Macabre humour in Irish novels of 1930-1940s (J.Joyce, S.Becett, F.O'Brien)

The article deals with the specific features of the Irish macabre humour as manifested in the novels by J. Joyce, F. O'Brien and S. Beckett written in the 1930s-1940s. The author follows here the theory posited by V. Mercier that the macabre humour, a defense mechanism against the fear of death, is one of the dominant features of the Irish literary humour. The article claims that the macabre humour in the works under consideration plays a structure-forming part and is a means of conducting certain philosophical views of these writers.