Cinematic Cultural Memory of a Conflicted Past: The 1981 Northern Irish hunger strike as a case study

(1)

Cinematic Cultural Memory of a

Conflicted Past

The 1981 Northern Irish Hunger Strike as a Case Study

MA Thesis in European Studies Graduate School for Humanities University of Amsterdam

Author: A.M.A. Steenman Student number: 10607102 Supervisor: dr. C. de Cesari Second reader: dr. K.K. Lajosi Date: 1 July 2015

(2)

Introduction

‘The body fights back sure enough, but at the end of the day everything returns to the primary consideration, that is, the mind. The mind is the most important.

But then where does this proper mentality stem from? Perhaps from one’s desire for freedom. It isn’t certain that that’s where it comes from.

If they aren’t able to destroy the desire for freedom, they won’t break you. They won’t break me because the desire for freedom, and the freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart. The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show.’1

This a fragment of the last diary entry of Bobby Sands, the first of ten Republican men to die on hunger strike in prison in the 1981. For 17 days Sands kept a diary while he was on hunger strike. In 1981 several republican prisoners went on hunger strike in order to obtain the status of political prisoners. The British government withdrew this status in 1972 in light of their ‘criminalisation policy’. This meant that the prisoners were seen and treated as ordinary criminals. The British government took the stance that they would not negotiate with criminals and eventually ten men died on hunger strike before the strike ended.

The quote above illustrates the mindset of the men on strike very well. Sands suggests that it is the desire for freedom that is the source for their strength of mind over their bodily needs. It is the desire for freedom that motivated the republican prisoners to embark upon their fast, fully aware that the government of Margaret Thatcher was not prepared to negotiate. Whether or not one agrees with either the IRA or the British government in this conflict, the determination of the men on hunger strike is quite impressive. Even the adversary of the republicans, Margaret Thatcher,

expressed this as it is described in Charles Moore’s biography of Thatcher. In the book, he describes her sentiments about the hunger strike as follows: ‘Mrs Thatcher herself felt sad about the hunger strike. She admired the strikers’ courage – ‘You have to hand it to some of these IRA boys’ – and described them as ‘poor devils’ [..]’.2_{In public however, Thatcher stood firmly behind her conviction}

that the men were ordinary criminals.

This thesis focusses on the 1981 hunger strike and will research two memory films that were made about these events. I have selected the films Some Mother’s Son, which was released in 1996, and

Hunger , which was released in 2008, 27 years after the events. A further motivation for this

selection will be given in the first chapter. The first film was made during an important period for the peace process in Northern Ireland, right before the peace agreement known as the Belfast or Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998. The second film was made 27 years after the hunger strike and therefore provides a more distant outlook at the events. The research question is: do the films Some

Mother’s Son (1996) and Hunger (2008) reflect the way that the controversial past is commemorated

and reflect the changes in commemoration as there is more temporal distance? Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi has developed a theory on different form of commemoration that will be key for the present research. In order to answer this question, a number of sub-questions have to be posed. There will

1 “Prison Diary” bobbysandstrust.com. Accessed on 28-6-2015 http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/writings/prison-diary

(4)

be a sub-question per film in order to establish whether the films indeed reflect a ‘fragmented commemoration’, one that is divided, and a ‘consensual commemoration’, a form where there is a shared commemoration.3_{I will elaborate on this theory in chapter 1. The questions are as follows:}

Does Some Mother’s Son (1996) portray a fragmented commemoration of the hunger strike? And: Does Hunger (2008) move towards a more consensual form of commemoration, both in form and content? The anticipated answer to the research question is that the film analyses will demonstrate a move from a fragmented commemoration towards a more consensual form of commemoration. I expect this because in 1996 the peace process was still in progress, and in 2008 there has been peace in Northern Ireland for 20 years.

In order to provide a solid answer to the research questions, some delineations are necessary. First of all the area of research on the reception of the films will be constricted to the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and Ireland. Reasons for this are that the conflict occurred mainly in this area, and the fact that both directors are from this area. Terry George, the director or Some Mother’s Son, was born in Belfast. The director of Hunger, Steve McQueen, was born in London. The

timeframe for the present research will be between 1981, when the hunger strike occurred, until 2008, when the film Hunger was released. During this time there were several ceasefires and other important events in relation with the peace process in Northern Ireland. These events will be taken into account in the chapters on the films, especially in the chapter about Some Mother’s Son. This thesis will add to the existing literature on collective memory and the model of analysis as it was developed by Vinitzky-Seroussi (2002) in two ways. Her theoretical model consists of three

dimensions; the political culture of the commemorating society, the relevance of the past to the present and the power of agents of memory.4_{Firstly, it will provide another case study of the}

commemoration of an event that occurred during the Northern Irish conflict that is known as the Troubles. Conway (2009) used Vinitzky-Seroussi’s theory to research the case study of Bloody Sunday. This thesis will apply the theory to the case study of the 1981 hunger strike by republican prisoners. Secondly, the present research will add a medium of collective memory to the existing studies on commemorative practices and monuments. Instead of focusing on monuments, this thesis will focus on commemorative films that were made about the hunger strike. This will open up the possibility for research and case studies on other mediums of memory such as murals, lyrics, poetry, etc., besides monuments and commemorative practices.

This master thesis will be structured as follows. In the first chapter an overview of the current theories on collective memory and collective memory in film will be given. In this chapter the methodology that I used to analyse the films and their reception will also be discussed. In the second chapter a historical context will be provided for the 1981 hunger strike, in which the most important events of the conflict will be discussed as well as the events leading up to the strike. Chapter 3 and 4 are the film analyses of respectively Some Mother’s Son (1996) and Hunger (2008). These chapters will focus on the reception of the films in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by analyzing newspaper articles that were published after the films were released. There will also be special attention for the background of the directors, and their motives to make these films at these specific moments in

3Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered. “Commemorating a Difficult Past: Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorials.” American Sociological

Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): p. 30

(5)

time. The film analyses will then be imbedded into Vinitzky-Seroussi’s theory. The final chapter contains the conclusions of this research and recommendations for further research. This could be a valuable addition to the body of literature that already exists on the Troubles and on the 1981 hunger strike.

(6)

In this chapter I will present an overview of the literature this thesis responds and adds to. The most important theory for the present research is the model for the analysis of different types of

commemoration.5_{Firstly, I will elaborate on this theory and subsequently discuss scholarly works}

that drew from the theory. Then I will proceed to discuss the literature on cultural memory and on the Troubles in general which provide the context for this thesis. Lastly, the method to analyze the two selected films will be described.

