A Short History of Irish Memory in the Long Twentieth Century

The Cambridge History of Ireland, vol. IV: 1800 to Present, edited by Thomas Bartlett (Cambridge University Press, 2018), 708-725: A survey of changing obsessions in Ireland with remembrance of various episodes in the past, identifies moments of heightened commemoration and charts the development of modern memorial practices over the twentieth century. Growing awareness to the multifaceted and multilayered expressions of memory in Irish culture ultimately reveals the necessity to rewrite the history of the twentieth century

Modern formation, ethnic reformation: the social sources of the American nation

The question, 'When is the nation?', ranks second in importance only to the related query, 'Why is the nation?' in the contemporary social science and humanities literature on nationalism. This issue is confronted by this essay, which considers Anthony Smith's important perennialist-modernist dichotomy through the lens of the American experience. Along the way, it will address the related but independent question of whether nations are 'top-down' artefacts constructed by the modern state, or 'bottom-up' social formations generated by ethnic groups within civil society. The importance of this theoretical question lies not merely with the antiquarian interest in how our world system of nations emerged, but with the more pressing question of why it is persistently re-created, and, for idealists, how it may be superseded

Observe the Sons of Ulster Talking Themselves To Death (Chapter in The Theatre of Frank McGuinness: Stages of Mutability)

Excerpt: Within Irish drama of the late 20\u27h century, the use of language as a marker for lrishness begins to shift away from a focus on accents and Hiberno-English, towards a use of language that attempts to actually establish new truths: truths about relationships and alliances, truths about history, truths about memory, and especially truths about identity. Language becomes the very means of change and hope, in drama that has become concerned with the use of language not as signifier of nation but as reiteration of the stories that might be able to change through that reiteration. What is \u27true\u27 is no longer shaped by someone else\u27s language, but by the incantatory retelling and recasting of stories in versions particularized by individuals. The words themselves become a means for an imposition of identity. Language is not only the tool, but also the subject for discussion and performance. Whereas some others, including Tom Murphy, Christina Reid, and Enda Walsh, have concluded that language does indeed change at least the perception of truth, Frank McGuinness, in Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (1985), concludes that language cannot always succeed in its efforts to create a new reality. A play in which eight men try to come to terms with the events leading up to the Battle of the Somme in France during WWI, The Sons of Uifter shows us that language may be able to change personal identity, but it can never change history, desirable though that may be

Britishness and commemoration: National memorials to the First World War in Britain and Ireland

The 1917 call for a national memorial to the First World War led to the establishment of the Imperial War Museum in London. It also inspired Scottish, Welsh and Irish national memorials. No English national memorial was ever proposed; instead the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were conceived as imperial memorials. The new statelet of Northern Ireland did not commemorate its overall war effort within its own territory. This article surveys the organisation, location and design of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish national war memorials to the First World War. It examines some aspects of the complex set of relationships between the local, regional, national and imperial layers of identity that are inherent in Britishness. In doing so it reveals the confused and contested nature of national identity in the United Kingdom at the close of the First World War

Openness and Light in the Dialogue between the North and the South: Selected Poems by Contemporary Irish and Greek Poets

The chapter investigates two references of contemporary Irish poets to the work of the Modern Greek Nobelist poet, George Seferis: Seamus Heaney's "To George Seferis in the Underworld" (from "District and Circle" 2006) and Derek Mahon's "A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford" (from "Snow Party" 1975). Delving into the relations between poetry, politics (the military junta in Greece and the Northern Irish conflict), biographies of the poets in question, and the comparative landscapes of both countries, the article analyses Heaney's and Mahon's engagement with the Greek material and the reasons for which they draw on Seferis's poetry

Memory and Belonging in Ulster Loyalist Identity

In Northern Ireland there is a constant struggle between competing interpretations of historical events, the determination of which serves to validate and legitimate views of the present and to meet contemporary political concerns. The memory of historical events carry a profound political significance, as the past is altered to suit present purposes, and transmitted across generations by commemoration and memorialization. This article examines how Ulster Loyalist collective memory is characterized by an attempt to ensure collective coherence and how individuals understand their relationship to contemporary political events through their interactions with the past

Once Alien Here: The Poetry of John Hewitt

Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

Information access for personal media archives

It is now possible to archive much of our life experiences in digital form using a variety of sources, e.g. blogs written, tweets made, photographs taken, etc. Information can be captured from a myriad of personal information devices. In this workshop, researchers from diverse disciplines discussed how we can advance towards the goal of effective capture, retrieval and exploration of e-memories. Proposed solutions included advanced textile sensors to capture new data, P2P methods to store this data, and personal reflection applications to review this data. Much discussion centered around search and navigation strategies, interactive interfaces, and the cognitive basis in using digitally captured information as memorabilia

Ageing, Health and Conflict: An Investigation of the Experience and Health Impact of "Troubles-Related" Trauma

Examines the prevalence and impact of traumatic experiences on physical and mental health conditions by demographics, utilization of services and treatment among older cohorts, and qualitative findings about how the "Troubles" affected their lives