When the IRA declared a “complete cessation of military activities” in 1994, Seamus Heaney commented upon this crucial moment in the Peace Process, writing that the “terrible black hole” of civil war had only “brought the situation to a point that [was] politically less promising than things were in 1968”. Yet, he also sensed “an opportunity to open a space […] where hope [could] grow” (“Cessation 1994”).
In this seminar, we will examine the ways in which the Northern Irish Troubles and the Peace Process are represented in contemporary Irish literature. We will contextualise our texts by tracing the historical developments which led first to the outbreak of civil war and then to the current state of political and social transition. Taking the Troubles to be primarily a geopolitical conflict about land and the question which national community is to exert power over it, we will pay special attention to the representations of national identity and spatial belonging. Reading the literary texts closely, we will see how social divisions past and present are represented in them. Finally, we will look at the ways in which literature can be seen to participate in the Peace Process, exercising power in the creation of collective memory, taking part in the re-negotiation of national identity, and opening up new cultural spaces “where hope can grow”.
Texts: You MUST own the following editions:
Deane, Seamus. Reading in the Dark. London: Vintage, 1997. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0099744412
Park, David. The Truth Commissioner. London: Bloomsbury, 2009. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0747596332
Additional reading will be made available to you in a seminar binder. |
