Essay 4
We have viewed a wide range of films that are part of the history and story of Irish language media. For your final project, pick ONE theme and discuss how this theme has been seen throughout the years giving specific examples from films we have seen on-line. Examples of themes include stereotypes of the Irish (young woman, young man, the mother, the father, etc), landscape (countryside/city), role of film (documenting change to inciting change), role of society in shaping film (especially in the use of Irish in films), image of alcohol in film, and so on.
Films
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU7yV6Cj9Kg
- https://www.tg4.ie/ga/player/seinn/?pid=6027160925001&title=Scann%C3%A1n%20:%20Aithr%C3%AD&series=Scann%C3%A1n%20:%20Aithr%C3%AD&genre=Drama&pcode=023935
Notes
When you look at the map, Ireland may seem like a very small island. But as a result of history, there are two political states on that island. The south has been independent for the better part of a century, while the north continues to be ruled by the British. As you might expect, the south has taken steps to protect the rights of native Irish speakers and in fact has preserved the Irish language as part of the national pride. On the other hand, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Great Britain (with a central capital in London, England) has focused more on what unites Northern Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland, the British tradition and the English language. However, one cannot deny that the indigenous people of all of the island of Ireland have their origins as the native Irish speakers. This can be witnessed both north and south with the Gaelic place names. The people of Irish heritage may be absent in some Northern Ireland villages, but the place names of Irish language origin remain.
However, there is a substantial Irish heritage community in Northern Ireland which may soon reach 50% of the population. In the past, these communities have often been identified along religious lines. Those identifying themselves as Irish tended to be of the Catholic Christian tradition and those identifying themselves as British were of the Anglican Christian tradition (in the USA, this faith community is known as the Episcopal Church). In the city of Belfast and the city of Derry, new Irish speaking communities have sprung up among the subsection that identifies itself with Ireland. The southern Republic of Ireland broadcasts their Irish TV stations (RTÉ 1 & 2 and TG4) to the entire island, north and south. The uniquely Northern Ireland TV stations are BBC Northern Ireland and UTV.
The films that we will see today will depict life in Northern Ireland. The Irish language is a required subject in schools grades K-12 in southern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, there is no such requirement. However, some students can study Irish as a foreign language in high school. [There is an exceptionally small percentage of Irish language schools for children.] As you watch these films, you should expect to hear much more English than would be expected for film coming from south of the border. In addition to this divide caused by location, language use can also be used to convey the idea of "in-group" and "out-group" as defined by sociology. The in-group is represented by those who are part of a group and the out-group are the outsiders. By extension in film, the in-group (speaking Irish) may be depicted as the 'good guys' and the out-group (speaking English) may be depicted as the 'bad guys'. We saw a dynamic similar to this in Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoire (1975).
Sample Solution