IRISH MEMORY STUDIES NETWORK
Irish culture is obsessed with the past. From the public commemoration of historic
events to private memoirs of childhood, we cannot escape the remembrance of
things past in our literature and culture, and the spaces of the Irish landscape. And
this is not a new phenomenon; representations of the past have always been an
integral element of how Ireland is imagined and framed. Given these traditions, and
the particular emphasis of Irish remembrance culture on loss, how can we use the
lens of memory studies to read Irish history and culture? Should we be reading the
Irish past under the sign of trauma? Are the events of the past to be resolved
through commemoration or will they – should they – remain as provocative
elements of our present?
*
This Network arises from the emergence of memory studies, and trauma studies, as critically
important discourses in understanding Irish culture and society. Whether discussing the recent
past or more distant histories, our conversations are marked by an interrogation of what and how
we remember; what and how we choose to commemorate; and what we forget.
These questions, and more, have prompted the establishment of this Irish Memory Studies
Network, with the aim of opening up a critical dialogue on aspects of Irish Memory. The network
will be multidisciplinary with a view to generating discussion across disciplinary boundaries and,
it is hoped, laying the foundations for collaborative research work.
The network will provide a forum for discussion, kicking off in Spring 2013 with a seminar series,
funded by the Irish Research Council, addressing issues of commemoration and gender. The
seminar series will be hosted by the Humanities Institute of Ireland at UCD and we welcome
anyone with interest in this broad field. There is also a limited amount of funding available to
support the attendance of postgraduate students at the lectures. Please see overleaf for details.
In September, the network will officially launch at a symposium addressing memory and trauma:
The Body in Pain in Irish Culture (supported by the College of Arts and Celtic Studies, UCD).
Register
We hope that this seminar series, and symposium, will provoke your interest. If you would like to
register your interest in becoming a member of the network, attending the seminars, or you have
any queries, please contact the network director, Dr Emilie Pine ([email protected]).
The Politics of Commemoration
First Memory & Trauma Studies Seminar Series
January 29
Dr Oona Frawley
Irish Memory Studies
February 12
Louise Lowe
Laundry and the memory of the Magdalen Laundries
February 26
Professor Cahal McLaughlin
Armagh Women’s Prison Memories (Prisons Memory Archive)
April 3
Professor Margaret Kelleher*
Memory Studies and Famine Studies: Gender, Genealogy, History
April 9
Dr Emily Mark-Fitzgerald
Famine Commemoration and Migration
April 16
Dr Emilie Pine
The Gender Politics of Commemorating Trauma
Seminars begin at 2.30pm, Seminar room, HII, UCD
*Hosted by the School of English, Drama and Film, 4pm, Room J208,
Newman building, UCD