Ireland in the European Eye

Description

The book examines the historical background and contextualisation of Ireland in Europe; representations of Ireland in European literature and Irish literature in Europe; Irish art, architecture, film and music in European discourses; and European studies, tourism and journalism. With contributions from: David Clark, Fiorenzo Fantaccini, Anna Fattori, Joachim Fischer, Paul Gillespie, Anne Karhio, Linda King, Joanna Kosmalska, Marieke Krajenbrink, Brigid Laffan, Fergal Lenehan, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Leith, Edward Moxon-Browne, Lynda Mulvin, Anna Ni Ghallachair, Eamon O Ciosain, Thomas O'Connor, Mervyn O'Driscoll, Finola O'Kane, Harry White.

Sujets

• Película fotográfica
• Irish language
• Northern Europe
• Ireland
• Eastern Europe
• Scandinavia
• Stephen Ireland
• Music
• Film
• Scandinavie
• Architecture

Informations

• Publié par: Royal Irish Academy
• Date de parution: 20 juin 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781911479048
• Langue: English

Extrait

IRELAND IN THE EUROPEAN EYE
Edited by Gisela Holfter and Bettina Migge
Ireland in the European Eye
First published 2019
Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 ria.ie
Royal Irish Academy
ISBN 978-1-911479-02-4 (PB) ISBN 978-1-911479-03-1 (pdf) ISBN 978-1-911479-04-8 (epub) ISBN 978-1-911479-05-5 (mobi)
All rights reserved. The material in this publication is protected by copyright law. Except as may be permitted by law, no part of the material may be reproduced (including by storage in a retrieval system) or transmitted in any form or by any means; adapted; rented or lent without the written permission of the copyright owners or a licence permitting restricted copying in Ireland issued by the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency CLG, 63 Patrick Street, D n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, A96 WF25.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Editor: Helena King Design: Fidelma Slattery Index: Eileen O Neill Printed in Poland by L&C Printing Group
Royal Irish Academy is a member of Publishing Ireland, the Irish book publishers association
This publication has received support from
Contents
Ireland in the European Eye: An Introduction
Gisela Holfter and Bettina Migge

P ART 1: I RELAND IN E UROPE : H ISTORICAL B ACKGROUND AND C ONTEXTUALISATION
Prequels: The Irish European diaspora
Thomas O Connor
Re-envisioning independent Ireland: 1919-73
Mervyn O Driscoll
Transforming Ireland into an EU member state
Brigid Laffan

P ART 2 A : R EPRESENTATIONS OF I RELAND IN E UROPEAN L ITERATURE AND I RISH L ITERATURE IN E UROPE
Destination of the imagination: representations of Ireland in modern French literature
Anne Gallagher
Ireland in the literatures of Spain
David Clark
Turning the foreign land into a homeland: representations of Ireland and the Irish in Polish literature
Joanna Kosmalska
Ierland is anders: representations of Ireland in Dutch literature
Marieke Krajenbrink

P ART 2 B : L ITERARY R EPRESENTATIONS IN C OMPARATIVE P ERSPECTIVES
Irish literature in Italy and in German-speaking countries
Fiorenzo Fantaccini and Anna Fattori
At the brink of Europe: Nordic encounters with Irish literature
Anne Karhio
Irish-language literature in Europe: a survey of translations and reception patterns in continental countries
Joachim Fischer and amon Cios in

P ART 3: I RISH A RT , A RCHITECTURE , F ILM AND M USIC IN E UROPEAN D ISCOURSES
A cabin and not a cottage: the architectural embodiment of the Irish nation
Finola O Kane
Irish contemporary art in European eyes
Caoimh n Mac Giolla L ith
The diffusion of a Celtic artistic aesthetic in the art and architecture of continental Europe in the Early Middle Ages
Lynda Mulvin
From film noir to scientific-pastoralism: depictions of Ireland in British, German and French cinema, 1938-2014
Fergal Lenehan
Das Land ohne Musik ? Ireland in the European ear
Harry White

