Film, Media and Popular Culture in Ireland

A collection covering a wide variety of media in Ireland, including broadcasting, film, popular music, radio, and popular culture. Together, these essays map out the role various media have played in the process of 're-imagining Ireland' over the last fifteen years, touching on aspects of Irish cultural identity and the (re)construction of notions of Irishness. The book addresses the more contemporary implications of both the peace process in Northern Ireland and the 'Celtic Tiger' phenomenon in the South. Contents include: Introduction: The Changing Configurations of Irish Studies (1990-2005); Boxed-in?: The Aesthetics of Film and Television --- Section One: Irish Film. National Cinema and Cultural Identity; Maureen O'Hara: The Political Power of the Feisty Colleen; A Landscape Peopled Differently: Thaddeus O'Sullivan's 'December Bride'; Cinema and the City: Re-imagining Belfast and Dublin; Challenging Colonial Traditions: British Cinema in the Celtic Fringe --- Section Two: Irish Broadcasting. 'Music Hall Dope and British Propaganda': Cultural Identity and Early Broadcasting in Ireland; The City and the Working Class on Irish Television; Broadcasting in a Divided Community: The BBC in Northern Ireland; Drama out of a Crisis: Television Drama and the Troubles; The Elect and the Abject: Representing Protestant Culture; Irish Popular Music; Hybridity and National Musics: The Case of Irish Rock Music (with Noel McLaughlin); Punk Music in Ireland: The Political Power of 'What-Might-Have-Been' --- Conclusion: Popular Culture and Social Change.