Cinematic Representation Of Irish Civil War Since 1990s

Irish Civil War broke out in 1922 between the radical nationalist and pro-treaty side fighting over issues in Anglo-Irish Treaty such as allegiance to the British Crown and division of the 6 counties in Northern Ireland. However, the Irish Civil War was rarely mentioned before the 1960s in Irish cinema largely for the bitterness it left on Irish history and political censorship. The number and scope of films on the Irish Civil War expanded after the lift of Censorship Act 1929. Film functions as recorders of history not only in the sense of preserving the physical "reality" of the time it was produced, but also keeping the underlying value it consciously or unconsciously expressed. The Irish Civil War has always been a contested issue that might come out quite different stories from different sides. By using interpretative textual analysis method and based on studies of historiophoty, this thesis intended to display the views on the Irish Civil War after the 1990s, and thus revealing how views on history evolve with the time.Through analysis on cinematic representation of Irish Civil War in three cases Korea (1995), Michael Collins (1996), The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), these research questions are expected to be answered:How is the Irish Civil War represented in Irish cinema after the 1990s based on case studies? What are the factors contributing to such cinematic representation of the Irish Civil War after the 1990s?To some extent, the evolvement of cinematic representation of the Irish Civil War corresponded to the changing definitions of Irishness. The Irishness went through a fluid process from a romantic nationalist imagining to a radical conservative view under great control of the Catholic Church, and gradually shifting to demystification of heroic narrative and tendency to include larger scope of meanings. Cinematic representation of the Irish Civil War followed similar pattern. Films on the Civil War functioned as historical sources recording the evolvement of the search for its national identity.Civil War. as a subject, gradually shifted from a historical background to an object seriously addressed. The 1990s saw a wave of attack on the nationalist glorification of war and violence in Irish cinema. It exhibited an urge to redefine Irishness that was previously formulated by the Catholic Church and imagining of an Irish-Ireland. Such new urge was spurred not only by further economic and social integration into the international community that required a more globalized definition of national identity, but also by a growing sense of weariness towards violence which went downward spiral. The study showed that the pro-1990s Irish cinema displayed a sense of futility and disappointment towards the outcome of the Civil War. The visual style was lean and realistic without frills displaying the brutality of the war. Account on Irish Civil War became diversified with multiple perspectives and interpretations. Accumulation of personal narratives continuously pushed boundaries of conceptions of the Civil War and history in general. The attitudes towards history turned from violent confrontation or denial to a tentative reconciliation in this period. It enriched conception of history by providing "what might have happened" in the Civil War rather than what had really happened. Thus, the constantly enlarging scope of cinematic representations of the Civil War enriched understanding of the Civil War, but more importantly, creates analogies to contemporary issues that they could relate to and might have an impact on.