of interethnic relations and national self-identification. The novelty of the work is determined by the practically absence of this novel by D. Du Maurier in Russian literary criticism. The writer refers to the genre tradition of the Irish Big House Novel in Hungry Hill, building a story around the Brodrick family, Scottish settlers, and their confrontation with the Irish Donovans, who originally owned the land. It is indicative that it is the Scots who become the opponents of the Irish. Scots Brodricks are presented here as carriers of the imperial consciousness and as an example of embedding in the concept of British identity. Images of the Irish remain within the framework of stereotypes and cliches. They are greedy, rude, cruel and uneducated. In addition, their illogicality and indulgence of passions is often opposed to the prudence and reasonableness of the Brodricks.