Brexlit: Redefining Borders. An Introduction

This introductory essay frames Brexlit as a cultural, imaginative, and affective phenomenon rather than a discrete political event, arguing that Brexit constitutes an ongoing process of narrative contestation that continues to shape British and Irish identities. Drawing on cultural theory – particularly Stuart Hall’s analysis of political hegemony and Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of retrotopia – the article situates Brexit within longer ideological trajectories marked by post-imperial nostalgia, populist discourse, and the mobilisation of emotionally resonant national myths. It contends that literature and the performing arts play a crucial role in articulating, interrogating, and resisting these imaginaries by foregrounding ambiguity, ethical responsibility, and lived experience. The essay surveys key fictional and theatrical responses to Brexit across Britain, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, with particular attention to the emergence of Brexlit as a corpus engaged with questions of power, belonging, borders, and otherness. Through close reference to novels, dystopian and satirical narratives, verbatim theatre, and contemporary stage productions, it highlights how cultural texts expose societal fractures, challenge xenophobic and nationalist discourses, and reimagine political futures. Special emphasis is placed on border imaginaries, the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement, and the gendered and postcolonial dimensions of Brexit on the Irish stage. By situating recent political developments within Brexit’s cultural afterlife, the article argues that Brexit remains a potent symbolic site through which national identity, sovereignty, and European relations are continually renegotiated. Ultimately, it positions writers, playwrights, and artists as public intellectuals whose work mediates between personal experience and collective history, offering critical tools for understanding and rethinking the cultural meanings of Brexit in a still-unfolding present.