The look of Ireland: The representation of Ireland in Gael Linn's 'Amharc Eireann' film series, 1956--1964.

摘要

Gael Linn's Amharc Eireann (literally translated as Look at Ireland) film series began in 1956 as monthly short documentary films on topics of domestic interest and was transformed in 1959 to weekly newsreels. It was a cultural nationalist project sponsored by Gael Linn, a newly-formed Irish language protection organization whose mandate was the revitalisation of the Irish language through the use of modern media and technology, and produced by Colm O Laoghaire, a member of a well-known Irish literary and nationalist family (the Plunketts). Created during a period of rapid social, economic and political change, it reflects and records the dramatic transformation of Ireland from a rural, underdeveloped and relatively isolated nation into a modern member of the international economic and political community. As the first and longest-running Irish-language documentary and news-film series, Amharc Eireann represented the attempt on the part of a few committed Irish-language enthusiasts to present Ireland to the Irish in a way that would instill a sense of pride in the country, and to promote the language in a way that the public would accept. Irish-language productions and non-fiction film are both relatively under-researched areas of study. This dissertation analyzes the context, production, reception and content of the series, establishing its contemporary significance and its relation to the Irish language revival movement by critically dissecting the image of Ireland that Gael Linn and O Laoghaire constructed. As the first investigation of the Amharc Eireann series as an historical artefact, it broadens the field of Irish cultural history. By focusing on non-fiction film, it expands the popular conception of film studies. By looking at the promotion of the Irish language and culture through modern media, it examines the construction and reflection of Irish identity in the 20th century.