About the Troubles:

“The Troubles” refer to the period of sectarian violence from the late 1960s to the late 1990s in Northern Ireland. Although this timeframe and perpetrators of the violence itself is often disputed, the combatants involved the many iterations and subsidiaries of the largely nationalist, Catholic Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) and the largely unionist, Protestant, British-backed government of Ulster and their many factions. Although not a war or revolution in the strictest sense, many participants in the conflict did see themselves as soldiers considering paramilitaries such as the IRA and UVF were directly involved.

The Troubles are typically viewed as bookended by the Civil Rights March in Londonderry in 1968 and the Good Friday Agreement (a ceasefire) of 1998. The casualties number over 3,500, including nearly 2,000 civilians. Though it must be noted these numbers are also disputed. The aftermath of the conflict is still ongoing. This digital text is a collation of information and materials regarding artistic responses to the Troubles, focusing on the period just leading up to and following the Good Friday agreement. It seeks to look at art that interrogates the notion of a post-Troubles Northern Ireland.

About me:

I am a first-year PhD student in English with a concentration on Literature Studies.  Before Georgia State, I taught World, British, and American literatures at a private high school in New Jersey for eight years.  I am interested in 20th century American and British literature, citizenship pedagogy, and digital pedagogy/humanities.  My research interests include Orwell, Eggers, and DeLillo; specifically looking at surveillance in literature.  My thesis was on Eggers’s career arc from voice of Generation X to political writer.  I am taking this class because I was introduced to Northern Irish literature and the literature of the Troubles many years ago as an undergrad and remember being fascinated.  I was exposed to writers like Robert McLiam Wilson, Bernard MacLaverty, and Ronan Bennett.  I also took a class on Northern Irish film.  I remember being blown away by the claim that Northern Irish could tell whether someone was Catholic or Protestant just by looking at them.  I’m excited to continue my studies and enhance my understanding of the Troubles.