"Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community. The dominant units in Irish society are the family and the locality. The idea was that the whole world would grow out from that small space"

In this quote, John McGahern reflects on the thematic focus of his literary works, especially his novel "Amongst Women," and contrasts it with a subsequent work that focuses on a wider setting-- a small community. McGahern provides a vision of Irish society where the family and the area are depicted as the basic building blocks or "dominant units." These elements form the core of his storytelling, through which he aims to check out universal truths.

"Amongst Women" is mostly concerned with the family unit, examining the detailed dynamics, hierarchies, and interpersonal relationships that exist within a household setting. By narrowing his focus to the family, McGahern has the ability to dive deeply into character advancement and the subtleties of human interactions, using insights into styles such as authority, love, and the generational transmission of worths.

In drawing a parallel between the household and the locality, McGahern recommends that the intimate dramas of family life can be extrapolated to the wider social environment of a neighborhood. The phrase "the entire world would grow out from that little space" suggests that the complexities and universality of human experiences can be mirrored and magnified from the microcosm of the family to the macrocosm of the community, and, by extension, the world at large. This concept is entrenched in the belief that the essence of human experience, with its complexities and contradictions, can be caught in the micro-universes of domesticity and local neighborhoods.

McGahern's work provides a lens through which readers can examine the interconnectedness in between individual and common identities. By positioning private and collective stories within the familiar and intimate contexts of family and area, McGahern highlights their significance as areas of identity development and social interaction. Thus, this quote emphasizes his narrative strategy of checking out broader societal and existential themes through seemingly small and intimate settings, allowing readers to check out the universality of life's experiences through the particularities of Irish society.