Vinitzky-Serouss’s model

For the present research, the theory on the commemoration of difficult pasts as developed by Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, a sociologist and anthropologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will be key. In 2002 her case study of the commemoration of the assassination of Israeli Yitzhak Rabin was published, and in 2007 she published another article on this theory, Controlling for Consesus: Commemorating Apartheid in South Africa, applying it to a different case study. In these studies she adds to the existing literature on collective memory by introducing a ‘new’ type of commemoration of a difficult past. First I will explain the terms she uses, before I proceed to explain the theory and the models that it uses.

‘A difficult past’ is constituted by an inherent moral trauma, disputes, tensions and conflicts.6

Northern Ireland’s (recent) past, known as the Troubles, can be identified as a ‘difficult past’ because it is characterized by all four aspects mentioned above; moral trauma, disputes, tensions and

conflicts. ‘A fragmented commemoration’ includes multiple commemorations for different groups in which they commemorate their own commemorative narrative of the event. 7_{‘A multivocal}

commemoration’ is a shared form of commemoration, in which different interpretations of the same event have a space, and thus different groups can relate to the commemoration. In this type of commemoration the different groups do not necessarily have the same interpretations of the past.8

This commemoration theory is developed by Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, as she applies it to the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In her analysis, she also looks at the way American society commemorates the Vietnam war, the way the Germans remember WWII and a short example of the Canadian educational system. Although her analysis focuses mainly on monuments and commemorative rituals, the theory is applicable to cultural memory in film as well (and also to other media of memory). The applicability of the theory to cinematic representations of cultural memory is demonstrated below.

The model of commemoration that is proposed by Vinitzky-Seroussi focuses on the social context of commemoration and consists of the following three dimensions: the political culture of the

commemorating society, the timing of the commemoration and lastly the power of the agents of memory.

5 Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered. “Commemorating a Difficult Past: Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorials.” American Sociological Review 67, no. 1 (Feb. 2002)

6 Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered. “Commemorating a Difficult Past: Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorials.” American Sociological

Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): p. 31

Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): pp. 31-32)

(7)

Vinitzky-Seroussi proceeds to emphasize the importance of framing narratives of difficult pasts. ‘Narratives are never mere lists – assemblages of dates or facts – put together without logic or motivation. Rather they are selective accounts with beginnings and endings, constructed to create meanings, interpret reality, organize events in time, establish coherency and continuity, construct identities, enable social action, and to construct the world and its moral and social order for its audience.’9_{The framing of narratives thus shapes and influences social movements and in this case}

commemoration. She then offers a structure of commemorative narratives, arguing that they consist of the following three components: the protagonist being remembered, the event itself and the event’s context.

The framing of narratives is significant, because the in- or exclusion of material may affect the way the narrative is perceived by the collective, and it may also influence or shape the way

commemoration is formed and reformed. Vinitzky-Seroussi states: ‘mnemonic narratives are framed through the emphasis on or absence of one or more of the three components of the narrative.’10_{, in}

other words; selective encoding of events within one’s past or present environment. She proceeds to explain the consequences of the selection of one or more of the three components of the

commemorative narrative, which is highly important in the case of the hunger strike. If the third component, the context of the event, is omitted, a larger audience will be able to identify with the narrative. 11

Apartheid case study

In their article about the Apartheid Museum in South Africa, Teeger and Vinitzky-Seroussi elaborate on a form of commemoration that is aimed at enacting and creating consensus about a difficult past, by means of controlling the form and content of the commemorative object. The other forms of commemoration that I have discussed, fragmented and multivocal commemoration, aim at expressing events from a conflicted past, rather than resolve them. However, for the present

research this theory is less applicable as it is designed for the construction of consensus through the medium of museums. In film there is a much lesser degree of social control with regard to the construction of collective memory.12

Conway/Bloody Sunday

In his article Rethinking Difficult Pasts: Bloody Sunday (1972) as a Case Study Brian Conway, a sociologist at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, applies Vinitzky-Seroussi’s model to the commemoration of Bloody Sunday. On 30 January 1972, 13 civilians were shot dead by the British army while peacefully marching against internment without trial.

Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): pp. 34-35

10Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered. “Commemorating a Difficult Past: Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorials.” American

Sociological Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): p. 35

11 Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered. “Commemorating a Difficult Past: Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorials.” American

Sociological Review 67, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): p. 35

12 Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered and Teeger, Chana. “Controlling for Consensus: Commemorating Apartheid in South Africa.” Symbolic Interaction 30, no. 1 (winter 2007), pp. 73-74

(8)

In his analysis he adds a slightly different term to the that explains different manners of commemoration. In addition to the model of controlled consensus13_{, he proposes a model of}

consensual commemoration.14_{The main difference between the two models is that the model of}

controlled consensus proposes careful management of the form and content of commemoration, whereas consensual commemoration focuses on the importance of convergence between different preferred meanings of the conflicted past. Conway’s research on the case of Bloody Sunday proves that Vinitzky-Seroussi’s model is very valuable for the understanding of commemorative practices. Especially the three dimensions of her model help understanding the variations that can occur in the interpretation of a difficult past.15_{As Vinitzky-Seroussi points out, her research on Rabin’s case lacks}

temporal distance, the Bloody Sunday case however does provide the opportunity to analyze changes over a longer period of time. In his conclusions, Conway suggests that his case study is an example of a commemoration that is both fragmented and multivocal, in a single event. In the Bloody Sunday case, the memorials do not represent different groups, but rather different narratives of the same event that changed over time. Whereas at first the commemoration was characterized by different meanings of the event, it later became a shared symbol, where there is space for different interpretations of Bloody Sunday.16

Application of theory to present case study

The commemorative model of Vinitzky-Seroussi will be used for the analysis of the two films about the Northern Irish hunger strike, with attention for the political culture of the commemorating society at the time of the making and release of the film, the timing of the release of the film, also in historical context, and the power of the films as agents of memory. For the last dimension I will also look at how the film resonates with its intended audience.

Close attention needs to be paid to the different commemorative narratives that exist in Northern Irish society with regard to the 1981 hunger strike. Irish commemoration of the Troubles has been fragmented for a long time, with different commemorative rituals for the republican community and for the unionist community. This may be due to the competing commemorative narratives of the republicans and of the unionists and the different meanings they attribute to the hunger strike. For the present research the protagonist that is being remembered is Bobby Sands, the first hunger striker to die, the event is the hunger strike, and the events context are the Troubles and the peace process in Northern Ireland, as well as events leading up to the Troubles such as the British

colonization of Northern Ireland and the harassment of Catholics in the province.

In the case of the Northern Irish hunger strike, there is a strong adherence to the iconization of Bobby Sands, the first of the three components as described by Vinitzky-Seroussi. Sands’ funeral was a huge commemorative event, that more than 100.000 people attended. This also reflects on films about the hunger strike, the character of Sands almost always has a prominent role in these films.