P ART 4: E UROPEAN S TUDIES , T OURISM AND J OURNALISM
European Studies in Irish universities
Edward Moxon-Browne
(Re)imagining communities: cara magazine and the negotiation of Irish identity, 1997-2017
Linda King
Irish media discourse on Europe: the search for a wider horizon
Paul Gillespie
Bibliography
Contributors
Introduction
Gisela Holfter and Bettina Migge
Ireland has a very special relationship with continental Europe. Although her relationship with Great Britain, which of course was shaped by colonial power imbalances, was for a long time the most significant connection-Ireland has often been described as the island behind the island-she has also always had contacts with the rest of Europe. This is evidenced by Irish missionary activities, remnants of which could still be found in the 1950s when Heinrich B ll described the island as the glowing heart of Europe from where Christianity and learning found their way to the continent. 1 There is also a history of diplomatic relationships with continental Europe from as soon as Ireland gained independence. Links were established with France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in 1922. In 1929 Ireland opened legations in both Paris and Berlin, Madrid followed in 1935, Rome in 1937; connections with countries in the Eastern bloc, however, took much longer: reciprocal embassies in Ireland and Poland, for example, were only set up in 1976.
But how European is Ireland? In terms of everyday reference, in which Europe often means the European continent , it might be argued that even some 40 years after Ireland joined the European Union (EU), or to be more precise, the then European Economic Community (EEC), it has not found its feet in Europe. Such a view would be contradicted, however, by Ireland s varied engagement on the European political stage, where it has significantly contributed to shaping the EU. Its increasing engagement on that stage and with other countries within the EU has also helped Ireland to find its own voice and to normalise its relations with its former colonial oppressor. But Ireland s engagement with continental Europe and as part of a continually growing EU has also not been entirely unproblematic, particularly in the recent past. Referenda on the Nice and Lisbon treaties in 2001 and 2008 (and their respective re-runs in 2002 and 2009) incited passionate discussions about Ireland s place in an ever-changing Europe and EU. Also of significance is Ireland s insistence on its maintaining separate relations with the United Kingdom (UK) and with the USA, where its main diaspora communities are located. Such an approach is not always in line with the policies and outlook of the EU (which gives rise to arguments about whether Ireland s focus should be Boston or Berlin )-though of course there are many individual facets to outside linkages for all EU member states. The European project itself, especially the common currency, was called into question during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008, which hit Ireland particularly hard. Ireland was one of the few countries subjected to an EU-led recovery programme (widely seen as an austerity programme), causing significant political and social strain. But Ireland became once more a prodigy in European eyes thanks to its comparatively fast recovery.
With the unexpected result of the British vote on Brexit in 2016, Irish- EU relations are again being tested, especially as the Irish-Northern Ireland border has turned out to be an important testing ground with wider ramifications in shaping post-Brexit EU-UK relations. Soft or hard Brexit scenarios are being analysed for their very different impacts on UK-EU and UK-Irish political and economic relations. But despite occasional calls for Ireland also to hold a referendum on leaving the EU, politicians, commentators and the general public alike are, in the overwhelming majority, united in their willingness to stay with the European project rather than to return to a binary relationship with the UK, whichever way it might be defined.
The political stage is, however, only one of the arenas in which Irish-continental European relations are played out. Traditions in different cultural and academic spheres that extend beyond the confines of the EU present, as this volume will show, a much richer tapestry of mutual influences and appreciation that merit greater attention but are often forgotten in the heated discussions of everyday politics. The perspective of the outsider is particularly interesting as it brings with it a multitude of mirroring images. Given the important changes underway both in Ireland and across all of Europe, it seems an opportune time to analyse these differing reflections, and to shine a light especially on the period since the founding of the Irish Free State in 1922, almost 100 years ago.
Reflections on the relationship between Ireland and Europe are not new, of course. A conference took place in T bingen some 40 years ago, focusing on Ireland and Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It was followed two years later, in 1981, by a conference in Dublin. Luminaries from politics, diplomacy, academia and indeed the clergy took part or at least sent greetings. The proceedings of that event-in almost 50 contributions running to over 1,000 pages, mostly in German but also in English and French-give exhaustive insights into details of Irish- European links (particularly everything to do with the Irish mission in Great Britain and on the continent) and Irish achievements in theology, art and literature, and the influence of these on religious and political developments on the continent up to the eleventh century. 2 This European perspective has been followed up by Irish scholarship in subsequent decades (of course focusing not only on the Early Middle Ages, though that period has attracted ongoing interest). 3 It is easy to identify particular periods or events that have attracted a plethora of scholarship. Ireland s role and engagement in the First World War, or the state s neutrality during the Second World War (including its involvement and relationship with the continent generally and Germany in particular) are two obvious examples. 4 The subsequent engagement with the EEC and, upon becoming a member, with its institutions, as well as Ireland s relationship with and development as part of the EU, have also had their fair share of academic analysis. 5

The idea for this book developed in the context of the work of the Royal Irish Academy s committee for the study of Language, Literature, Culture and Communication (2014-18). The focus on European awareness of Ireland emerged organically from one of the committee s central preoccupations-the place of European languages and literatures in Ireland. Since literature is only one of the cultural areas that have contributed to shaping Ireland s relationship with the rest of Europe, however, we felt that the focus of the volum