Ruth Lysaght | Université de Bretagne Occidentale (original) (raw)
Papers by Ruth Lysaght
La Bretagne linguistique, Jun 1, 2015
L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche co... more L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche comparative des cas breton, irlandais et māori The use of minority languages in television production: a comparative study of the cases of Breton, Irish and Maori
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 31, 2013
Screen education, 2008
Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on ... more Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on Film, by Thomas Caldwell, Insight Publications, Elsternwick, 2005.
Estudios Irlandeses, Mar 15, 2013
Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra di... more Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra dimension to a relatively conventional entertainment genre through its use of the Irish language on screen and on set. One of the largest scale longer-term drama productions for TG4, Aifric is aimed at an audience which enjoys Australian series, British soaps and American sit coms. Significantly, viewers are addressed as members of a similar culture, who understand its norms and expectations, rather than as some pan-global 'youth audience' who exist only to be entertained. Aifric presents humorous stories about somewhat quirky characters with credible relationships. Although the language is not foregrounded as a theme in the drama, its treatment results from very conscious decisions by the programme-makers. Performed by largely native-speaking actors, there is a strong drive to present a vibrant and funny Irish-speaking world. However, for most viewers, the use of the indigenous national language on screen remains noteworthy. Telegael were sensitive to this in taking on the commission, and in choosing to create an 'Aifric universe' where Irish is fluently used by everyone, add another layer to the question of Irish language identity.
La Bretagne linguistique, Feb 1, 2013
Patton (2003), une politique de 'laissez-faire' (benign neglect) n'est autre qu'un refus de l'Éta... more Patton (2003), une politique de 'laissez-faire' (benign neglect) n'est autre qu'un refus de l'État-nation d'honorer une obligation éthique de réparer les dégâts du passé. Depuis son indépendance politique, l'État irlandais considère l'irlandais comme première langue officielle, et garantit sa présence dans l'éducation nationale (Ireland, 1937). Cependant, seulement un
Estudios Irlandeses, Mar 15, 2009
Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māo... more Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māori/ Māori Television Service (MTS) in 2004. Despite obvious differences between the two broadcasting environments, both stations attempt to reclaim a national (but minority) language (Ó Ruairc 1996; Moring 2007) and compete with other broadcasters (Horrocks and Perry 2004) to attract an audience (Smith and Abel 2008) by an appeal to identity (Cormack 2000; 2007; Delap 2007). This paper investigates idents from TG4 and MTS. What image or brand have the language and culture in these mini-advertisements? Thornley's (2004) discussion of "transculturation" is useful in examining the often inventive approach taken to elements of the dominant culture. Indeed, the motto 'Súil eile' [another perspective] is the criterion for many TG4 projects, and there is a clear awareness of multiple audiences in the MTS logline, 'mā mātou, mā rātou, mā koutou, mā tātou' [just for us, for them, for all of you, for all of us]. In the symbiotic relationship between a minority station and other larger stations in terms of the depiction/creation of local and national identity, language is used as another marketing tool. TG4 and MTS idents respond to and celebrate current sociolinguistic changes (Romaine 2006; Ó Tuathaigh 2008), making them visible.
This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the f... more This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: x Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. x Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. vi tradition has come to me through print and CD recordings as well as through the traditional means. As Sadler (2007) has noted, this may be an inevitable feature of intergenerational transmission in contemporary times. English is a problematic medium because it often appears to be inevitable. However, for people who have a different first language, it is never an unquestioned given, as anglophone monolinguals sometimes seem to believe. The thesis is told through this third language, which acts sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a divider, and sometimes as a negator of the two original languages. Something is lost by this translation. I cannot access the deep heart of the Māori situation, nor do I pretend to. It is difficult to imagine, however, a form of communication by which Irish language and Māori language television might meet each other that does not require English as a lingua franca. In a way, it is useful to have a third term (although it is not neutral, being the coloniser's language in both cases), as to write this thesis in Irish would marginalise Māori and to write it in Māori is beyond my capabilities. With English, some distance is achieved. On the other hand, producing work about a language rather than in a language is perhaps to admit the greater linguistic politics which silence the 'subject'. To use English is to admit its power. The colonial traces have left us with nuances and a particular way of seeing and being. And yet, I use English with an awareness of its limitations. When I use words and phrases from the other languages, it is to show that English is not universal. It must make room for these other concepts, for things that it can never fully express. This thesis, although written in English, contains pieces in Irish and te reo Māori, mostly drawn from the words of the people I interviewed during the course of the project. To honour their expression, and to indicate the role these languages play in the content and in the texture of this thesis, I quote directly, and follow with a translation into English for readers who are not conversant with te reo Māori or Irish. Following the Māori writer Patricia Grace, I do not use a visually different font or typeface to indicate the use of different languages 1. I value language, culture and song as a means of understanding other people and of finding a meaning in life itself. I am more concerned with visions and ideals, and how these persist and adapt in the face of obstacles, than with institutional policy per se. The people who campaigned for and who established Māori Television and Teilifís na Gaeilge are people who see alternatives. They see space to play with between laws and existing practices. They find a new way to encourage old values. The most important thing for me is people, and the most important thing about people is their spirit. So this project privileges the spirit and the ideal, and examines their manifestation in broadcasting and working practices.
