From Acceptance to Assimilation: The Changing Role of Travellers in the (Re)Creation of Irish National Identity, 1920s-1960s
Public Deposited- Resource Type
- Creator
- Abstract
This thesis looks at the place of the formerly nomadic Irish Travellers in the construction of a complex folklore-based Irish national identity in the mid-twentieth century. Using the archives of the Irish Folklore Commission, this thesis argues that as the Irish government constructed Ireland’s new national identity following independence in1922, the Travellers were included in this identity based on their community’s possession of Irish folklore. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, as the importance of folklore in the creation of the national identity diminished in favour of modernization, the government gradually singled out the Travellers as a problematic minority that needed to be assimilated into the majority population. By challenging the existing historiography, this research highlights the importance of discussing the historical contingency, as opposed to inevitability, of constructions of the Traveller as ‘Other’ to encourage a more comprehensive and therefore less deterministic history.
- Subject
- Language
- Publisher
- Thesis Degree Level
- Thesis Degree Name
- Thesis Degree Discipline
- Identifier
- Rights Notes
Copyright © 2014 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
- Date Created
- 2014
Relations
- In Collection:
Items
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
---|---|---|---|---|
gurski-fromacceptancetoassimilationthechangingrole.pdf | 2023-05-04 | Public | Download |