The Status Qou of the Conflict of Northern Ireland and the Aspects of Poetic Imagination

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370289
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: SATO Toru 青山学院大学, 経営学部, 教授 (40245337)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 北アイルランド / 紛争 / ネイション / 植民地主義 / 分断社会 / インターフェイス / 詩 / ミューラル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the research I made analysis of the poetic imagination seen in the poems by contemporary poets in Northern Ireland and the murals depicted in cities such as Belfast and Derry, examining the status quo of the conflict. The conflict, which has caused more than 3,600 deaths since late 1960s, seems to settle down especially after the Belfast Agreement of 1998. However, Northern Ireland is still a divided society; people live separately according to their denominations and classes. The both sides of residents in Catholic and Protestant areas, which are mostly surrounded by peace walls, are different from each other in many aspects; national identity, political attitude, social and cultural background and so on. The murals reflect the differences, and at the same time some murals and poems give a message of peace in the changing political situations. In the divided society the poetic imagination makes a common land to people of both sides and make a bridge between them.

Free Research Field

アイルランド地域・文化研究