13 Vinitzky-Seroussi, Vered and Teeger, Chana. “Controlling for Consensus: Commemorating Apartheid in South Africa.” Symbolic Interaction 30, no. 1 (winter 2007), pp. 73-74

14 Conway, Brian. “Rethinking Difficult Pasts: Bloody Sunday (1972) as a Case Study.” Cultural Sociology 3, no. 3 (2009): p. 398

16 Conway, Brian. “Rethinking Difficult Pasts: Bloody Sunday (1972) as a Case Study.” Cultural Sociology 3, no. 3 (2009): pp. 409-410

(9)

Significant attention is also paid to the event , the second component, in most films about the hunger strike. However, the event’s context is often omitted from films about the protagonist and event . The context is often limited to some lines at the beginning and ending of most of the films. Other than that, little context is provided, especially with regard to situating the strike within the Troubles.

Cultural memory in film

My case study about the 1981 hunger strike furthermore responds to the existing literature on memory in film, as well as literature on the Northern Irish conflict. Extensive research has been done in the past decades on different aspects of the Troubles, for instance by Laura McAtackney, a scholar on Irish memory and identity. Much of her research focuses on the ‘archeology’ of the troubles, her center of interest is the memory site of Long Kesh prison. However, she also explains that the way Long Kesh prison is dealt with can be seen parallel with the general way the (material) history of the conflict is dealt with. ‘The mass disposal of sites so intrinsically linked to the conflict, without any significant or public engagement, follows a discernible trajectory of post-Troubles political culture that steers towards an official forgetting of the past rather than attempting to uncover and engage with painful truths and accepting responsibilities.’17_{She elaborates that this is also perceived by}

some as a move to normalization, where for instance taking down the prison would be a symbol for material progress, towards a peaceful future. Moreover, research has been done on different cultural representations of the conflict, such as music, poetry and murals in Northern Ireland.

Some of the general events of the troubles are still highly contested, this also reflects in the memory of the conflict. Scholars are in disagreement on how the narrative(s) of the hunger strike are or should be framed. In the introduction to his book Memory, Politics and Identity, Cillian McGrattan argues that there are multiple narratives to contentious pasts, and that ‘[..]that the past works on the present in untold, unintended and unexpected ways, and that the imposition of a narrative that implicitly understands peace and settlement to mark some kind of year zero dividing a bad past from a good future is misguided and positively dangerous.’18_{This argument is made in the light of a truth}

recovery process, and points to the different ‘truths’ about the past that exist in divided societies such as in Northern Ireland. When such a divided society has to deal with its past, there should preferably be space for all the different ‘truths’. McGrattan goes on to explain that there is a certain vicious circle that has to be broken: ‘Of course there can never be one past in any society, not least ethnically divided ones. However, unless the past is articulated in such a way in which the connection of events and experiences are integrated in a real and meaningful way the ‘truths’ which drove conflict will continue to be reproduced.’19_{In the specific case of Northern Ireland’s past, he argues}

that Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, uses specific narratives from the past (such as the hunger strike), for its own purposes. ‘Empirical and ethical scrutiny leads, I argue, to a narrative fencing-in: in other words framing narratives about the past means paying attention to those links to the past and excluding through reasoned argument and documentary evidence those ethicized

understandings that try to suggest otherwise.’20_{Here, the importance of commemorative narratives,}

as is also emphasized by Vinitzky-Seroussi, is highlighted. The relation between the past and the

17 Laura McAtackney, An Acheology of the Troubles (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) p. 3 18 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) p. 3 19 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012)p. 3 20 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) p. 3

(10)

present is also reiterated, and the importance of the past for shaping identities. Sinn Fein, according to McGrattan, pays attention only to the links to the past that are politically convenient to them, and thus create a certain narrative that is not necessarily the ‘truth’.

The dynamics between commemorating and silencing are generally known in memory studies as well as trauma theory and in chapter one of his book, McGrattan touches upon this subject. He

elaborates on the politics of memory: ‘Collective or societal trauma must be differentiated from personal, individual trauma by virtue of the fact that it is imbued with particular political resonance: namely, it is involved with questions of power insofar as it determines whose voices are heard and whose are silenced, whose stories are given public acknowledgement and whose are muted. Thus, trauma is not only a silence, but, politically speaking, it is an act of silencing. This silencing can be passive and active.’21_{The question remains who this ‘it’ is, that determines which voices are heard.}

McGrattan seems to refer to the ‘political resonance’, which would imply that ‘it’ is the state. However, there are more agents that determine which narratives become most important in the public sphere. In the case of Northern Ireland, the republican, non-state voice articulates an important version of past events. Hopkins analyzes which narratives of the conflict are most

prominent as well, he furthermore researches which narrative was and is told to republicans by their leadership. ‘The Provisionals’ leadership set about constructing an internally hegemonic ‘official’ interpretation of their past, even while the broader challenge to the British state’s own ‘official’ memory remained ongoing. The hunger strike was presented to Republicans as a heroic sacrifice, but one which would ultimately be used to legitimize the future direction of the movement’s ‘line of march’.’22_{This affirms the idea that the republican leadership and Sinn Fein push one narrative to the}

fore in order to maintain their own political agenda.

However, not all scholars support the idea that the loudest voice is heard in the landscape of cultural memory. Ann Rigney, a professor in comparative literature with a focus on collective memory, has a more nuanced view on the selectivity of collective memory. She argues that cultural memory is always based on the “principle of scarcity” and not of total recall. Although she refers specifically to the hunger strikes, she argues that the cultural memory that existed previous to the hunger strikes of 1981 shaped the view of the Republican prisoners in the H-Block cells. Hunger striking had been practiced by different generations before 1981, and several people had died on strike in the history of Northern Ireland. Rigney singles out the death of Terence McSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, as being the most influential event. ‘The idea that suffering and endurance were a key to political salvation had thus become enshrined in Republican discourse parallel to the commitment to armed struggle. It drew, moreover – and this is surely part of its imaginative and emotive resonance – upon long-seated Christian models of martyrdom and sacrifice.’23_{Not only does the contemporary cultural}

memory plays a part in the process of what is remembered and what is forgotten, the historical cultural memory also predetermines what is important for specific societies. This history of cultural memory also has implications for collective trauma, as well as the manner in which the trauma and historical events are dealt with.

