Life History and the Irish Migrant Experience in Post-war England : Myth, Memory and Emotional Adaption

What role does memory play in migrants’ adaption to the emotional challenges of migration? How are migrant selfhoods remade in relation to changing cultural myths? This book, the first to apply Popular Memory Theory to the Irish diaspora, opens new lines of critical enquiry within scholarship on the Irish in modern Britain. Combining innovative use of migrant life histories with cultural representations of the post-war Irish experience, it interrogates the interaction between lived experience, personal memory and cultural myth to further understanding of the work of memory in the production of migrant subjectivities. Based on richly contextualised case studies addressing experiences of emigration, urban life, work, religion and the Troubles in England, chapters illuminate the complex and contingent relationship between politics, culture and migrant identities, developing a dynamic view of the lived experience of British–Irish relations after 1945. Where memory is often regarded as a mechanism of antagonism within this relationship, Life History shows how migrants’ ‘recompose’ memories of migration as part of ongoing efforts to adapt to the transition between cultures and places. As well as shedding new light on the collective fantasies of post-war migrants and the circumstances which formed them, Life History thus illustrates the cultural and personal dynamics of subjective change over time: migrants located themselves as the subjects of a diverse and historically evolving repertoire of narratives, signalling adaption, difference and integration as co-articulating features of the Irish experience in post-1945 England. What role does memory play in migrants'adaption to the emotional challenges of migration? How are migrant selfhoods remade in relation to changing cultural myths? This book, the first to apply Popular Memory Theory to the Irish Diaspora, opens new lines of critical enquiry within scholarship on the Irish in modern Britain. Combining innovative use of migrant life histories with cultural representations of the post-war Irish experience, it interrogates the interaction between lived experience, personal memory and cultural myth to further understanding of the work of memory in the production of migrant subjectivities. Based on richly contextualised case studies addressing experiences of emigration, urban life, work, religion, and the Troubles in England, chapters shed new light on the collective fantasies of post-war migrants and the circumstances that formed them, as well as the cultural and personal dynamics of subjective change over the life course. At the core of the book lie the processes by which migrants ‘recompose'the self as part of ongoing efforts to adapt to the transition between cultures and places. Life history and the Irish migrant experience offers a fresh perspective on the significance of England's largest post-war migrant group for current debates on identity and difference in contemporary Britain. Integrating historical, cultural and psychological perspectives in an innovative way, it will be essential reading for academics and students researching modern British and Irish social and cultural history, ethnic and migration studies, oral history and memory studies, cultural studies and human geography. This book, the first to apply Popular Memory Theory to the Irish Diaspora, opens new lines of critical enquiry within scholarship on the Irish in modern Britain. Combining innovative use of migrant life histories with cultural representations of the post-war Irish experience, it interrogates the interaction between lived experience, personal memory and cultural myth to further understanding of the work of memory in the production of migrant subjectivities. 0Shedding new light on the collective fantasies of post-war migrants, as well as the personal dynamics of subjective change, 'Life history' illuminates how migrants' 'recompose' the self in response to the transition between cultures and places. 0This book will be essential reading for academics and students researching modern British and Irish social and cultural history, ethnic and migration studies, oral history and memory studies, cultural studies and human geography Front matter Dedication Contents List of figures Preface Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction: Myth, memory and emotional adaption: the Irish in post-war England and the ‘composure’ of migrant subjectivities Narratives of exit: the public meanings of emigration and the shaping of emigrant selves in post-war Ireland, 1945–1969 In-between places: liminality and the dis/composure of migrant femininities in the post-war English.city Lives in re/construction: myth, memory and masculinity in Irish men’s narratives of work in the British construction industr Falling away from the Church? Negotiating religious selfhoods in post-1945 England Nothing but the same old story? Otherness, belonging and the processes of migrant.memory Conclusion: Myth, memory and minority history Appendix: Interviews Select bibliography Index This book makes innovative use of migrant life histories to further understanding the role of memory in the production of migrant identities. Offering a fresh perspective on the post-war Irish experience in England, it develops Popular Memory Theory to illuminate how migrants’ ‘recompose’ the self in response to the emotional challenges migration Barry Hazley. Electronic Reproduction. Baltimore, Md Available Via World Wide Web.