Comic Elements in the Post-Conflict Dramatic Representation of the Troubles in Northern Ireland

• Thesis title in Czech: Prvky komiky v dramatickém zpracování konfliktu v Severním Irsku v období po jeho ukončení
• Thesis title in English: Comic Elements in the Post-Conflict Dramatic Representation of the Troubles in Northern Ireland
• Key words: post-konfliktní období|konflikt v Severním Irsku|humor|drama|Severní Irsko
• English key words: post-conflict|the Troubles|humour|drama|Northern Ireland
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2019/2020
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Ondřej Pilný, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 13.01.2020
• Date of assignment: 13.01.2020
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 13.01.2020
• Date and time of defence: 10.09.2020 00:00
• Date of electronic submission: 06.08.2020
• Date of proceeded defence: 10.09.2020
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: doc. Clare Wallace, M.A., Ph.D.

Guidelines

The purpose of this MA thesis is to analyse the function of the comic elements in several post-conflict Northern Irish plays that deal with the issue of the Troubles. This thesis stems from the hypothesis that the approach towards the armed conflict has changed during the 20 years of peace and has allowed playwrights to offer comical perspectives that not only critically engage with the issue but at the same time help both sides of the conflict deal with the remaining trauma caused by it. The plays were chosen according to the following criteria: they were written after the Good Friday Agreement; they deal with the Troubles thematically and they contain humorous elements. As a theoretical basis to the study, I will employ Erik Weitz’s The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy, Henry Bergson’s theory on humour as presented in On Laughter, as well as Mikhail Bakhtin’s and Wolfgang Kayser’s work on the grotesque. In order to show the changes in the literary and theatrical approaches to the conflict in the works of the post-conflict authors, the first chapter will provide a brief historical overview of the Troubles and of the numerous clichés employed to represent them during its duration. The following three chapters will focus on close reading of the comic elements and their use in four notable plays by three prominent contemporary Northern Irish playwrights. The second chapter will analyse the parodic and satirical elements in Tim Loane’s comedies Caught Red Handed (2002) and To Be Sure (2007). Set in the future, the two plays function as counterparts and present grotesque leaders of the Loyalist and the Republican parties, respectively. Ironically enough, both of them are trying to light up tensions between the two sides in order to maintain political control in a very similar manner and with humorous consequences. This humour, however, is cringeworthy as it closely resembles the actual rhetoric used by Loyalist and Republican leaders during the Troubles themselves. The third chapter will deal with the play The History of the Troubles (Accordin’ to my Da) (2002), a collaboration between the playwright Martin Lynch and the comedians Connor Grimes and Alan McKee. Faithful to its title, the play leads the reader through more than thirty years of the Troubles through the eyes of the main character, Gerry. Not only does this allow us to see the conflict from a subjective perspective, but also offers comic relief by juxtaposing grotesque bodily humour with grim episodes of the armed conflict. The fourth chapter will focus on David Ireland’s Cyprus Avenue (2016). This play deals with the exploration of post-conflict, yet conflicting, Loyalist identities and the legacy of the Troubles, with a massive dose of black humour and shocking, “in-yer-face” elements, such as the murder of the protagonist’s own family. The final chapter will try to compare the three different approaches and try to evaluate their effect on the understanding of the conflict as well as healing the trauma caused by it, arguing that the importance of the comic elements of these plays reaches over the narrow context of the Troubles and can help readers around the worldwho have experienced similar situations better understand and deal with their own traumas through humour.

References

Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965.

Bergson, Henry. On Laughter, Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1980.
Brady, Sarah and Fintan, Walsh. Crossroads: Performance Studies and Irish Culture. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Bew, Paul and Gordon Gillespie. Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles 1968-1999. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 1999.

CAIN database: https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/peace/sum.htm
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Jordan, Eamonn and Eric Weitz. The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2018.

Heidemann, Birte. Post-Agreement Northern Irish Literature: Lost in a Liminal Space?. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Holdsworth, Nadine and Luckhurst, Mary eds. A Concise Companion to Contemporary British and Irish Drama. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

Ireland, David. Cyprus Avenue. London: Bloomsbury, 2016.

Kayser, Wolfgang The Grotesque in Art and Literature. trans. Ulrich Weisstein. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Loane, Tim. Caught Red Handed. Belfast: Tinderbox, 2002. To Be Sure. Belfast: Tinderbox, 2007.

Lynch, Martin and Grimes, Connor and McKee, Alan. The History of the Troubles (Accordin’ to my Da). Belfast: Lagan Press, 2002.

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Handbook of Modern Irish Theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

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Weitz, Erik. The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.