Books in the Studies in Franco-Irish Relations series

This volume explores aspects of French and Irish society, past and present, through the prism of the voyage. The contributors focus on a wide range of topics, including cultural tourism, literature, gastronomy and sport, in order to trace the ebb and flow of the exchanges between these two countries and their continued influence on one another.

When one considers issues that are crucial to the evolution of French and Irish culture and behaviour, it is doubtful if there is anything more pertinent than globalisation and secularisation. This title deals with these issues.

Through a comparison with the paradigmatic French events of mai 68, this book explores how Northern Ireland's 1968 has been marginalised in the way the events are remembered at a European level. It argues a case for its inclusion on the list of countries that make up this Europe-wide period of revolt.

Humour, by its very nature controversial, plays an important role in social interaction. With its power to question assumptions, it can be used a weapon of subversion, and its meaning and interpretation are embedded within the culture that generates them in complex ways. The scrutiny of Irish culture through the lens of humour is highly revealing, contributing to an alternative, and sometimes irreverent, reading of events. As John Updike wrote of Raymond Queneaüs witty re-imagining of the Easter Rising, humour can effectively expose «casual ambivalence».This volume investigates the many ways in which writers, playwrights, politicians, historians, filmmakers, artists and activists have used irreverence and humour to look at aspects of Irish culture and explore the contradictions and shortcomings of the society in which they live.

Counter-discourses express new and alternative views of the world, in contrast with more established discourses which embody mainstream values, norms, beliefs and attitudes. The essays in this volume assess the role of counter-discourses as non-violent forms of resistance to the status quo in core domains of Irish social, cultural and political life. These domains encompass the Northern Ireland conflict and peace process; law enforcement, policing and surveillance; parliamentary debate and obstructionism; identity formation, marriage, divorce and the family; and institutional abuse, authoritarianism and the Catholic Church. The discourses are drawn from a diverse range of media including political and parliamentary speeches, ethnographic accounts, social media, short stories, song lyrics, poetry and novels, including those written for young adults. The essays highlight the power and significance of counter-discourses as vehicles of independent thought, capable of both reflecting and driving social and political change.

C¿est la qualité transculturelle, atemporelle et transgénérique des textes de Colum McCann qui intéresse cet ouvrage. L¿auteur n¿ancre complètement son oeuvre dans aucune tradition, aucun courant ou mode défini, et propose des textes récalcitrants à toute tentative de classification. En invitant régulièrement le symbole dans un univers vraisemblable, McCann ébranle parfois le réalisme de ses textes. De plus, en logeant dans son oeuvre celles et ceux qui ne trouvent pas leur place au centre du tourbillon de l¿ère qui est la nôtre, il prend le contrepied du discours historiographique dominant. Ainsi, la notion de rupture apparaît comme une clé de lecture, et son étude permet de comprendre qüau plan métatextuel, elle inclut plus aisément les lecteurs au sein même des textes, lesquels représentent des espaces d¿accueil, de véritables forces centripètes qui les ramènent au coeur de l¿expérience littéraire. Cet ouvrage ne s¿intéresse donc pas seulement à la création et à la constitution des textes, mais également à leur réception. Ils pourraient être perçus comme autant de synapses assurant la transmission de l¿expérience, qui constituent des outils permettant aux lecteurs de repenser leur être-au-monde, notamment à travers l¿expérience de l¿empathie.

This collection explores the concept of patrimoine, a French word used to denote cultural heritage, traditional customs and practices, and the extent to which it impacts France and Ireland. The contributors unearth manifestations of how patrimoine resonates across cultural divides and bestows uniqueness on countries/societies.

In this volume, the sociocultural perspective theory which has emerged in the field of social psychology (as put forward by Catherine Sanderson) is extended to the study of life on the edge in France and Ireland.