'The gentle art of re-perceiving': post-ceasefire identity in the poetry of Alan Gillis

摘要

This article discusses post-ceasefire identity in Northern Ireland, as examined in the poetry of Alan Gillis. Emphasising the novelty of Gillis's work (and connecting this with his status as one of the first generation 'peace poets'), the article argues for awareness of complexity and uncertainty within the poems, suggesting formation of the 'new' as, in poetry as in society, a difficult, ambiguous task productive of an aesthetics of transition. Focusing particularly on the ten year gap between the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the implementation of devolved government in 2007 (and with reference to political writings from this period), it examines the relationship between poetic and political agency, aligning Gillis's approach to form, language and syntax with a dualistic sense of opportunity and disempowerment. Also examined are themes of consumerism and the globalising of identity attendant on economic/political 'normalisation', with reference to theoretical approaches by Walter Benjamin and Cairns Craig.