Thesis (M.A..)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 220 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps. Vita. Includes two audio files in the MP3 format. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-215).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF DAVID KELLY, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in ENGLISH, presented on APRIL 21, 2014, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: "EOLAS TO MA:" CONSTRUCTION OF POSTNATIONAL SPACE IN THE INTERSTITIAL VISIONS OF HEANEY, CARSON AND MORRISSEY MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Michael Molino In his 1997 work Postnationalist Ireland, Richard Kearney addresses the issue of the Irish community today. He notes how an Irish diaspora of seventy million "challenged the inherited definitions of state nationalism" (99). He then notices how "the Irish word for province is coiced which means fifth" (99) and, though contemporary Ireland is divided into four provinces, earlier traditions included a "`middle' or the `fifth province'" (99). It is in this medial space, whose boundaries are not geographical or political but, for Kearney, "more like a disposition" (100), that Irish postnational identity can be reimagined as the interplay between the local and global communities. After all, Kearney asserts, "Irish culture rediscovers its best self...in its encounter with other cultures...." (101). My study will argue that this postnational sense of Irish identity is a preoccupation of three waves of Northern Irish poets: Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Sinead Morrissey. It is best depicted through an analysis of each poet's use of the concepts of "center," "war," "home," and "travel." My research will focus primarily on Heaney's version of Builhe Suibhne , Sweeney Astray, and District and Circle, Carson's retranslation of The Táin and Belfast Confetti, and Morrissey's Between Here and There and analyze the strategies of each of these writers as they re-present a contemporary postnational Irish identity that is shaped by local and international forces. Despite the recognized importance of Heaney, Carson and Morrissey as insightful poetic commentators on "The Troubles," a three decade long period of violent political and social turmoil (1968-1995), these three authors' use of Japanese elements in their verse tends to be overlooked. And, despite each writer's familiarity with the others' work, they are not often discussed together. My comparative study of these authors will aim to show how their interstitial vision embedded in distinctive Early Irish translations and use of Japanese religio/aesthetic elements in their contemporary verse, create a third space, a postnational center. In order to analyze how each poet constructs a regional/global identity, this study will examine and compare such transitional cultural and linguistic processes as "liminality," "ma," and the act of poetic translation. Morrissey's verse, in particular, often succinctly and exactly frames these issues expressed by her senior colleagues, so her poetry will be frequently employed as a lens for examining Heaney's and Carson's poetry.

Sixteen years after the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland remains a deeply segregated society. One driver of this ongoing separation is the divergent ways in which the Troubles are remembered. Paramilitary groups in particular have been quite successful at inscribing their exclusionary conflict memories into public space. However, this work departs from the larger sub-field by arguing that narratives of violence are spatially and discursively resisted in Northern Ireland. I argue additional claimants have asserted their rights to remember in public space and have challenged the appropriation of their loved ones' bodies. Public space in Northern Ireland increasingly is becoming evocative of multiple pasts; it is splintering and diversifying. I argue that one of the chief drivers of this diversification is the reclamation and reinscription of the bodies of those 3,700 men, women, and children who violently lost their lives during the Troubles. / 10000-01-01

This thesis examines the paradigms of masculinities during and after Northern Ireland’s conflict to understand how societal transition from intrastate conflict impacts males’ identities and mental health. Focusing on fieldwork conducted predominately in Derry/Londonderry and applying masculinity theories, this thesis explores the experiences of males aged 29 to 40 who grew up during the 1990s’ peace process. Social and mental health professionals and community and youth workers have expressed concern for the mental health and well-being of this population of men, as well as young men born after the peace process. With this concern in mind, this thesis argues that the continuous presence of contested images of masculinity that existed prior to the conflict and that emerged during the conflict, along with the cultural practice of silence, has resulted in an ambiguous understanding of masculinity in the post-conflict era, and has had a negative impact on males’ mental health.