21 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) p. 9

22 Hopkins, Stephen. “The Chronicles of Long Kesh: Provisional Irish Republican Memoirs and the Contested Memory of the Hunger Strikes.” Memory Studies 7, no. 4 (2014), p. 429

(11)

Rigney already references to the phenomenon of mythologisation and symbolization in her research on how Bobby Sands became an icon for the hunger strike of 1981. This is logical because he was the first hunger striker to die, and because his death was covered most extensively in the (international) media. However, as McGrattan illustrates by quoting Volkan, the becoming of a symbol for

martyrdom might also be problematic because it necessarily leaves out other aspects of the event. ‘For Volkan, chosen trauma works itself out in a number of ways – division, victimisation, guilt, shame, humiliation, helplessness – and, he argues, it can become particularly problematic when it becomes taken for granted; that is, when historical events become mythologised and psychologised to an extent that the perception and representation of events become more important than what actually happened.’24_{In other words, the representation of a traumatic event may come to lead its}

own life. The dynamics of cultural memory are characterized by premediation and remediation, the idea that each cultural representation of the same events draws on previous representations, and provides a basis for future cultural representations. McGrattan further elaborates on the

phenomenon of mythologisation: ‘The sceptic may respond that that is the postmodern condition: reality is mediated and the most persuasive rendition will win out; again, the pessimist may respond that that is so, but it is person who can proclaim her version of reality the loudest will prevail; a more sanguine observer (perhaps, even, a political realist) might reply that it all depends on how we approach the subject.’25_{The shaping of the historical narrative of the 1981 hunger strike, by the}

‘creation’ of a myth around the memory of Bobby Sands by non-state actors has the purpose of ‘creating and maintaining social cohesion and defining symbolic borders’.26_{This is a process of}

selecting certain parts of the narrative, in order to present a story to the world that can serve as an example and therefore makes the presented version easier to accept. The argument made by McGrattan can be perceived in the commemorative model that is proposed by Vinitzky-Seroussi. As elaborated on above, the emphasis on one of three elements of a commemorative narrative (protagonist, event and context of the event) shapes the perception of the audience. However, whereas McGrattan believes the aim of this selection is to make the story that is easy to accept, Vinitzky-Seroussi focuses on the importance of this selection with the aim of a consensual commemoration.

Commemorative acts serve to establish commemorative narratives and are often expressed through repetition. This process is also at work in the case of Sands, his story has been remediated and repeated in different forms of media and has become established as one of the main narratives in the memory of the hunger strike and the Troubles.27_{However, in the memory of a conflicted past it is}

not uncommon that several narrative co-exist. In his article, Hopkins quotes Jelin on the formation of collective memory. ‘[..] in relation to the production of collective memory, different social actors will produce competing narratives of the past, seeking to establish their contemporary legitimacy and power through a privileged connection to that past. There is likely to be a hierarchy of connection to this past, however, with the lived experience of those who were protagonists in historical events carrying most weight, followed by those who have inherited memories of such experience, those

24 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012)pp. 8-9 25 Cillian McGrattan, Memory, Politics and Idenity (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012)pp. 8-9

(12)

who have studied these events closely, and those who are merely external onlookers.’28_{The term}

‘social actors’ refers in essence to the agents of memory described in Vinitzky Seroussi’s theory.

Debate about the memory and events of the Troubles

In the debate about the memory of the hunger strike, there are roughly two competing narratives. On the one side there is the republican narrative that the hunger strike was inevitable and a last resort. On the other hand there is the narrative of the British government and of the unionists that the suffering of the hunger strikers was self-inflicted. Moreover, dissident voices within the

republican community that argue that Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, used the hunger strike to continue the rise in membership that had occurred since the death of Sands. Richard O’Rawe, the republican Public Relations Officer in the Maze at the time of the hunger strike, claims that after the fourth man died, an offer was made by the British government. This deal offered a way out for both parties without loss of face and O’Rawe says that the prison leadership (consisting of himself and Bik McFarlane) accepted the deal. However, it was refused by the IRA leadership outside of the prison.29

After the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013 documents from her archive were released that support this narrative. Most importantly, a letter from the British government to the IRA with notes in Thatcher’s handwriting was released.

Figure 1 Letter from Thatcher archive released after her death in 201330

Selection of films

I have selected the films Hunger and Some Mother’s Son for this research primarily because of their release dates and position in time. Some Mother’s Son was released during an IRA ceasefire that I will

29 O’Rawe, Richard. Blanketmen: An untold story of the H-Block hunger strike. Stillorgan, New Island Books, 2005. p. 161

30Image: http://thebrokenelbow.com/2013/05/03/thatchers-archive-finally-settles-dispute-over-hunger-strike-deal-says-ira-prison-leader/

(13)

elaborate later on, and before the 1998 Belfast Agreement that restored peace to Northern Ireland.

Hunger was released 27 years after the hunger strike occurred and thus provides enough temporal

distance to research possible changes in the form of commemorations of the event. The political culture of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom differs greatly between 1996 and 2008, which will presumably reflect in the films.

Methodology

The analysis of the two selected films and their contexts are the core of the present case study. In her book Film und Kulturelle Erinnerung, Astrid Erll introduces a method to analyze cultural memory films. She identifies a number of main points of research. The research for this paper draws mainly from this method. The following points will be used to analyze the two films on the hunger strike. Firstly, it is important to identify the existing media network of remembrance to which the film responds. This involves researching the media representations that precede the making of the film. How does the film relate to this pre-existing network? Furthermore, the position of the film in socio-cultural context will be examined. The most important points of research will be viewers numbers, whether the film was nominated for and/or won awards, the intended audience, whether the film sparked public discussions, and the aim and motives of the director. Furthermore, the historical authenticity of the film is important. The claim of historical authenticity has implications for the reception of the film, and the (political) message that is being carried out. Do the films claim to be historically correct? What methods do the directors employ to ‘convince’ the audience of the historical authenticity? The feeling of historical authenticity can be accomplished for example by using authentic fragments from the news or radio of that time. However, the way they are embedded in the film influences the perception of the viewer. This includes the authenticity debates about the film that are carried out in different media, these debates are part of the mediated discourse which determines the status of memory film. Consequently, it is relevant to analyse the use of comparative perspectives. Memory films are per definition a social phenomenon, because they are dealt with in a specific socio-cultural context. The status of a film as a memory film may differ according to the culture, for instance because practices of representation may be determined by national thinking which influences the reception of a remembrance film. Furthermore, research into why some films fail to establish themselves as memory films can be useful. Which aspects make one remembrance film a success, and others not? Often the answers can be found in the socio-cultural process that the production is part of, and not merely the style of the film or the reception.31

The analysis of the two films with regards to their place in the plurimedial constellation of the memory of the hunger strike will demonstrate the shift in post-conflict society in Northern Ireland from a fragmented commemoration towards a more consensual commemoration. The present research will build on the existing knowledge on cultural memory in post-conflict Northern Ireland by analyzing Some Mother’s Son (1996) by Terry George, a film about the hunger strikes that was produced shortly after the event, and the film Hunger (2008) by Steve McQueen. Firstly, close film analysis is conducted according to the method as described will show how the two films are shaped by the contemporary politics of remembrance of their time. Comparison between the two

productions serve to illustrate how the landscape of cultural memory of the hunger strike has shifted over time, and how the peace process has developed. Special attention will be paid to the dynamics of remembrance and forgetting.

