History, narrative and work in a Northern Irish town.

Abstract

In Ballybogoin, Northern Ireland historical narratives frame contemporary events and influence their outcome. They divide Ballybogoin's Catholic and Protestant populations along with political-economic factors. This dissertation presents these varying narratives and shows their articulation to the practices of everyday life. It argues that these two communities construct different realities and struggle over the meanings of the past as much, if not more, than they struggle over the politics of the present. Faced with this complex cultural scene, this dissertation presents a case for narrative ethnography and questions the epistemological position of positivist ethnography through an elaborated discussion of anthropological writing on Ireland. It emphasizes both the politics and poetics of this work. The thesis does not adopt an all-enveloping theoretical position but presents monadological studies which enrich each other through their juxtaposition. The thesis explores both material and symbolic relations and does not oppose the two. It examines class relations through a shopfloor ethnography; state violence through a security force killing of an unarmed civilian; community associations and the narratives of everyday life. It tries to show the power of the past in the present not only through a presentation of the community's ritual life but also through everyday struggle, especially those which took place during a workers' strike at the factory where part of the research was carried out. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the Northern Ireland conflict and the varying interpretations of it. It argues for a synthetic interpretation which privileges notions of cultural hegemony and emphasizes struggles over historical memory.