Christine Kinealy, ‘Maud Gonne (1866-1953). The Real Famine Queen’ (16 déc.)

Jeudi 16 décembre à 17h : Christine Kinealy (Quinnipiac University), ‘Maud Gonne (1866-1953). The Real Famine Queen’  

 

 Maud Gonne is frequently remembered as a society beauty who was the unrequited love interest of the poet, W.B. Yeats, while her contributions as a nationalist, artist, actor, lecturer, polemist, feminist, writer and social activist are often marginalized. In particular, Gonne’s engagement with the perennial poverty and intermittent subsistence crises that dogged Ireland in the final decade of the 19th century and into the 20th century has largely been ignored. Yet the visit of Queen Victoria to Dublin in 1900 prompted Gonne to write the polemical article, ‘The Famine Queen’, which first appeared in her journal L’Irlande Libre. The designation has proved to be enduring. 

A celebrity in Ireland, France and North America, this lecture will explore how Gonne used her fame and her connections to help rebuild a transatlantic republican movement following the demise of Charles Stewart Parnell. Moreover, it will show how Gonne’s commitment to social justice remained central to her political activities.  

 Christine Kinealy is professor of History at Quinnipiac University, where she is the founding director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute.

Alvin Jackson : “Opposing Home Rule: Irish unionists, their ideas and strategies, 1886-1914″ (mercredi 04/12)


Avec le soutien de l’IUF, le SFBH accueillera Alvin Jackson, professeur à l’université d’Edimbourg le mercredi 4 décembre à 18h, dans l’amphithéâtre Michelet (Sorbonne), 46 rue St Jacques, pour une conférence intitulée :
 
“Opposing Home Rule: Irish unionists, their ideas and strategies, 1886-1914″.
 
Cette séance, conçue notamment pour les agrégatifs, est ouverte aux étudiants de toutes les universités comme à tous les collègues. Mais l’entrée est contrôlée et il faut se munir de sa carte d’étudiant ou de sa carte professionnelle.
La séance fera suite à la conférence donnée le mardi 3 dans le cadre du séminaire du CREC.
 
Elle remplace et annule la conférence d’Alvin Jackson initialement prévue, dans le programme annuel du SFBH, pour le jeudi 5 décembre au 26 rue Serpente (Maison de la Recherche – Paris Sorbonne).

Dr. Jackie Uí Chionna: “Family Networks in the Revolutionary Generation: The Ryans of Tomcoole, A Case Study.” (28/11)

Dr. Jackie Uí Chionna, de National University of Ireland, Galway, présentera sa communication “Family Networks in the Revolutionary Generation: The Ryans of Tomcoole, A Case Study.” le jeudi 28 novembre de 17h à 18h30. Maison de la Recherche, 28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e, salle D421.

The story of the Ryan girls is a fabulous family saga about a group of young women who were liberated by education and their own affirmative personalities in the early years of the 20th century…The standard biographies of Irish lives often ignore spouses and family connections, but these women were clearly influential on that revolutionary generation around them.’ Mary Kenny. Belfast Newsletter, 7 October 2014. Mary Kenny is an author, broadcaster, playwright and journalist.

Mary Kate (Kit), Josephine Mary (Min), Christina and Phyllis Ryan were sisters, and part of a close family circle, the Ryans, from Toomcoole, Co. Wexford, Ireland. Brought up in a strongly nationalist family, all of the sisters progressed to university, and their education, relationships and social circles placed them at the very heart of the revolutionary movement in the period 1912-1922.  Three of the sisters were in relationships with leading figures in the 1916 Rising – Phyllis and Min themselves served as messengers during the Rising. But they were also bright young women, who studied abroad, and whilst studying in London and Paris, they communicated with each other by way of a writing book or jotter, which was then circulated from one sister to another. They also wrote copious amounts of letters to each other, comparing notes on everything from political movements to their latest boyfriends and social lives. This will examine the correspondence of the Ryan sisters as a case study in the significance of family networks for the revolutionary generation in British and Irish history.

Jill Bender : “The ‘Marriage Force’: Mid-nineteenth-century Irish female migration to southern Africa” (28/02)

Jill Bender, de University of North Carolina at Greensboro, présentera sa communication “The ‘Marriage Force’: Mid-nineteenth-century Irish female migration to southern Africa” le jeudi 28 février de 17h30 à 19h30. Maison de la Recherche, 28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e , salle D421.


