Why Was There a Burst of Cultural Nationalism in Ireland in the Late Nineteenth Century - Coursework Example

Introduction Cultural nationalism indicates the emergence of a culture which is based upon the inherited and shared culture of a nation. This is opposed to other types of cultural phenomenon which emerge mainly due to ethnic associations of the different groups of the society or the institutions. Within European context, cultural nationalism is mostly focused on the language and culture as the main elements of the cultural nationalism. Irish Nationalism therefore was also the collection of social as well as political movements basically rooted into the love and affection for the Irish culture, values, language and history of the region. It is important, however, to view the Irish nationalism from a different perspective and how it developed over the period of time as a result of the constant perusal for the revival of the cultural revival in the country. During late 19th century, the cultural revival in the region took its most important turn and the Gaelic cultural roots started to become the more dominant element in the cultural revival of the region. It was in the wake of this that the organizations like Gaelic League and Gaelic Athletic Association emerged on the scene with the Celtic revival agenda. This paper will therefore attempt to discuss the revival of cultural nationalism in Ireland during late 19th century. Further, a discussion will also be made regarding the overall nature of organizations such as Gaelic League and GAA and their success in achieving their objectives. Cultural Nationalism- a general introduction The modern interpretation of cultural nationalism indicates towards the development of collective practices of the communities which are formulated on the entirely different level without the involvement of any central authority and government. What is also significant about this is the dissemination of this mass culture through popular media and other methods of dissemination which are mostly public in nature. This sort of dissemination therefore often takes place through intellectual endeavors and in universities.( Jones, 2008). Cultural nationalism within the context of Ireland is also known as the new nationalism as it indicates towards the rising of rather uncompromising collective identities and nationalism which saw the development of organizations such as GAA. It is also argued that the development of cultural nationalism in Ireland also resulted into the occurrence of different other socio-political institutions such as the emergence of a much stronger labor movement in the country as well as the resurrection of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. What is also significant to note that the increase in the general sentiments regarding the past of the Ireland, its history, culture, language and values lead to the increased interest in the way the overall movement for the cultural nationalism emerged in Ireland. (Hachey, & McCaffrey, 1989). It was in the backdrop of this cultural awareness about the past of Ireland which resurrected the overall sentiment within Irish nation to view Ireland as a different and distinct reality apart from Britain. This means that cultural nationalism was also something which attempted to de-link Ireland from its colonial past and created its own separate and distinct identity. Cultural Nationalism in Ireland To better understand the roots of Irish nationalism, it is critical that an overview of the colonial history of Ireland is presented because it was in this backdrop that the overall collective thinking and practices regarding the cultural nationalism in Ireland emerged. It is critical to note that history of Ireland remained tainted with the regular invasions and colonial control since 13th century. The regular invasions of the country therefore began during this period and even to this day, North Ireland is considered to be under an influence and control of Colonial Britain. Thus the overall political as well as socio-economic system of the country changed dramatically. This also resulted into the deepening of these values and systems within the Irish culture that Ireland even to this day failed to uproot successfully and develop its own unique identity in the world and overall urge for developing a unique nationhood still remain one of the most important aspects of Irish culture and society.( Jones, 2008). The issue of cultural nationalism became more significant and important especially during late 19th century because it was during this period that the movement for the independence of Ireland took its firm roots and Ireland started to think and develop itself as a unique and different nation with its own history and culture. What is also significant that this new drive for the political independence of the country was also corroborated by the efforts of artists, poets and other segments of the society which gave rise to the idea of Irish cultural nationalism? Gaelic League As discussed above that during late 19th century, there was a renewed focus on achieving the political independence for the country therefore this movement was also corroborated by the renewed call to consider Irish culture, language and its values as superior and unique. Gaelic League was therefore formulated in the wake of this new approach towards considering the Irish language as important and unique. It was considered that to maintain a unique Irish identity it is important that Irish language must be given the importance and new place in Irish culture. Gaelic League was therefore founded with the basic aim of reviving the Irish language.