NISN ACTIVITIES

Call for Contributions (collection 31/05/07; 15/12/07)

Redefinitions of Irish Identity in the Twenty-First Century: A Postnationalist Approach.

DUCIS (Dalarna University Centre for Irish Studies), Sweden.

Voices from various fields of study have recently focused their analysis on the numerous changes experienced in Ireland in the last fifteen years. In Northern Ireland the most outstanding of these changes has been the peace process, whereas in the Republic of Ireland the Celtic Tiger phenomenon is connected with numerous changes within social and economic spheres. In the last few years Ireland has registered a surge in the number of immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, with over 167 different languages currently spoken by around 160 nationalities, the appearance of a new underclass in the newly knowledge-based economy, and an increase in mental illnesses and suicide rate. These developments have all been accompanied by the most recent fears that the Celtic Tiger may be losing its bravado, as suggested by the recent announcements by a number of global companies to relocate to most cost-effective destinations. All these phenomena are often interpreted as the consequences of a rapid process of transformation in Ireland under the influence of globalisation, which has raised questions regarding the role of the nation-state and the validity of traditional definitions of Irish national identity. In the European context, Gerard Delanty has analysed how globalisation has caused not only the emergence of a new type of nationalism which differs from nineteenth-century nationalisms (1996), but it has also opened up "a space for reflection . . . in which to search for new collective identities" (O'Mahony and Delanty 2001: vii), with a European postnational identity as one of the options, inspired by Habermas's analysis of citizenship and national identity in contemporary Europe. According to O'Mahony and Delanty, Ireland, in line with European modernity, is in "an overt phase of crisis and contradiction" (2001: vii) in which inherited constructs of nationalism and national identity are questioned, a process also analysed by Richard Kearney in Postnationalist Ireland (1997).

The concepts of the postnational and the postnationalist - the latter, in the case of Ireland, emphasising current changes in analyses of nationalisms - have caused an intense debate in various fields of knowledge, often from opposed stances. Postnationalism has been interpreted as an inevitable reality in the current global circumstances, but also as an attack on the democratic basis of current states, or on the basis of national communities and their identities. In the Irish context, where the construction of an Irish national identity is inextricably interrelated to cultural nationalism and the Irish Literary Revival, current interrogations of traditional definitions of Irishness also raise interest in contemporary literary responses to the problematisation of Irish national identity.

The aim of this book is to collect a number of articles from a multiplicity of fields, predominantly literature, but also including sociology, anthropology, economics, politics, philosophy, and history, so as to present a multifaceted view of contemporary redefinitions of Irish identity in the current postnationalist context. Articles with an interdisciplinary approach will be welcomed.

Submissions for proposals of articles (between 6,000 and 8,000 words) should not exceed 500 words in length and should be accompanied by a short biographical note of the author(s). Please send proposals to Irene Gilsenan Nordin at ign@du.se AND Carmen Zamorano Llena at cza@du.se. Deadline for submissions of proposals is 31 May 2007 and full articles should be completed by 15 December 2007.

Remembering and Forgetting in Irish Literature and Politics

Dalarna University College, Falun (Sweden)

May 8, 2006

You are cordially invited to a one-day NISN (Nordic Irish Studies Network) Symposium: "Remembering and Forgetting in Irish Literature and Politics" at Dalarna University College, Falun, Sweden, on Monday, May 8. The Symposium is centred round the visit of Prof. Richard Kearney, who will be coming to Sweden to be opponent at Elin Holmsten's disputation, which takes place at Uppsala University on Sat May 6.

The Symposium will be officially opened by the Irish Ambassador to Sweden, Mr Barrie Robinson, and the key speakers include:

Dr Shane Alcobia-Murphy (School of Language & Literature, University of Aberdeen) "Unfinished Narratives: Memory and the Representation of Bloody Sunday"

Prof Richard Kearney (Philosophy Dept, Boston College): "Poetics of Remembrance in Contemporary Irish Culture"

Docent Helena Wulff (Dept of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University): "Memories in Motion: Place and Travel of Irish Dance"

Welcome to Dalarna!

Irene Gilsenan Nordin
Symposium co-ordinator

The Construction and Deconstruction of Irish Memory

3 - 4 November 2006, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Nordic Irish Studies Network Symposium and Conference

Deadline for proposals and abstracts (200 words for 20-minute papers): 1 July 2006.

Contact: Michael Böss - engmb@hum.au.dk

The conference will be held in conjunction with a Beckett symposium. The conference will be open to all members of NISN and EFACIS.

November 3: World Theatre: Samuel Beckett and the Theatre

The purpose of the symposium is to discuss the contribution of Beckett's drama not only to European theatre, but also to the notion of a "world theatre".

Speakers: Prof. Ronan McDonald (University of Reading), Prof. Werner Huber (University of Vienna), Prof. Claudio Vicentini (University of Naples), Dr. Tatiana Chemi Strøm, Dr. Torunn Kjølner and Dr. Janek Szatkowski (University of Aarhus), M. Phil. Brynhildur Boyce (University of Iceland)

See programme below.

The symposium is organised by The Centre for Irish Studies and the Department of Drama.

November 4: The Construction and Deconstruction of Irish Memory.

Conference

Fee: DKK 850 (120 Euro)

World Theatre: Samuel Beckett and the Theatre

Friday 3 November 2006, University of Aarhus, "Kasernen", Langelandsgade

Programme

9.00	Registration and coffee
10.00	Opening of the symposium
10.30	Professor Ronan McDonald, University of Reading
11.30	Senior Lecturer Exe Christoffersen, University of Aarhus: Beckett’s Film
12.15	Professor Werner Huber, University of Vienna: "Beckett before Beckett"
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Professor Claudio Vicentini, University of Naples
14.30	Senior Lecturer Torunn Kjølner og Senior Lecturer Janek Szatkowski, University of Aarhus: "Beckett as
15.00	Coffee
15.30	Beckett on stage
16.00	Dr. Tatiana Chemi Strøm, GITIS Aarhus: "Beckett’s Humour"
16.30	Associate Professor Brynhildur Boyce, University of Iceland
17.00	Dr. Karl-Heinz Westarp, Aarhus University:
18.30	Dinner

Fee: DKK 400 incl. lunch, dinner and coffee.
Registration: Michael Böss, Centre for Irish Studies, University of Aarhus (engmb@hum.au.dk). (tel. +45 8942 6501)