(14)

In this chapter the boundaries of the present research are outlined. In the next chapter a historical context will be provided, before proceeding to analyze the films.

Historical background of the Troubles and the 1981 hunger strike in

the Maze.

For the purposes of analyzing the 1981 hunger strike, it is important to provide historical context. The hunger strike is part of a larger conflict known as ‘the Troubles’ and there are a number of events

(15)

that led up to the hunger strike. After elaborating on some of the key events that occurred during the Troubles, I will discuss the background of events leading up to the hunger strike as well as events that occurred after the strike ended. First, I will explain a number of the terms and names that are used in reference to the conflict, for reasons of clarity. In this thesis neutral terms will be used where

possible, however the quotes may make use of biased terms. A distinction between the republican and unionist groups will not be made, except for clarity.

Explanation and use of terms

The Troubles/ civil war/ conflict. These are the most commonly used names to refer to the political conflict that lasted 30 years. The conflict was mostly situated in Northern Ireland, but at times also in England and the Republic of Ireland. The main protagonists were nationalists and unionists.

Nationalists were often also Catholic, and in favor of an independent Irish republican consisting of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Unionists were often Protestant and were in favor of Northern Ireland remaining a province of the United Kingdom.32_{Importantly, unionist held a majority of power in the}

government and police force.

Her Majesty’s Prison Maze/ The Maze/ Long Kesh/ the H-blocks are names that refer to a former Royal Air Force station that was used as a detention center and prison during the Troubles. The name H-blocks refers to the shape of the prison buildings. The prison was in use from 1971 until 2000, after its closure most of the site was demolished.33

Republican refers to a group of people that were and are opposed to British rule in Northern Ireland and instead want a united Ireland. This movement can be traced back as far as to the 16th_century.34

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was the main republican paramilitary organization involved in the Troubles. In the present context, IRA refers to the movement that re-emerged in the 1960s, although the name dates back to the partition of the south in 1919. The Irish National Liberation Army was another, much smaller than the IRA, republican movement that was also involved in the 1981 hunger strike. Two INLA members died on hunger strike.35

Nationalists had a similar aim as the republicans, a united Ireland, but were opposed to paramilitary violence. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SLDP) was the main national political party.36

Unionists are a group that wish Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom. The main unionist political party, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), held power in the province since 1922. In the early 1970’s, however, direct rule from the British government returned because of the civil unrest in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is another unionist political party. 37

32 “The Troubles” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 10 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/troubles 33 “Republican hunger strikes in the Maze prison“ BBC.co.uk Accessed on 10 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/republican_hunger_strikes_maze

34 “Republicanism versus Nationalism(s) 1” theirishrepublic,wordpress.com Accessed on 20 May 2015 https://theirishrepublic.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/republicanism-versus-nationalisms-1/

35 “Irish Republican Army (IRA)” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed on 11 June 2015 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/iorgan.htm

36 “The Troubles” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 10 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/troubles 37 “Paramilitaries in the Troubles” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 11 June 2015

(16)

Loyalists is a term also often used to refer to unionists as well, although the term loyalist seems to refer to the more violent form of unionism. There are several loyalist paramilitary organizations that need to be mentioned. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is a group with the main aim to keep Northern Ireland a part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Defense Association (UDA) is the largest loyalist paramilitary organization.38

The UK government was involved, in different forms over the years, in the conflict in Northern Ireland. It never succeeded in bringing the many parties together to come to a solution and restore self-rule.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) is the local Northern Irish police force. The British Army was also present in Northern Ireland to support the RUC. Both are state security forces which were part of the conflict. Units of both the RUC and the British Army have been accused of excessive violence on several occasions, which I will elaborate on below.39

Key events of the Troubles

The following events were key in the conflict known as the Troubles and provide a useful context for the present case study of the 1981 hunger strike. After discussing the key events of the Troubles, the events leading up to the hunger strike will be discussed in more detail.

Civil Rights March 1968

A civil rights march organized by the NICRA that ended in violence is generally seen as the beginning of the Troubles. On Sunday 5 October 1968 the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), held a march to call for reforms in several areas. The NICRA mainly represented the Catholic and nationalist community, who wanted reform from the mainly Unionist government that was appointed upon the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921, the main political party being the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).40_{The NICRA called for ‘a fairer system for the allocation of public housing; an}

end to 'gerrymandering' (the manipulation of electoral boundaries to give one community an electoral advantage); an end to discrimination in employment; the disbandment of the 'B-Specials' (an all-Protestant auxiliary police force); and the repeal of the Special Powers Act (which allowed for internment of suspects without trial).’41

Internment 1971-1975

The British prime minister Edward Heath and the Northern Irish prime minister, Brian Faulkner, introduced internment in August 1971. Internment, the imprisonment without trial of paramilitaries, was a tactic that had been (successfully) used before, in the 1950’s, to weaken the IRA.42_Internment

was introduces under the patronage of the Special Powers Act that was passed in 1922 to maintain

38 “Irish Republican Army (IRA)” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed on 11 June 2015 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/iorgan.htm

39 “Politics in the Troubles” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 11 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/troubles_politics

40 “Day the Troubles began” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 12 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/day_troubles_began 41 “Day the Troubles began” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 12 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/day_troubles_began

42 “Internment in Northern Ireland” alphahistory.com Accessed on 12 June 2015 http://alphahistory.com/northernireland/internment/

(17)

peace and order in Northern Ireland.43_{This strategy was decided upon because of the increasing}

violence and unrest in Northern Ireland, mostly to do with the IRA’s intensified campaign against the British. Under the name of ‘Operation Demetrius’, raids conducted by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British Army in order to intern republican paramilitaries began early in the morning of 9 August 1971. An infamous incident during operation Demetrius now known as the ‘Ballymurphy Massacre’, was the shooting dead of eleven civilians by the British army, some while aiding the wounded or dying. The same regiment that killed these civilians was responsible for the shooting on Bloody Sunday, five months later. In the three-day operation 342 suspected IRA volunteers were arrested and sent to police stations and prison camps. The fact that loyalist paramilitaries were not interned lead to controversy, as well as the alleged brutality during interrogation and in the prison camps by security forces. 44_{Until 1972 prisoners would enjoy ‘special category status’, which allowed}

them greater privileges; free association, extra visits, food parcels and being allowed to wear their own clothes. Internment continued until 5 December 1975.45

Bloody Sunday, 1972

The next event in the chronology of the Troubles that deserves some special attention is Bloody Sunday, on 30 January 1972. During a (peaceful) civil march on this day, the British army shot and killed 13 civilians and wounded 14 more. The march was supposed to go in the direction of the Guildhall in Derry, but roadblocks were put in place by the British army to redirect the march to the Free Derry Corner. Most of the protesters proceeded towards the Free Derry Corner, but a small group went in the direction of the roadblocks, aiming to push them back. This resulted in rioting and later on that day the British army started shooting.46_{Although a lot of events of that day are still}

contested, the Saville report 47_{that was the result of an inquiry commissioned in 1998, states that}

the British paratroopers were out of control and fired at fleeing civilians without them posing a threat.48_{Bloody Sunday is a key event in the Troubles and is the topic of many cultural expression}

such as songs (for example Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2), films and documentaries.

