REACTION TO BRITISH INTERNAL COLONIALISM IN TOM PAULIN’S “THE RIOT ACT”

Meriç Debeleç

Makale detayları

REACTION TO BRITISH INTERNAL COLONIALISM IN TOM PAULIN’S “THE RIOT ACT”

Yazarlar:

Meriç Debeleç

Yayıncı:

Ankara University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü | Çağdaş Tiyatro Çalışmaları | Kültür | Temsil ve Kimlik

Dergi:

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.65 Issue 1, pp.223-238

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001351568

pISSN:

2459-0150

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 Lasting for more than three decades and causing the death of thousands of Irish people, the Troubles is a notorious historical event that took place in Northern Ireland between 1960s and 1998. Behind the Troubles lie many social and political problems that surrounded the region for almost a millennium. These problems revolved around the conflict between England -and later Britain- and Ireland. However, different from the long lasting Britain and Ireland conflict, the Troubles made Irish people confront themselves and kill each other. The inner-conflict in Northern Ireland depended on the deep-rooted and diversified sociopolitical demarcations that resulted from English involvement in Ireland. The two sides of the conflict were Catholic nationalists and Ulster Protestant unionists. While there are many literary works and films that deal with the Troubles, this article examines the Troubles through Tom Paulins play The Riot Act 1985. The play is written as an alternative version of Sophocles Antigone, and it offers no dramatic differences from the original text of Antigone. Nonetheless, the cultural, political, and historical contexts behind The Riot Act suggest that it is a political allegory that deal with the problems in Northern Ireland and the issue of Irishness. Yet, the political undertone of Paulins work hardly received the scholarly attention that is necessary to provide a new outlook towards the Troubles. Therefore, this paper argues that The Riot Act is a political allegory that satirises British internal colonialism and its policy of divide and rule, which initiated alienation, grudge, and animosity among Irish people and caused instability in Northern Ireland. To support its claim, this study grounds its theoretical foundation on Michael Hechters theory of internal colonialism and Jurgen Osterhammels theoretical overview of colonialism.

 Lasting for more than three decades and causing the death of thousands of Irish people, the Troubles is a notorious historical event that took place in Northern Ireland between 1960s and 1998. Behind the Troubles lie many social and political problems that surrounded the region for almost a millennium. These problems revolved around the conflict between England -and later Britain- and Ireland. However, different from the long lasting Britain and Ireland conflict, the Troubles made Irish people confront themselves and kill each other. The inner-conflict in Northern Ireland depended on the deep-rooted and diversified sociopolitical demarcations that resulted from English involvement in Ireland. The two sides of the conflict were Catholic nationalists and Ulster Protestant unionists. While there are many literary works and films that deal with the Troubles, this article examines the Troubles through Tom Paulins play The Riot Act 1985. The play is written as an alternative version of Sophocles Antigone, and it offers no dramatic differences from the original text of Antigone. Nonetheless, the cultural, political, and historical contexts behind The Riot Act suggest that it is a political allegory that deal with the problems in Northern Ireland and the issue of Irishness. Yet, the political undertone of Paulins work hardly received the scholarly attention that is necessary to provide a new outlook towards the Troubles. Therefore, this paper argues that The Riot Act is a political allegory that satirises British internal colonialism and its policy of divide and rule, which initiated alienation, grudge, and animosity among Irish people and caused instability in Northern Ireland. To support its claim, this study grounds its theoretical foundation on Michael Hechters theory of internal colonialism and Jurgen Osterhammels theoretical overview of colonialism.

 Lasting for more than three decades and causing the death of thousands of Irish people, the Troubles is a notorious historical event that took place in Northern Ireland between 1960s and 1998. Behind the Troubles lie many social and political problems that surrounded the region for almost a millennium. These problems revolved around the conflict between England -and later Britain- and Ireland. However, different from the long lasting Britain and Ireland conflict, the Troubles made Irish people confront themselves and kill each other. The inner-conflict in Northern Ireland depended on the deep-rooted and diversified sociopolitical demarcations that resulted from English involvement in Ireland. The two sides of the conflict were Catholic nationalists and Ulster Protestant unionists. While there are many literary works and films that deal with the Troubles, this article examines the Troubles through Tom Paulins play The Riot Act 1985. The play is written as an alternative version of Sophocles Antigone, and it offers no dramatic differences from the original text of Antigone. Nonetheless, the cultural, political, and historical contexts behind The Riot Act suggest that it is a political allegory that deal with the problems in Northern Ireland and the issue of Irishness. Yet, the political undertone of Paulins work hardly received the scholarly attention that is necessary to provide a new outlook towards the Troubles. Therefore, this paper argues that The Riot Act is a political allegory that satirises British internal colonialism and its policy of divide and rule, which initiated alienation, grudge, and animosity among Irish people and caused instability in Northern Ireland. To support its claim, this study grounds its theoretical foundation on Michael Hechters theory of internal colonialism and Jurgen Osterhammels theoretical overview of colonialism.

