《《Ireland_-_Life_and_Culture》.ppt

Irish Life and Culture Traditional Family Life Agricultural Conservative Catholic A man’s world? (e.g. Married women not allowed govt jobs till 1973) Social Change Less conservative Less religious More urban / educated More international 1990s: divorce, contraception and homosexuality (but not abortion) legalised. A history of church sex scandals was revealed, so the reputation of the church fell. Culture: Literature English influenced by Gaelic* Creativity occurs at cultural borders Cultural Stereotypes Foolish Easy-going Friendly An Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman were all driving in the desert. Suddenly, their car breaks down and they each have to choose one thing to take with them as they walk in the terrible heat to find help. The Englishman takes an umbrella, as it might rain. The Scotsman takes whisky, as they might get thirsty. But the Irishman takes the car door.The others are puzzled and ask him why he wants the car door. The Irishman replies, “when we get too hot... ....we can open the window” Summary Until the 1970s, Irish society was mainly agricultural, religious, socially conservative, and rather male-dominated. Since the 1970s, Ireland has become more liberal because of the influence of (UK & US) TV, pop culture, expats, European travel etc (and the discovery of church scandals). In the 19th C Irish were negatively stereotyped as ‘foolish’ though this has been transformed more positively to ‘friendly’ and ‘easy-going’. Ireland also has a rich literary tradition, perhaps because Irish used English more flexibly and were also open to European influences. Task What are the major changes in Irish life in recent times? Why might Ireland be regarded as culturally backward or culturally strong? * * Catholic priest Spiritual pollution? (tall aerials to get UK TV) ‘The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.’ (‘Ulysses’: James Joyce) ‘If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you’ - Oscar Wil