Sunningdale agreement, 1973

The Sunningdale agreement is a proposal for a power sharing government between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In March 1973 the first proposal was published along with a proposal for elections in Northern Ireland. Unionists were largely against these proposals but in the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 28 June 1973 the parties in favor of the proposal obtained 52 seats, against a 26 seats for those opposed. From 6th_{until 9}th_{December in the same year Edward Heath,} 43 “Civil Authorities (special powers) Act (Northern Ireland), 1922” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed on 12 June 2015 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/spa1922.htm

44 “Internment in Northern Ireland” alphahistory.com Accessed on 12 June 2015 http://alphahistory.com/northernireland/internment/

45 “Internment, August 1971” news.bbc.co.uk Accessed on 13 June 2015

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/events/internment.stm

46 “’Bloody Sunday’, 30 January 1972 – A chronology of events” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed on 13 June 2015 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/chron.htm

47 “The question of responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday” webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk Accessed on 13 June 2015

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101103103930/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter004/

48 “Bloody Sunday killings ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’” Published 15 June 2010. Accessed 13 June 2015 http://www.bbc.com/news/10320609http://www.bbc.com/news/10320609

(18)

then British Prime Minister, and Liam Cosgrave, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), and senior ministers discussed the proposals with representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) in

Sunningdale, England. On 9 December a communiqué was sent out with the agreement that they had reached.49_{The United Ulster Unionist Council, an umbrella party for several anti-Sunningdale}

parties, won 11 out of 12 constituencies in the general election in Northern Ireland. Only one pro-Sunningdale MP was returned from Belfast. After that, the Ulster Workers Council called a strike which ultimately led to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive on 28 May 1974.50

Hunger Strikes 1980-81

In the timeline the hunger strikes of 1980-81 by Republican prisoners in the Maze follow, however I will elaborate on these events at the end of the chapter because of their significance for the present research.

Anglo-Irish agreement 1985

After the collapse of the Sunningdale Agreement, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the next attempt to restore peace to Northern Ireland. The agreement provided that there would be regular meetings between British and Irish ministers to discuss and play and advisory role in the situation in Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of England and Irish prime Minister Garret FitzGerald signed the agreement on November 15 1985. Unfortunately, it would take more than 10 years before peace would actually be established in Northern Ireland. A clause in the agreement stating thatif the people of Northern Ireland wished a united Irish peninsula, this would be a possibility, caused anger in the unionist and hope in the nationalist community. 51

Belfast agreement 1998

The Belfast Agreement or Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 at the Parliament Buildings in Belfast known as Stormont bringing relative peace back to Northern Ireland. After extensive talks between the political parties and the governments of Northern Ireland and England an agreement was signed on 10 April 1998. This was despite some setbacks due to, amongst other things, paramilitary violence and the subsequent exclusion of Sinn Fein and the Ulster Democratic party (UDP) from the talks. The Unionist parties were in disagreement about a particular part of the agreement, the decommissioning of the paramilitaries, this is the laying down of arms. The IRA was not inclined to give up their weapons at first either. Even after the agreement dissident paramilitaries continued to carry out violent attacks, for example the Omagh bombing where 29 people were killed

49 “The Sunningdale Agreement – Chronology of main events” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed on 13 June 2015 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/sunningdale/chron.htm

50 “Sunningdale Agreement” parliament.uk Accessed 14 June 2015 http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/sunningdale-agreement/ 51 “Anglo-Irish Agreement – chronology of events” cain.ulst.ac.uk Accessed 14 June 2015

(19)

by the ‘real’ IRA, as these paramilitaries were called. The Agreement consisted of several proposals, amongst other for a Northern Irish Assembly, cross-border institutions with the Republic of Ireland, and links with Westminster in the form of a devolved assembly. Other important proposals for bringing an end to violence in Northern Ireland were about the decommissioning of weapons in paramilitary organizations, the future of police force in Northern Ireland and the release of paramilitaries from the prisons. The referendum that was held about the agreement, resulted in a firm ‘yes’ vote by the people of Northern Ireland and the people of Ireland, votes in favor being respectively 71.12 % and 94.39% and a turn-up of 81.10% in Northern Ireland and 94.39% in the Republic. 52

Figure 2: U2 front man Bono campaigning for a Yes vote at his concert before the referendum. He appeared on stage with Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble and Social Democratic Labour Party leader John Hume.53

Although there was significant unrest after the enforcement of the agreement, it is now thought that the Belfast Agreement brought an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a BBC article published in 2013 states that it did not provide an escape from the past, as the past continues to influence the present because there are still arguments about the contested past of the Troubles.54

Historical context of the 1981 Hunger strike

There are numerous events that led up to the decision by republican prisoners in the Maze to embark on a hunger strike. In the following section these events will be discussed so as to provide a context to the disastrous results of the hunger strike. As mentioned above, at first paramilitaries were recognized as political prisoners by the English government. After 1 March 1976, this Special Category Status was abolished in light of a process of criminalization. Those convicted of terrorist activity would now be seen as ordinary criminals. Archive material of the statements about this policy by Margaret Thatcher are incorporated in the films that will be discussed in the present thesis. Whereas the interned inmates were held in Nissen huts on the former RAF base that became Long

52 “Good Friday Agreement” BBC.co.uk Accessed on 14 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/good_friday_agreement

53 Image. URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-18611032

54 Purdy, Martina. “Rows over Northern Ireland’s past ‘poisoning’ its future” bbc.com, Nov. 21, 2013 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-25044780

(20)

Kesh detention camp, the prisoners that were convicted after 1 March would be held in the newly built H-Block prisons on the Long Kesh grounds.55

Blanket protest

The Blanket protest began when provisional IRA man Kieran Nugent, the first to be convicted after the abolition of Special Category, refused to wear the prison uniform and chose to wear a blanket instead. Other prisoners joined him and the blanket protest continued until March 1981, when it was called off to gain maximum attention for the second hunger strike.56