( Galloway, 1996) Gaelic League used to arrange the Irish language classes across the country in a bid to revive the cultural heritage of the country. Apart from this, Gaelic League was also engaged in coordinating and teaching the native speakers as to how to read and write thus increasing the overall access of the language throughout the country in more systematic manner. Douglas Hyde founded this organization during 1893 and was himself a poet and a person who learned Gaelic language himself. What is so significant about his work was his strong emphasis on the de-anglicizing Ireland in every aspect i.e. language, culture, sports, poetry etc. He was instrumental in the sense that he gave league a new direction to penetrate into the lives of ordinary Irish to embarrass Irish Language and culture. Gaelic Athletic Association This association was founded in 1884 dedicated towards the promotion of the Irish games and sports in the Irish society. Gaelic games included mostly the typical forms of football, hurling, handball etc and as such GAA was sports’ association with a radically different aim to promote the traditional games of Ireland. The aim also included to exclude more British oriented games such as cricket so that more emphasis can be rested on the development of a collective liking for the more traditional Irish games. It is also important to note that GAA was not a Sports organization as it attracted other political factions also. Most importantly organizations like Revolutionary Fenian movement became part of the association and used it for other political ambitions potentially utilizing association for the political reasons. Most of the members of this association are Catholic nationalists and therefore the protestant unionists were mostly excluded from the sports thus giving the association an entirely different orientation. GAA also have placed some rules which explicitly bans British security forces playing the Gaelic Games as well as restricting members from other games. Further, it has also named its various grounds as well as playing places after the names of the nationalists. (Couch, 2004). GAA is therefore also considered as the only association in the world which has combined politics with sports and used sports for achieving the political aims and objectives. It is therefore can be easily concluded that GAA was the mix of sports as well as political organization. These organizations were successful to some extent owing to the fact that they were able to generate the kind of response from the general masses which was required to raise nationalistic sentiments at mass level. However, this could not be sustained for longer period of time as the socio-political changes in the country gradually diluted the nationalistic tendencies from within the Irish society. Hyde, Yeats and Other Writers in Cultural Revival The era during which Yeats achieved its status as one of the most accomplished poets in Europe was also an era during which Ireland attempted to gain independence. Thus owing to the overall political volatility of that era, the poetry of Yeats is also considered as a fine mixture of art and politics and he is considered as one of the key architects of the cultural revival of Ireland. Yeats believed that art and the politics have some intrinsic links with each other therefore his writings expressed his attitude towards Irish Politics as well as culture of his era. (Regan, 2006). He was mostly instrumental in crafting out the philosophical foundations for the New Ireland. This meant that Yeats along with Hyde was one of the most influential individual who brought the cultural revival to the country and projected political ambitions through poetry and other forms of art. What is critical to understand that Yeats felt a considerable bondage with the Ireland and its beauty and his poetry therefore showed a radical rupture from the influence of British poetry and other forms of literature? Over the period of time, therefore the work of Yeats became more like political manifesto for Ireland and its political parties. Similarly, Hyde was instrumental in reviving the Gaelic language and its original place in Irish society. His Gaelic league was instrumental behind the creation of an environment which fostered nationalistic sentiments within Irish society. He is therefore also considered as the maker of the modern Ireland- a country which attempted to carve out its own unique identity in terms of its cultural and nationalistic roots which were significantly different from England. His political ambitions therefore resulted into the creation of a modern republic.( Dunleavy & Dunleavy, 1991) Conclusion The emergence of cultural nationalism in Ireland during late 19th century was the result of political movement which was basically aimed at achieving political independence for Ireland. What is also however, critical to note that this political movement also mixed with the strong sentiments for carving out a new cultural identity for Ireland too. During this era different organizations such as Gaelic League and GAA emerged on the scene to advocate the strong nationalistic orientation of Ireland also. These organizations portrayed the image of an Ireland which has its own past and stronger cultural as well as the different set of values. Writers and poets like Yeats and Hyde played critical role in developing a more modern and new outlook for the Ireland and were successful in resurrecting the original image of Ireland which was aligned with its own past. References 1. Couch, S (2004). The Gaelic Athletic Association and the Gaelic League [online]. [Accessed 2nd November 2010]. Available from: . 2. Cultural nationalism [online]. (2010) [Accessed 2nd November 2010]. Available from: . 3. Dunleavy, J, Dunleavy, G (1991). Douglas Hyde: a maker of modern Ireland. 1st. ed. California: University of California Press. 4. Galloway, S (1996). Irish Nationalism: Themes of Survival and Transcendence [online]. [Accessed 2nd November 2010]. Available from: . 5. Hachey, T, McCaffrey, L (1989). Perspectives on Irish nationalism. Illustrated. ed. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. 6. Jones, R (2008). Relocating Nationalism: On the Geographies of Reproducing Nations. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 33 (3), pp.319-334. 7. Mays, M (2007). Nation states: the cultures of Irish nationalism. Illustrated. ed. London: Lexington Books. 8. Regan, S (2006). W.B. Yeats: Irish Nationalism and Post-Colonial Theory. Nordic Irish Studies. 5, pp.87-99 Read More