Abstract:
During the mid-nineteenth century, colonial officials proposed sending impoverished Irish women to the distant colonies of the British Empire, where they might marry restless settlers. On the surface, these migration schemes appeared to benefit both Ireland and the colonies of destination, including Australia, Canada, and southern Africa. According to colonial officials, Ireland would be rid of a superfluous population, the Irish women would attain social and economic advancement, and the colonies would gain much-needed female migrants. Yet, authorities quickly found their optimism tempered by realities, as they faced difficulties posed by religious and cultural differences before the migrant ships had even departed. In this paper, Jill Bender examines an 1850s migration scheme designed to send Irish women to marry members of the British German Legion in southern Africa. Her study not only addresses questions of migration and gender, but also explores the ways in which local concerns in Britain and Ireland could and did shape imperial policies.

Discutante : Marie Ruiz (Université Jules Verne, Amiens)

James Raven, “Lottery Lives: a comparative social history of gambling and the state lotteries in eighteenth-century France, Britain and Ireland”

James Raven, de l’Université d’Essex, présentera sa communication “Lottery Lives: a comparative social history of gambling and the state lotteries in eighteenth-century France, Britain and Irelandle jeudi 26 novembre de 17h à 19h. Maison de la Recherche, 28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e , salle D421.

Résumé:

This paper derives from the writing of a book that will offer a wide-ranging and comparative European and American history of the English state lotteries that sustained government expenditure for more than 130 years before 1826. These lotteries provoked major social, religious, political, economic and even philosophical debate, but they (and most of their Continental equivalents) have largely disappeared from historical view. This is despite the reprise of British state lotteries from 1992, and the historical comparisons that their organisation, sponsorship and criticism suggest. I shall argue that the English Channel proved an important divide in lottery policy. Continuer la lecture

Peter Gray, “The Great Irish Famine and Transatlantic Historiographies, 1847-1914”

Peter Gray, de Queen’s University, Belfast, présentera sa communication “The Great Irish Famine and Transatlantic Historiographies, 1847-1914”, le jeudi 11 décembre. Exceptionnellement, cette séance aura lieu de 18h à 20h. La séance est organisée conjointement avec Mondes Anglophones, Politique et Société (MAPS) de Paris IV – Sorbonne.

Maison de la Recherche de l’université Paris IV-Sorbonne (28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e), salle D421. Le séminaire est ouvert aux étudiants de Master et doctorat, ainsi qu’à toutes les personnes intéressées.

Podcast ci-dessous et sur le site de l’IHR.

Résumé:

The second half of the 19th century saw in the Anglophone world the growing prestige of ‘History’ as an authoritative genre for the interpretation of past events, and to some extent the growing prominence of ‘historians’ (some self-defined, others holding prestigious professional positions) as public intellectuals commenting on current affairs. This lecture will focus on the self-consciously ‘historical’ constructions of the Great Irish Famine in the decades preceding the First World War, aware that these occurred in the contexts of both a frenzy of politicised instrumentalisation of the crisis by Irish nationalists and the salience of recalled memory on the part of many of the writers who had been observers or participants in the events they depicted. It gives particular emphasis to the transatlantic nature of the historical formation of the Famine, not just because of the immense importance of Irish America as a site of Famine memorialisation, but also because of the role played by Anglo-America as the focus for much of the public contestations of meaning articulated by British and Irish liberal as well as Irish nationalist writers.

Christine Kinealy, “Women and the Great Irish Famine”

Christine Kinealy de Quinnipiac University (Connecticut) présentera sa communication “Women and the Great Irish Famine” le jeudi 4 décembre. Exceptionnellement, cette séance aura lieu de 18h à 20h.

Le nombre de places étant limité, l’inscription est obligatoire (et gratuite): sur cette page Doodle. Le podcast de la communication sera rendu disponible dès que possible par un lien dans ce billet.

Maison de la Recherche de l’université Paris IV-Sorbonne (28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e), salle D421. Le séminaire est ouvert aux étudiants de Master et doctorat, ainsi qu’à toutes les personnes intéressées.