Projecting Ireland : the historical consciousness of Irish film in the 1990's

Duncan, Rosemary

Projecting Ireland : the historical consciousness of Irish film in the 1990's

Master Thesis

1999

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of English Language and Literature

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

In the following dissertation, I have undertaken to explore the very wide-ranging yet largely unexplored territory of Irish cinema. I have confined my study to the 1990s (other than a brief overview of the Irish film industry in my Introduction) in an attempt to express the revolutionary global success that all aspects of Irish culture have experienced in this decade. The central point, which I reiterate throughout the dissertation, is that, while Irish filmmakers are increasingly concerned with defining "Irishness" for themselves and the world, they inevitably encounter much confusion and ambivalence, and are often criticised for it. For this reason, I have uncovered many ambiguities in the films I have watched, which defy strict categorisation, other than in terms of their settings, which I describe in terms of "war-torn Belfast", modern Dublin and "the rural idyll". Nonetheless, I have divided the essay into three main sections, other than the Introduction and Conclusion, which themselves contain subsections, and which encompass the major themes which recur in Irish films. Section Two is a broad study of those films which deal with the political violence, known as the Troubles, that defines Northern Ireland. This includes a stereotyped American portrayals as well as a more recent IRA bias, beginning with Neil Jordan's attempt to put a new version of history on film in Michael Collins. The conclusion I come to is that filmmakers are ultimately trying to provide a balanced view of the situation and one that condemns violence. Section Three deals with the intertwined themes of women, family, sexuality and the Catholic Church. The traditional conservatism in Ireland is outlined before I show how recent films reflect the changes in moral attitudes and the new freedoms of sexuality that the younger generation is experiencing. Lastly I look at the special situation of women in the North, where they and their families are the long-suffering victims of the violence. Section Four continues the theme of the changes which are sweeping over "Modern Ireland", largely due to its opening-up to outside influences, particularly those of America. The dichotomies of this newly-modernised society are still evident, as I discuss in the section on the historical importance of land, which is expressed not only in the "rural idyll" films, but in those which deal with the move to the urban lure and squalor of Dublin. Finally I look at how the traditional and mythical still exist in modern Ireland, and how the combination of these aspects of the past and present is shown to suggest a positive way into the future.

Description

Bibliography: pages 112-114.

Keywords

Literary Studies

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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