Dirty protest

In 1987 the blanket protest escalated into the dirty protest when the prisoners were not allowed a second towel to wash themselves and were not allowed to ‘slop out’ - empty their chamber pots – unless they wore prison uniform. As a result, the prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and began pouring urine into the hallway under their cell doors and smearing their excrement on the walls of the cells.57

1980 Hunger strike

After special category was denied to new prisoners in 1976, in 1980 Special Category was denied to all paramilitary prisoners. This led to seven republican prisoners starting a hunger strike in the Maze, alongside several republican women in Argmagh Women’s Prison, in order to obtain ‘the five

demands’. The five demands were as follows: the right to wear their own clothes, the right not to do prison work, the right to freedom of association, the right to organize their own leisure activities, and the right to restoration of lost remission (reduction of sentence). The strike lasted 53 days and ended when the prisoners thought a deal was underway. However, this turned out to be false.58

1981 Hunger strike

After the five demands were not obtained in the previous hunger strike, republican prisoners decided to embark upon a second hunger strike, using a different tactic this time. In the previous hunger strike, all seven prisoners started at the same time, this time it was decided that a prisoner would join the strike every week, in order to put maximum pressure on the British government. Bobby Sands, leader of the republican prisoners was to be the first to refuse food. Notably, Sands was elected Member of Parliament during his hunger strike, after the fourth day without food the MP for Fermanagh- South Tyrone suddenly died and Sands won the by-election. His election

generated widespread media attention, and there was some hope that the British government would not let ‘their own’ MP die, however, no concessions were made and Sands died on 5 May 1981. His death had a large impact on tensions in Northern Ireland, it sparked violent riots and an estimated 100.000 people attended his funeral. After Sands, nine more men died before the strike was called

55 “Republican hunger strikes in the Maze prison“ BBC.co.uk Accessed on 10 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/republican_hunger_strikes_maze

56 “’Blanket’ and ‘no-wash’ protests in the Maze prison” BBC.co.uk Accessed 14 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/blanket_no-wash_protests_maze

57 “’Blanket’ and ‘no-wash’ protests in the Maze prison” BBC.co.uk Accessed 14 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/blanket_no-wash_protests_maze

58 “Republican hunger strikes in the Maze prison“ BBC.co.uk Accessed on 10 June 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/republican_hunger_strikes_maze

(21)

off on 3 October 1981. Relatives and partners were allowed to take a man off the strike when he lapsed into a coma, and towards the end of the strike several families intervened and took the men off. After the end of the hunger strike, the five demands were unofficially granted to the prisoners by the British government. The prisoners did not obtain the official status of prisoners of war, but by granting the demands they were no longer seen as ordinary criminals.

After the hunger strike

Many believe that the 1981 hunger strike paved the way for the signing of the Belfast Agreement and the peace process that followed. The hunger strike instigated a change in the policy of the IRA, moving them away from arms and towards politics. Whereas before there was little faith in the usability of politics for their cause, the election of Sands as MP and the rise in members that Sinn Fein saw during the hunger strikes made republicans believe in a political way to obtain their goals. A twin strategy of using politics and armed struggle was developed, which was called the Armalite and the Ballot box.

The events elaborated on above are key in understanding the continuation of the conflict. They provide an important context for understanding the reasons behind the hunger strike of 1981. In the next two chapters the films Some Mother’s Son and Hunger will be analyzed respectively.

Film analysis Some Mother’s Son

“ Where is there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth.

Where is doubt, may we bring faith.

And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”59

59 Some Mother’s Son, directed by Terry George. (1996; Films Hollywood, CA: Castle Rock Entertainment/ Hell’s Kitchen) DVD, 0:0:36 until 0:0:48

(22)

The film Some Mother’s Son by Irish director Terry George opens with archival footage of Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street. She gives the quote above of Francis of Assisi after her election on 4 May 1979.60_{These strong words will have an impact on the viewer, as they already know how history}

has unfolded after Thatcher’s election and her head to head with the Republican prisoners in the Maze. As the title suggests, the film follows two mothers of young IRA volunteers, who are

imprisoned after bombing a bridge with British soldiers on it. The film provides a relatively detailed historical background, compared to other films about the hunger strike. It provides information on the policy of criminalization that the British government employed from 1976, including the withdrawal of special category status for republican prisoners. The hunger strikes were centered around the prisoners’ five demands for rights they had when special category was still applied. At the end of the film, after one of the men is taken off the strike by his mother, and the other dies, some more context is provided. A few lines follow on what happened with the other hunger strikers and that after calling off the strike, the demands of the prisoners were (unofficially) granted by the British government. Specifically, it states that the hunger strike was called off “after several mothers intervened to save their sons”61_{. The narrative of the hunger strikes is thus specifically framed from}

the perspective of mothers and families of the paramilitaries, which takes attention somewhat away from the political context of the events. The protagonists are Kathleen Quigley and Annie Higgins, two very different women. Kathleen is a pacifist and wants to continue with her normal life as much as she can despite the conflict, Annie is actively supportive of the IRA. When both their sons are imprisoned for IRA involvement the women gradually come closer to each other, through their efforts to help their sons as they join the hunger strike. Director Terry George was born in Belfast, but moved to New York in 1981 with his wife and child. Some Mother’s Son is produced by American company Castle Rock Entertainment, and was co-written by George and Jim Sheridan. Relatively, the film did not win many awards; only four (in European film festivals). 62_{Nevertheless, the film has}

been released in 28 countries all over the world and sparked public debate about the conflict. It seems that the topic resonates with publics around the world, from South Africa to Kuwait.63_{Part of}

the criticism was that the film was ‘anti-British’, but it also received positive reviews.

In this chapter, the place of the film within Vinitzky-Seroussi’s theory will be analyzed. After that a closer look will be taken at the intentions and background of the director and the production team. Then, a close analysis of the film will follow, with special attention to the use of historical material, the use of sounds and music, symbolism and portrayal of the different parties of the conflict. The film was released before the Belfast Agreement was signed in 1998, the start of a long peace process for Northern Ireland. The placement of the film in the history of the troubles and specifically in the peace process will be analyzed. Subsequently, its place in the politics of memory and cultural memory will be studied. Leading up to the politics of memory, the public debate that was sparked after the release of the film in 1996 will be interpreted. I will do this by studying newspaper and opinion magazine articles from Ireland and the United Kingdom.

