Frantz Fanon and Cultural Nationalism in Ireland
Only recently has Ireland been included in the extensive study of postcolonial societies. Our geographical closeness to Britain, the fact that we are racially identical, the fact that we speak the same language and have the same value systems make our status as postcolonial problematic. Indeed, some would argue it is impossible to tell the difference between Irish and British. However, to mistake Irish for English to some is a grave insult. In this essay, I would like to look at Ireland’s emerging postcolonial status in relation to Frantz Fanon’s ‘The Wretched of the Earth’. By examining Fanon’s theories on the rise of cultural nationalism in colonised societies, one can see that events taking place in Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century bear all the hallmarks of a colonised people’s anti-colonial struggle through the revival of a culture that attempts to assert difference to the coloniser and the insistence on self-government.
The years 1870 to 1890 in Ireland saw the fervent battle of Charles Stewart Parnell and his Home Rule party for home rule in Ireland. This consisted of Ireland having its own parliament to deal with internal affairs while still remaining under the control of Westminster in international affairs. It was not the desire for a full separation from Britain that would come later. However, by 1890, problems in Parnell’s personal life lead to a breakdown in communication with the Prime Minister and to a split in the Home Rule party. According to M E Collins, this left a void in Irish politics and life that was filled with a new cultural awareness and a questioning of Irish identity: ‘the new movements were different. They stressed the importance of Irish identity, Irish race and Irish culture’ (170 M E Collins, Ireland 1868 - 1966). It is at this point that Fanon’s ‘Wretched of the Earth’ becomes relevant to Irish history. In his chapter entitled ‘On National Consciousness’, Fanon stresses the colonised native fears of being assimilated totally into the culture of the coloniser, of being ‘swamped’ (169 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth). These were the exact concerns that occupied the minds of the Irish people after the failure of home rule. They began to be anxious about what Collins terms ‘the distinguishing marks of Irishness’: ‘a culture and language that was different to Britain’s’.
In addition to continuing need for affirmative action, attention must be given to lessening racial segregation, and to improving the lot of the black poor. Without residential segregation—and the social segregation that it engenders—African American communities would not, as they do now, bear nearly the full burden of disproportionate black poverty… [The black poor] would have access to suburbanized jobs, better schools, and safer streets]. (Pattillo, 217,
Following the collapse of the I-35 Bridge, other bridges in the country, with similar construction designs, were scrutinized. According to federal statistics, more than 70,000 of the 607,363 or roughly 12 percent of the bridges in the United States are classified as “structurally deficient.”
Squires, G. D., Friedman, S., & Siadat, C. (2001). Housing Segregation in the United States: Does Race Matter? Cambridge, MA.
This gentleman is six foot two, short black hair, black eyes, and with no real distinguishing marks. He is heterosexual, African American, and is An Atheist. His name is David, and he is walking home while wearing sweat pants with a ripped up t-shirt that was from home. Some people would consider this gentleman to be poor and have a horrible education with nothing good on his mind. However David is a part-time firefighter, with a part-time job, and also being part time college student. There is a difference between people hardcore supporting their culture or beliefs, compared to individuals who get stereotyped like David for example. In the article, “Sticks and Stones: The Irish Identity”, by Robert McLaim Wilson and published by Grand Street.
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
From slavery to Jim Crow, the impact of racial discrimination has had a long lasting influence on the lives of African Americans. While inequality is by no means a new concept within the United States, the after effects have continued to have an unmatched impact on the racial disparities in society. Specifically, in the housing market, as residential segregation persists along racial and ethnic lines. Moreover, limiting the resources available to black communities such as homeownership, quality education, and wealth accumulation. Essentially leaving African Americans with an unequal access of resources and greatly affecting their ability to move upward in society due to being segregated in impoverished neighborhoods. Thus, residential segregation plays a significant role in
Walker, Samuel, Cassia Spohn, and Miriam DeLone. The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2007. Print.
The most identifiable suspense inducing element of Jaws is the sound. Every time that Jaws is getting ready to attack the Jaws theme plays. The use of this song causes the viewer to wait for Jaws to appear in anticipation. This happens consistently throughout the movie except once. Brody is throwing chum off the back of Quint’s boat to attract the shark and suddenly, without warning, Jaws’s head comes out of the water. This completely throw everyone off guard. The Jaws theme is one of the most iconic sounds from a movie, and therefore must be discussed when talking about this
Seattle’s neighborhoods today are moderately more integrated than in years past. Today the persistence of racial separation can involve, among other things, a complicated mix of individual preferences, housing discrimination, and economic opportunities. A recent study from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that of equally qualified white and non-white home-seekers, whites were given preference in learning about more available houses than people of color. And a housing study by a University of Washington graduate student found that whites prefer to live in white
The preferred alternative of ODOT is to widen and improve the structural integrity of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. The widening of the bridge shall follow the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specification (Baker, 2008, p.3) using steel pier cap extensions (Quesnell Bridge Widening). The structural integrity of the bridge is to be enhance by improving the fatigue life of welds (Bennett, Matamoros, Barett-Gonzalez, & Rolfe, 2014, p.8)
Segregation is a process of separating a group of people either in the basis of class, race, religion, ethnicity or any other group from the society. The separation is often forceful. Societies will always have difference when it comes to political decisions, status of the economy and the origins in terms of race ("A History of Segregation in the United States History Essay", 2015). This study reviews the background information to racial residential segregation in the United States of America and the possible solutions to this. Racial residential segregation is usually as a result of self-segregation by blacks, moves by households that are white from neighborhoods
The Bunker Hill Bridge in Catawba County in North Carolina was built in 1895 and reconstructed in 1994. The bridge is significant because it is the only remaining historic type of "Improved Lattice Truss" bridge. This historic construction was patented in 1839 by Herman Haupt and in 1894, commissioners of Catawba County asked the residents to construct a bridge over Lyles creek. The Haupt truss design is of civil engineering interest because it is an example of innovation in mid 19th century bridge engineering and a construction associated with Herman Haupt, who was a prominent civil engineer in the 19 century and well known for his pioneering projects in the analysis of bridges (Bennet, 4). This paper will summarize the event by reporting
On the 14th of September in the year 1607 the Earl of Tyrone Hugh O’Neill and the Earl of Tyrconnel Rory O’Donnell fled Ireland alongside officials, their families and numerous Gaelic chieftains. They left Ireland from Rathmullen in County Donegal. This flee was to become known as the flight of the Earls. They arrived in the Spanish Netherlands and then eventually made their way to Rome. The Flight of the Earls led to the most drastic form of the British government’s policy of plantation in Ireland. The Flight of the Earls has remained as one of the most memorable events in the history of Ireland. But what exactly were the reasons for the Flight of the Earls? The causes have been debated by historians with different interpretations as to why they fled but it is clear that the influence of the Earls in Ireland have been diminished greatly in the years prior to the Flight of the Earls. This essay seeks to clarify the reasons for the decline in power of the Earls in Ireland through exploration of the solidification of British rule in Ireland, along with key events in the years prior to the Flight of the Earls such as Hugh O’Neill’s campaign and onto the nine years war and the Battle of Kinsale and the Treaty of Mellifont after the Battle of Kinsale.
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
The Travellers: Ireland’s Ethnic Minority. Who are the Travellers? The Travellers, a minority community indigenous to Ireland, have existed on the margins of Irish society for centuries. They share common descent, and have distinct cultural practices - early marriage, desire to be mobile, a tradition of self-employment, and so on.