Journal of Irish Studies, 2015
Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in fo... more Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in founding the Derry Film and Video Collective in 1984, and working as camera operator on the controversial documentary Mother Ireland (Harkin 1986). He has produced or directed many well-received documentaries, and in 2007 directed the bilingual feature about a group of Conamara immigrants to London, Kings (2007) which like An Bronntanas, was nominated as the Irish entry for 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Academy Awards. (1) This is an impressive record: given the challenges in making feature-length drama in Irish, it is unsurprising that only a handful of original features in the Irish language exist. (2) Written by Collins, Joe Byrne, Paul Walker and Eoin McNamee, the story tells of the personal, familial and community fallout that ensues when the main character, reformed alcoholic and recently returned emigrant JJ Magill (Dara Devaney/ Darach O Dubhain), chooses the darker side. The story's central themes include filial loyalty, where the doughty Carmel (Charlotte Bradley) impels her younger son to take over his late father's struggling business despite his brighter prospects across the the Atlantic, and romantic love, where the feisty Roisin (Michelle Beamish) chooses the better of the two brothers and manages to keep a blind eye turned to their increasingly frantic cover-ups. Community is personified in the factory workers, who rely on one entrepreneur to keep their town working, and the Irish-American Garda Sean Og (John Finn), whose courteous manner belies distress at his detective son (Owen McDonnell) Fiachra's cruelty. First broadcast as a five-part television series in October-November 2014, An Bronntanas was very successful with its core audience, (a survey by the audience panel Fios Fise showed 60% to be 'very satisfied' with the series) and the wider Irish public (TAM ratings for the first four episodes reached 340,000), making the thriller one of the most popular indigenous dramas so far on TG4. Similarly, the feature film 'cut' attracted a capacity crowd at the Galway Fleadh in July 2014 (Butler 2014). This was not the first time that ROSG, a small Conamara independent production company co-founded by Ciaran O Cofaigh and Robert Quinn, sought to express a noir vision in its drama. Since the beginning of the short film schemes organised by TG4 and the Irish Film Board/ FilmBase, ROSG's presence has been consistent, with Cosa Nite [Clean Getaway] (1998) and An Leabhar [The Book] (2000), both nominated as 'best short' at the 1999 and 2002 IFTAs respectively (Lysaght, 2004). (3) Their 2010 series/ feature adaptation Na Cloigne [The Heads], ventures into supernatural territory. (4) Although ROSG is also involved in documentary and animation, the dark aesthetic of their fictional offerings continued into longer productions such as the ambitious feature Cre na Cille (2007), a visually rich adaptation of Mairtin O Cadhain's eponymous modernist novel. An Bronntanas was originally designed as a six-part television series, but due to funding difficulties, the decision was made to reduce this to five-parts with a companion feature film version also produced for festival screening (O Cofaigh 2014). In the vein of Celtic noir, whose atmosphere is influenced in equal part by recent Nordic noir TV drama and by the darker side of Irish rural society, An Bronntanas engages with big moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people. The storyline follows the twists and turns that ensue when a volunteer lifeboat crew decides to cover up an unexpected drugs find--and a murder--for their own gain. Dealing with characters on and beyond the margins (fish factory employees in danger of being downsized, Polish visitors, alcoholics and returned emigrants --not to mention Irish-speakers), the drama overturns older screen images of the romantic west. Filmed all over Conamara, An Bronntanas was four years in the planning, with action, gun, explosions and night-time boat rescue storm scenes, (5) making it a very ambitious project for the time and finances allowed. …
La Bretagne linguistique
L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche co... more L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche comparative des cas breton, irlandais et māori The use of minority languages in television production: a comparative study of the cases of Breton, Irish and Maori
La Bretagne linguistique, Feb 1, 2013
This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the f... more This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: x Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. x Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. vi tradition has come to me through print and CD recordings as well as through the traditional means. As Sadler (2007) has noted, this may be an inevitable feature of intergenerational transmission in contemporary times. English is a problematic medium because it often appears to be inevitable. However, for people who have a different first language, it is never an unquestioned given, as anglophone monolinguals sometimes seem to believe. The thesis is told through this third language, which acts sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a divider, and