Call for Papers
Images and perceptions of South America, Central America and the Caribbean
in Irish culture
Workshop
Thursday 13 December 2018
Université de Limoges
FLSH
Keynote speaker : Sarah O’Brien (Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin)
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Irish studies have already explored in depth the relations between the United States, Canada and Ireland, and the influence and transfers from one to the other in Irish and North American culture. However, studies on the image and perception of Central and Latin Americans in Irish culture are rare. We, therefore, decided to organise this workshop with the aim of exploring the impact, influence and trace of the Americas in Irish culture.
The Latin American Irish diaspora is the fifth largest in the world. The presence of the Irish is particularly strong in Argentina and Uruguay, where there are 50 000 immigrants of Irish origin, and in the Caribbean: the island of Montserrat was a refuge for Irish Catholics and their culture has continued to thrive since 1632.
The historical links that bind Ireland to South and Central America and the Caribbean are associated with the context of colonial and postcolonial tensions that are part of the fabric of Irish and English history, and to a lesser extent the history of Spain, a country in which many Irish settled before migrating to South America. The first Irish landed on the coast of South America as early as the 16thcentury, following in the wake of Magellan on his circumnavigation of the world. Later, in 1612, James and Philip Porcell established a plantation at the mouth of the river Amazon. There followed a period of emigration, as people searched for new lands and better living conditions. The Irish were also used as slaves, sent to English plantations in America, and some would later participate in the slave trade in the Caribbean. Many Irish clerics set up missions in South America to evangelise the continent. Others chose to fight in the armed conflicts being waged in various countries such as Mexico between 1846 and 1848, and Cuba, with Che Guevara, whose great-grandfather was Irish …
Thus, the aim of this workshop will be to explore the links, both past and present, which bind Ireland to Central and South America through the images which the Irish hold of this part of the world, its diaspora, its history, its legacy, and their exchanges, with particular emphasis on the cultural dimension. What are the bonds between Ireland and these lands of emigration? How do the Irish perceive them, represent them in their art, their media, and their sports? This study will be conducted by analysing articles written by the diaspora in Spanish, English and Gaelic in newspapers like The Southern Cross, founded in 1875 and still in circulation today, and The Standard, which was published in Buenos Aires and last appeared in 1959.
For the purposes of this workshop, the term culture may be understood in its broadest sense: cinema, literature, theatre, the media, photography, art, architecture, fashion, music, gastronomy, sport etc. Transdisciplinary approaches combining, for example, sociological, aesthetic, historical and literary elements are welcomed. Avenues to be explored could include: the diaspora, transnationalism, emigration, representations of figures from elsewhere, transatlantic relations based on the notion of ‘itineraries’ as a personal or collective, symbolic or real, phenomenon. The part played by the national and transnational imaginary on this cultural and symbolic production could also be analysed.
Themes that could be examined include:
- Real and/or imaginary images of territories and frontiers.
- Interpretation and construction of the foreign land/homeland in art.
- Questions of identity, nationalism, memory and commemoration.
- Participation of the Irish in nationalist South American wars, echoes of Irish history?
- Pictorial and photographic representations of the Central and South American Irish.
- Culture, hybridity and blending.
- Place and role of Irish exiles in the slave trade and in piracy (Anne Bonny).
Timeframe
Proposals should be submitted before the 15th June 2018 to Estelle Epinoux: estelle.epinoux@unilim.fr/ francis.healy@univ-lr.fr and should include:
- an abstract of 250-300 words
- the title of your talk
- a short biography of the author(s)
NB: Talks should be no longer than 20 minutes, or 30 minutes if you are using film extracts.
Accepted languages: English and French.
Ideas for panels will be considered.
Scientific Committee
Brigitte BASTIAT, doctor in Information and Communication science, English teacher at the Centre Inter-Pôles d’enseignement des Langues (CIEL), University of La Rochelle, associate member of CRHIA EA 1163 (Research Centre in International and Atlantic History), University of La Rochelle, member of SOFEIR (French Society for Irish Studies) and EFACIS (European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies).
Sergio COTO RIVEL, lecturer in Latin-American civilisation and literature, co-director of the department of Hispanic Studies, Head of 1st year studies in Spanish, Department of Hispanic Studies, Faculté des Langues et Cultures Étrangères (FLCE), Université de Nantes, EA 1162 Research Centre on National Identities and Interculturality.
Éric de Almeida Monteiro, Portuguese teacher, Université de La Rochelle. Vice-President of International Relations at the ULR and correspondent of the west pole at the Institut des Amériques. Associate member of CRHIA EA 1163 (Research Centre in International and Atlantic History), Université de La Rochelle.
Estelle EPINOUX, lecturer in Irish Studies, University of Limoges, associate researcher at SOFEIR, SAES, member of the research group EHIC (Human Spaces and Cultural Interactions, in Limoges EA 1087), SOFEIR (French Society for Irish Studies) and EFACIS (European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies).
Frank HEALY, lecturer in English (CIEL), University of La Rochelle. CRHIA EA 1163 (Research Centre for Atlantic and International History), University of La Rochelle, member of SOFEIR (French Society for Irish studies) and EFACIS (European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies).