Symposium: History in Stories

The twenty-first century has increased an awareness of and brought on a variety of trials and catastrophes, such as the climate crisis, the challenges of digitalization, a worldwide pandemic, the rise of totalitarianism, renewed racism and sexism, the drawbacks of globalization, and more. Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Irish diaspora as well as their friends and partners in Europe furthermore have to deal with the effects of Brexit. Due to its history the consequences of Brexit on the island of Ireland are uniquely politically charged. In fact, the economic effects of the UK leaving the EU are hitting people and their lives equally hard across the whole confederation. However, the Irish situation can be seen as a key example of a specific European and maybe even more of a general global phenomenon.

Which strategies, approaches, and attitudes can be helpful when dealing with these not only European but transatlantic challenges? Is it possible to learn for the future by trying to learn from the past? Can a backward glance provide much needed guidance in this time of turmoil and offer blueprints for the shaping of the present? And how can the younger generation, provided with the knowledge about the past, create a better future?

The past can only be presented and received in narrative form. Texts are repositories of cultural and historical knowledge. Fictional texts and historical documents both provide histories. Thus, the aim of this symposium will be to draw on texts from and about the Irish past for their cultural knowledge and historical lesson.