This thesis is an examination of how the Second World War has been commemorated in Northern Ireland. It seeks to explore how popular and official understandings of the war were constructed around two key moments. Primarily, it looks at the Victory celebrations to mark the end of the war in the West in May 1945. Secondly, it examines the importance of the publication of the official war history Northern Ireland in the Second World War in November 1956. By looking closely at how the Northern Irish government planned for the victory celebrations and how this ritual unfolded, we can reveal much about Northern Irish society at the end of the war. This thesis shows that the state-led, official commemoration served only to alienate the Catholic community. Exploring how the Northern Irish press recorded this event highlights the underlying tensions existing between both communities at the time. This thesis argues that the Northern Irish government used the victory celebrations to project a positive image of itself to the British government. Equally, in 1940 the Northern Irish government rather pre-emptively commissioned the writing of its own official war history, separate from the United Kingdom Official War History Series. This decision, taken by the Northern Irish government, was intended to ensure that Northern Ireland’s role in the war would never be forgotten. After 1945, the unionist government, preoccupied with securing its constitutional positioning within the United Kingdom, intended to make this official history a permanent memorial to Northern Ireland’s contribution to the war. Written, therefore, to exaggerate Northern Ireland’s part in the war, this official war history can be seen as a reflection of unionist insecurity. It is through these commemorative processes that ideas of national identity and belonging are explored.

Diploma thesis Phenomena of Parading in Northern Ireland Conflict applies a concept of reconciliation to the case of parades and parading in Northern Ireland. It uses the theoretical framework of conflict resolution, post-conflict reconstruction and a concept of reconciliation as a main theoretical anchor. The aim is to illustrate on the case of unionist/loyal parades whether the process of reconciliation is taking place. Method used is process tracing. The transformation of behavior is analyzed on four different factors of parading: the overall number of parades, parades statistics and changes the Orange Order implemented; parade routes and their development - a specific case of Orange Drumcree parade is examined; the use of symbols in Northern Ireland context and during parades; societal significance of parades. The thesis reaches the conclusion that based on the example of parades; process of reconciliation is most likely not taking place in Northern Ireland. Some of the data are inconclusive, therefore a firm statement cannot be made, however the existing data shows prevailing tendency towards absence of reconciliation.

No description available.

The thirty years of sectarian violence between the Catholic and Protestant communities (known as the Troubles), left the Northern Ireland society deeply suspicious of the 'other'. Since the sighing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland has moved through a tentative peace process. At the time of writing the issues that hold the peace process in stasis include the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and policing. Similarly the release of political prisoners as part of the Good Friday Agreement has been a difficult reality to face foa significant number of victims of sectarian violence. During the Troubles two approaches prevailed in attempting to reconcile tohe two main communities iand bring an end to the conflict. These were the structural approach and the cultural approach. The structural approach saw the roots of the Northern Ireland conflict as lying within its institutional frameworksand looked for ways to address this. Alternately, the cultural approach saw hat thte conflict was sustained through the belief systems of the two main communities, with the perpetuation of thnegative myths about the 'other'. Resolution of the conflict was seen to be possible by challenging these belief systems through either cross-community work, which brought together Cathoics and Protestants in face to face meetings, or community developemtn work, which focussed on single identity work, empowering the identites of each community so that the two main communities could come together as equals,. It was generally acknowledged that the structural and cultural approaches nneded to be used in tandem, in the effort to reconcile the two main communities. The thesis focuses particularly on the cultural approach, by examining what role, if any, community arts played in reconsiling the two main communities in Norther Ireland between 2001 and 2002, four years af the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The assumptions that informed this research were: i) reconciliation, the restoration of relationships, can be facilitated through the creation of a safe environment wherein people can express their stories of living through a period of violent conflict, to and with one another, in a non-threatening space; ii) community arts can assist in the creation of these safe spaces by producing opportunities for people to create and express these stories in different and less threatening ways. In examining the role of community arts, the thesis highlights three approaches community arts organisations adopted in their work: an arts for arts sake approach, a cross-community approach and a community development approach. By using these approaches, the thesis shows that whilst community arts has helped in a significant number of ways, a large number of people in Northern Ireland have not been ready to talk about reconciliation, and significant sections of the Protestnant community have been reluctant to engage in community arts activities, both within their own community and with members of the Catholic community.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (l. 319-339) Also available in an electronic format via the internet.