 Kuzey İrlanda tarihinde kötü şöhreti ile bilinen Troubles Dönemi, 1960lardan 1998e kadar sürmüş ve binlerce İrlandalının ölümüne sebep olmuştur. Troubles Döneminin temelinde bölgeyi neredeyse bin yıldır kuşatan birçok sosyal ve siyasi problem yatmaktadır. Bu problemler İngiltere -sonradan Britanya- ve İrlanda arasındaki çatışma çevresinde dönmüştür. Fakat Troubles Dönemi Britanya ve İrlanda çatışmasından farklı olarak İrlanda halkını birbirleri ile karşı karşıya getirmiş ve birbirlerini öldürmelerine neden olmuştur. Bu iç çatışma İrlandadaki İngiliz müdahalesinden kaynaklanan köklü ve çeşitli sosyopolitik ayrışmalara dayanmaktadır. İç çatışmanın tarafları ise Katolik milliyetçiler ve birlikçi Ulster Protestanlarıdır. Troubles Dönemini ele alan birçok edebi eser ve film bulunmakla birlikte bu makalede Tom Paulinin The Riot Act 1985 adlı oyunu üzerinden dönemin okuması yapılacaktır. Paulinin oyunu Sofoklesin Antigone trajedisinin alternatif bir versiyonu olarak yazılmıştır ve orijinal metinden belirgin bir farklılık sunmamaktadır. Buna rağmen, The Riot Act eserinin ardındaki kültürel, politik ve tarihsel bağlamlar, eserin Kuzey İrlandanın problemlerini ve İrlanda kimliği meselesini ele alan politik bir alegori olduğunu işaret etmektedir. Paulinin eserinin siyasi yönü ve döneme dair anlatımı ne kadar önem taşısa da Troubles Dönemine yeni bir bakış açısı sağlamak için gerekli olan akademik merakın gösterilmediği gözlemlenmiştir. Dolayısıyla, bu makale The Riot Act oyununun İrlanda insanları arasında yabancılaşma, kin ve düşmanlık başlatan ve Kuzey İrlandada istikrarsızlık yaratan Britanya iç-kolonyalizmini ve böl-yönet politikasını hicveden bir siyasi bir alegori olduğunu öne sürmektedir. Çalışma bu alegorik yapıyı tartışırken teorik temellerini Michael Hechterın iç-kolonyalizm teorisine ve Jurgen Osterhammelin kolonyalizme olan teorik bakışına dayandırmaktadır.

Makale detayları

REACTION TO BRITISH INTERNAL COLONIALISM IN TOM PAULIN’S “THE RIOT ACT”

Yazarlar:

Meriç Debeleç

Yayıncı:

Ankara University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü | Çağdaş Tiyatro Çalışmaları | Kültür | Temsil ve Kimlik

Dergi:

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.65 Issue 1, pp.223-238

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001351568

pISSN:

2459-0150

the Troubles

allegory

satire

internal colonialism

colonialism

nationalism

Tom Paulin

The Riot ActTroubles Dönemi

Alegori

Hiciv

İç-kolonyalizm

Kolonyalizm

Milliyetçilik

Tom Paulin

The Riot Act

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Meriç Debeleç

Yayıncı: Ankara University

Ana Başlıklar: İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü | Çağdaş Tiyatro Çalışmaları | Kültür | Temsil ve Kimlik

Dergi: Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.65 Issue 1, pp.223-238

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 6/2025

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001351568

pISSN: 2459-0150

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Meriç Debeleç

Yayıncı:

Ankara University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü | Çağdaş Tiyatro Çalışmaları | Kültür | Temsil ve Kimlik

Dergi:

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.65 Issue 1, pp.223-238

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001351568

pISSN:

2459-0150