60 “Remarks on becoming Prime Minister (St. Francis’ Prayer)” margaretthatcher.org Accessed 14 june 2015 http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078

61 Some Mother’s Son, directed by Terry George. (1996; Films Hollywood, CA: Castle Rock Entertainment/ Hell’s Kitchen) DVD, 1:42:08

62 “Some Mother’s Son - Awards” imdb.com Accessed on 15 June 2015 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117690/awards

63 “Some Mother’s Son – Release info” imdb.com Accessed 15 June 2015 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117690/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ov_inf+

(23)

Fragmented commemoration

As Vinitzky-Seroussi explains in her theory, there are different forms of commemoration. A multivocal commemoration, a fragmented commemoration, and finally, a consensual commemoration. In considering Some Mother’s Son as a commemorative film, there are several elements that point to the film being (part of) a fragmented type of commemoration. A fragmented commemoration consists of several different commemorations that aim at different audiences. These

commemorations can take place in different places and times. Some Mother’s Son portrays the 1981 hunger strike from a republican, civil point of view. To be specific, the film shows the perspective of two mothers of republican prisoners. This supports that there is a specific republican

commemoration, as well as a specific unionist one. At the time of making this film in 1996, it was not (yet) possible to have a dual commemoration, in film or otherwise.

Conway argues that in order to bring about healing and reconciliation on a social level, it is important to focus on the ‘significant human cost of the political conflict in terms of lives lost and the suffering of the victims’ families as a result.’64_{As will be further discussed below, the director, Terry George,}

aimed to show the suffering of the families of IRA volunteers.

About the director

Screenwriter and director Terry George was born in Belfast in 1952, and was a young adult when the Troubles began in the 1960s. This is possibly the reason why the Troubles are portrayed in much of his film work, most notably in In the Name of the Father (1993). George was incarcerated in Long Kesh for involvement in IRA activities from 1975 until 1978, when he was released early for good behavior.65_{At age 18 he had already been arrested for suspicion of being involved in the IRA and held}

for three days. His arrest had quite some consequences for his family, they had to move from a Protestant neighborhood to a low class Catholic area. These personal experiences might be the reason for George to take the perspective of the families of the paramilitaries during the hunger strikes. In the film he shows the consequences of the men’s actions and idealism for their loved-ones. In an interview with the New York Times in 1997 he says as much: ‘After ''The Tunnel,'' ''I wanted to write about the hunger strikers,'' Mr. George said. ''It was the single most traumatic event in Irish history. But I was more interested in the families, in what they had suffered. I had realized that because of my flirtation with Republicanism and violence, my family had lost their middle-class aspirations and their house.”’66_{Furthermore, he claims that the film is about the side of the mothers,}

rather than being a political film.67

George co-wrote the screenplay for Some Mother’s Son with Jim Sheridan, with whom he had worked before on In the Name of the Father, and afterwards on The Boxer, both films are about the Troubles. Jim Sheridan was born in the Republic of Ireland but, like George, moved to New York in

65 “Terry George” nndb.com Accessed on 16 June 2015 http://www.nndb.com/people/453/000163961/ 66 The Tunnel is a play written by Terry George about the 1976 attempted prison escape from Long Kesh prison.

Smith, Dintia. “A prison left behind becomes a career” nytimes.com, Jan. 1, 1997 Accessed 16 June 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/01/movies/a-prison-left-behind-becomes-a-career.html?

pagewanted=all&src=pm

67 Crowdus, Gary and Leary, O’Mara. “The Troubles He’s Seen in Northern Ireland: an interview with Terry George.” Cineaste 23, no.1 (winter 1997),

(24)

1981. The lead role of Kathleen Quigley is played by British actress Helen Mirren. In an interview she elaborates on her personal stance on the conflict and the way the film affected her personally. ‘After being involved with someone from Northern Ireland for four years," she says, "and making trips to Belfast, I definitely had my own agenda about the destructiveness of the conflict and the role the British play in continuing it [..]’68_{She does not feel that the film is anti-British or IRA propaganda, but}

instead is about families that, without seeking it, end up in the midst of a war. As far as the role of her own country in the conflict, she generally says that every country has to take responsibility for its actions, and the British as well.

In his various interviews, Terry George points to the plural motives behind his making of this film. The reason he mentions most often to the press is that he wanted to show the toll the conflict took on civilians, and how the families of the men on the strike were affected. His personal viewpoint is that all violence is wrong, he says: "I think the IRA have done some terrible things, particularly lately. There was never any justification for civilian bombing whether we're talking about the IRA, the British, US or Russian armies. We show the inclusion of civilians in war, and how more and more civilian lives are being gambled."69_{Another possible reason is that he wanted to provide some}

answers to the political questions that were posed by the hunger strike, in his own words: ‘[..] the 1981 hunger strike left the world hungry for answers. "I hope Some Mother's Son will help explain it. It was the most traumatic event for the nationalist community in Northern Ireland in 30 years." The perspective of the mothers is the best one in his view, because "They were the real victims", "Mothers are asked to clean up physically and morally for their sons and daughters. That's what fascinated me.”’70

Apart from the iconic character of Bobby Sands, the other characters in the film are not based on the real people involved in the hunger strike in 1981. The director explains the reasons for his decision to have fictional characters: 'We deliberately did not seek the approval of the families,' said George, who agreed some nationalists questioned whether the sacrifice was worthwhile. 'The point of the hunger strike is still a very painful and perhaps unanswered question.'71_{The question referred to}

here is that in 1996 there was not yet a consensual memory of the events. In effect, George admits that perhaps 15 years is still too short a period to heal the pain of the families of victims, both the men that died, and the murdered prison officers.

However, the director might have had further explicitly political intention. In one interview, he makes a parallel between the hunger strike and the peace talks in 1996. This would provide some evidence that George in fact wants to use the past to make a statement about the present, as is often the case in collective memory dynamics. "It has to be recognised that the whole thing about decommissioning is just ridiculous. They've put themselves in these structural traps that happened with the hunger strikes as well - the five demands, rights and privileges and all that bullshit - and now we're back to that again, we've boxed ourselves into a corner.’72_{George explains here that to him, the situation in}

1996 feels the same as it was with the hunger strike. The decommissioning of all paramilitary weapons stalled the implementation of the agreement, because unionists insisted that all weapons

68 Jeanne Wolf. “Mirren Rallies to the Challenge of ‘Some Mother’s Son’” Chicago Tribune, Dec. 24, 1996 69 Richard Mowe. “Sunday, Mother’s Day.” Scotland on Sunday, Aug. 25, 1996

70Richie Taylor. “I’m not trying to make Bobby Sands out to be Jesus Christ.. but they were in fact martyrs.”

Daily Mirror (Ireland), Sept. 9, 1996

71 Richard Brooks. “Bobby Sands film opens old wounds.” Observer (UK), May 12, 1996 72 Hugh Linehan. "There's no such thing as an unbiased film", Irish Times, Sept. 13, 1996

Cinematic Cultural Memory of a Conflicted Past: The 1981 Northern Irish hunger strike as a case study