Post-Partition Shakespeare: Northern Ireland's Bard in History, Politics and Culture (1921-Present)

This thesis will examine the cultural significance of Shakespeare in Northern Ireland since Partition (1921-present). Building on work in Global Shakespeares, it utilises case-studies drawn from a largely unacknowledged Northern Irish archive, including theatrical productions, community theatre, fiction, poetry, education, film and material traces/architecture. Exploring aesthetic and political dimensions, the thesis demonstrates that Shakespeare's plays - their mobilisation and reception - have shaped the material, literary, educational and theatrical fabric of Northern Ireland. Tracing connections between a fragile state and a global literary icon, the thesis makes a case for Shakespeare's applicability and utility in a conflict and post-conflict situation.
Research Questions:
1.How has the mobilisation and reception of Shakespeare's plays shaped Northern Ireland's material, literary, educational and theatrical heritage?
2.How have his plays been reproduced by generations of Northern Irish directors, writers and community interpreters?
3.In what ways are material traces of Shakespeare part of Northern Ireland's architectural landscape?
4.What has been the political significance of Shakespeare in Northern Ireland? How has Shakespeare been used in moments of crisis and in changing debates around language, identity and nationhood?
5.How can the knowledge gained contribute to wider debates in Shakespeare and Ireland and Global Shakespeares?

Research Context
Work on the significance of Shakespeare in Ireland has proliferated in recent years. Studies by critics such as Bates (2008), Steinberger (2008), Clare and O'Neill (2010), Putz (2013) and Taylor-Collins (2018) testify to the field's vitality. Northern Ireland, however, is conspicuous by its absence in these studies. This critical invisibility means that the discontinuities and points of contestation embedded in Irish Shakespeares are passed over.
The recent 2021 Northern Ireland centenary makes the corrective urgent. Encompassing one hundred years of engagement with Shakespeare across an undulating environment (including civil rights disturbances, the 'Troubles', the legacies of the Good Friday Agreement and the post-conflict era), this thesis argues that Shakespeare's plays - their mobilisation and reception - have shaped Northern Ireland's material, literary, educational and theatrical fabric. It builds on the promise of the few relevant studies conducted so far, including Wray (2011) on Mickey B (2007) - a film adaptation which reads Macbeth inside the 'Troubles' - Corcoran (2020) on the Shakespearean dependencies of Heaney and other Northern Irish poets, and Coleman (2011) on Ulster Protestant Shakespearean rhetoric.
These isolated studies suggest that bringing Northern Ireland into the conversation will complicate our sense of Shakespeare in Ireland as well as offering a fresh understanding of how Shakespeare is understood in a conflicted community. As the first comprehensive exploration of the significance of Shakespeare in Post-Partition Northern Ireland, the thesis will invigorate wider debates in the vibrant area of Global Shakespeares and push Northern Irish Shakespeares into more plural and diverse discussion.

I will utilise an interdisciplinary methodology which combines history, politics, and performance and cultural studies with a focus on the material.