Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07
From 1968-1994, Northern Irish writers and visual artists found themselves addressing key questions: what is the role of the artist in a divided society, and must s/he engage with political events? This course considers how the artists framed these dilemmas and how they have been framed by them. Following the outbreak of peace in the province, the role of artists changed: their work now focused on the victims of violence and to demand justice. This course examines the different approaches taken to remembrance by writers/artists and explores the ways in which memory and trauma are framed in their work.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | None. | Sustained Study | No |
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Does Northern Ireland's history interweave with or overwhelm the artistic imagination? From 1968-1994, Northern Irish writers and artists found themselves addressing key questions in their attempt to 'tell their story': what is the role of the artist in a divided society, and must s/he engage with political events? The creation of art in a time of violence brought about anxieties concerning partisanship and exploitation. Situated within a particular community, the artist often found themselves within 'narrow ground' and thus attempted to forego a subjective response in favour of either cold objectivity or maddening obliquity; however, with so many pressures on Northern Irish writers, photographers and film-makers to respond to the violence, the aesthetic and critical grounds seemed to become narrower and narrower. This course considers how some of the artists framed these dilemmas and how they have been framed by them. Following the Belfast Agreement (1998) and the outbreak of peace in the province, a pronounced tension has emerged in Northern Irish society between the urge to remember and the desire to forget the atrocities carried out during the period of the so-called 'Troubles', with politicians time and again walking the fine line between amnesty and amnesia, whether willingly or not. In the effort to maintain existing ceasefires, and to seek a political solution, it has been deemed expedient for 'Justice' to remain blind (or rather, to turn a blind eye) to certain past crimes. However, a significant trend has emerged within Northern Irish cultural responses to the Belfast Agreement and the ensuing peace process, one which indicates a determined resistance to amnesia and which promotes an ethical approach towards the act of remembrance. This course examines the different approaches taken to remembrance by writers/artists and explores the ways in which memory and trauma are framed in literature, film and the visual arts.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 2500 word essay (30%), 3500 word essay (50%) Oral Presentation (10%) and Seminar Assessment Mark (10%)
Resit:not normally available
There are no assessments for this course.
Written essay feedback will be provided to students within 3 weeks of submission (and at least 2 weeks prior to their next assignment). Oral and written feedback will be provided on their presentations. Oral feedback will provided regarding their ongoing class performance.
1.Think, speak and write in a theoretically and historically informed manner about complex issues concerning the representation of violence, memory and trauma in Northern Irish culture
2.Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of different types of text (literary, filmic, photographic)
3.Reflect in an informed manner, through critical activities, upon the cultural, social, historical and aesthetic concerns of art in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century
4.Articulate convincing analyses of primary and secondary texts by developing a clear, balanced and scholarly argument
5.Work confidently, both independently and in small groups, to prepare cogent oral and written responses
6.Organise study time effectively
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