The Centre for Irish Studies and the English Lecture Society are happy to announce that the fourth seminar in our CISA Spring Seminar Series 2017 will be taking place on 3 May at 16.30-18.00 in Nobelparken Building 1481 room 366!

The seminar series comprise a total of five double lectures all fuelled by snacks and followed by discussions.

As the title of this double seminar suggests, this last seminar of the season will explore performative aspects of politics, in terms of the specific style of Irish politicians, as well as how political expression is presented in the Northern Irish theatre. 

Greek Tragedy and the Troubles

Speaker: Isabelle Torrance, AIAS.

At the intersection of theatre and political discourse, Isabelle Torrance’s research charts the way in which the theatre scene in Northern Ireland employs the models of the Greek tragedies. This seminar will explore how Greek tragic models have been adapted in Northern Irish theatre as a means of political expression, from the height of The Troubles in the 1980s until the 2013 Derry/Londonderry UK City of Culture

Non-programmatic politics in times of crisis: the case of Ireland

Speaker: Isabel Kusche, AIAS.

The strong constituency focus of Irish parliamentarians is a well-known feature of the Irish political system. Their non-programmatic, catch-all appeals to voters have time and again been the subject of critical commentaries. After much of the confidence about the achievements of the Celtic Tiger years, (the rapid economic growth beginning in the mid 90s) has been swept away by the financial crisis, the localist orientation of Irish politics is at a crossroads. On the one hand, it has been suggested to be a factor that contributed to the depth of the crisis. On the other hand, before the crisis hit it was regularly rewarded at the ballot box. This presentation will give an overview of the long-standing debate about this feature of Irish politics and discuss whether the recent crisis is likely to weaken or strengthen it.