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If
you'll forgive the hint of self-publicity, your readers
might be interested in this new title. I have an essay
on my native Edinburgh , 'In the Shadow of Calton
Hill', which focuses on the Scottish-Irish links in
the radical tradition and one of 'Edinburgh's finest'
- James Connolly.
Best wishes,
Ray Burnett
'It was a bad year, 1707'
Commemorating Ireland History, Politics, Culture,
Eberhard Bort, University of Edinburgh (Ed)
'This
is the age of the anniversary. We seem to be in a
constant state of commemoration, celebrating the good,
the bad, the indifferent - and that which is better
forgotten.' (The Sunday Herald, 7 January 2001). This
is not so much a book of commemoration as it is on
or about commemoration. The title of this book is
ambiguous, and intentionally so. On the one hand,
there are echoes of 'Writing Ireland' or 'Imagining
Ireland', or '(Re)-Inventing Ireland' - an active
process shaping our perception of what Ireland is
and how it has become what it is. On the other hand,
there is an element of glancing back. Only what is
gone, what is in the past, can be commemorated. Ireland,
having undergone rapid and profound changes in the
past decades, often kindles feelings of nostalgia,
of an older Ireland having been lost in the 'filthy
modern tide'. This is an examination - in an international,
comparative context - of the role commemorations play
in contemporary politics and society. The multi-disciplinary
character of the enterprise is apparent in the array
of authors contributing to this volume: Peter Collins,
Mary Daly, Tony Canavan, Owen Dudley Edwards, Paul
Arthur, Ray Burnett, Christopher Harvie, Malcolm Anderson,
Neal Ascherson, Gerald Dawe, Christopher Murray and
Aidan Howard.
Irish
Academic Press, Dublin 2003 || 288 pages || ISBN 0
7165 2768 5 cloth €40.00/£30.00
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