The Irish Language in Northern Ireland: The Politics of Culture and Identity

✍ Scribed by Camille C. O’Reilly (auth.)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 228
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

A topical and authoritative investigation of the Irish language and identity in Northern Ireland. The phrase 'our own language' has come to symbolize the importance of the Irish language to Irish identity for many Nationalists in Northern Ireland. However, different interests compete to have their version of the meaning and importance of the Irish language accepted. This book investigates the role of the Irish language movement in the social construction of competing versions of Irish political and cultural identity in Northern Ireland, arguing that for some Nationalists, the Irish language has become an alternative point of political access and expression.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Introduction....Pages 1-16
Language and Culture in Northern Ireland: the Background to the Irish Language Revival Movement....Pages 17-31
Identifying the Three Discourses....Pages 32-48
Decolonizing Discourse....Pages 49-63
Cultural Discourse....Pages 64-84
Rights Discourse....Pages 85-104
The Discourses in Practice: Four Case Studies....Pages 105-147
Irish Language Discourses in the Republic of Ireland....Pages 148-160
Northern Ireland, Brittany and Quebec....Pages 161-174
Conclusion....Pages 175-179
Back Matter....Pages 180-213

✦ Subjects

European Politics;Gender Studies;European History;Modern History;Linguistics, general;Political Theory