Beyond sectarianism: the dynamics of memory in Northern Irish muralism

Abstract

Gabriella Rava- Doctoral Thesis Beyond Sectarianism: the Dynamics of Memory in Northern Irish Muralism Abstract: The present research aims to analyze the famous political murals of Northern Ireland within a renewed frame that moves beyond the theoretical dimension that has dominated the study of mural painting in the province. Proposing the concept of 'muralism', which allows for the adoption of a systematic and unitary perspective on this well-rooted practice, this work investigates its contemporary development through the analysis of some functions/trends underlying it. These are identified as: commodification and heritagization, transnationalism, commemoration, archival impulse and the related digitization and archiving of images of murals. These functions/trends, which encompass muralism both within the realm of material culture and digital practices, fall within a theoretical model that describes muralism as a dynamic system through which the communities of Northern Ireland have embodied and transmitted their own collective memories, especially those of the conflict. It is within this model, which highlights the dynamic nature and (auto)poietic character of muralism as a system of memory, that the aforementioned functions/trends are examined, moving on multiple levels of manifestation. These include...