sometimes as a negator of the two original languages. Something is lost by this translation. I cannot access the deep heart of the Māori situation, nor do I pretend to. It is difficult to imagine, however, a form of communication by which Irish language and Māori language television might meet each other that does not require English as a lingua franca. In a way, it is useful to have a third term (although it is not neutral, being the coloniser's language in both cases), as to write this thesis in Irish would marginalise Māori and to write it in Māori is beyond my capabilities. With English, some distance is achieved. On the other hand, producing work about a language rather than in a language is perhaps to admit the greater linguistic politics which silence the 'subject'. To use English is to admit its power. The colonial traces have left us with nuances and a particular way of seeing and being. And yet, I use English with an awareness of its limitations. When I use words and phrases from the other languages, it is to show that English is not universal. It must make room for these other concepts, for things that it can never fully express. This thesis, although written in English, contains pieces in Irish and te reo Māori, mostly drawn from the words of the people I interviewed during the course of the project. To honour their expression, and to indicate the role these languages play in the content and in the texture of this thesis, I quote directly, and follow with a translation into English for readers who are not conversant with te reo Māori or Irish. Following the Māori writer Patricia Grace, I do not use a visually different font or typeface to indicate the use of different languages 1. I value language, culture and song as a means of understanding other people and of finding a meaning in life itself. I am more concerned with visions and ideals, and how these persist and adapt in the face of obstacles, than with institutional policy per se. The people who campaigned for and who established Māori Television and Teilifís na Gaeilge are people who see alternatives. They see space to play with between laws and existing practices. They find a new way to encourage old values. The most important thing for me is people, and the most important thing about people is their spirit. So this project privileges the spirit and the ideal, and examines their manifestation in broadcasting and working practices.
Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in fo... more Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in founding the Derry Film and Video Collective in 1984, and working as camera operator on the controversial documentary Mother Ireland (Harkin 1986). He has produced or directed many well-received documentaries, and in 2007 directed the bilingual feature about a group of Conamara immigrants to London, Kings (2007) which like An Bronntanas, was nominated as the Irish entry for 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Academy Awards. (1) This is an impressive record: given the challenges in making feature-length drama in Irish, it is unsurprising that only a handful of original features in the Irish language exist. (2) Written by Collins, Joe Byrne, Paul Walker and Eoin McNamee, the story tells of the personal, familial and community fallout that ensues when the main character, reformed alcoholic and recently returned emigrant JJ Magill (Dara Devaney/ Darach O Dubhain), chooses the darker s...
Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on ... more Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on Film, by Thomas Caldwell, Insight Publications, Elsternwick, 2005.
Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra di... more Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra dimension to a relatively conventional entertainment genre through its use of the Irish language on screen and on set. One of the largest scale longer-term drama productions for TG4, Aifric is aimed at an audience which enjoys Australian series, British soaps and American sit coms. Significantly, viewers are addressed as members of a similar culture, who understand its norms and expectations, rather than as some pan-global 'youth audience' who exist only to be entertained. Aifric presents humorous stories about somewhat quirky characters with credible relationships. Although the language is not foregrounded as a theme in the drama, its treatment results from very conscious decisions by the programme-makers. Performed by largely native-speaking actors, there is a strong drive to present a vibrant and funny Irish-speaking world. However, for most viewers, the use of the indigenous national language on screen remains noteworthy. Telegael were sensitive to this in taking on the commission, and in choosing to create an 'Aifric universe' where Irish is fluently used by everyone, add another layer to the question of Irish language identity.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Ruth Lysaght. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electroni... more Copyright (c) 2009 by Ruth Lysaght. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged for access. Abstract. Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māori/ Māori Television Service (MTS) in 2004. Despite obvious differences between the two broadcasting environments, both stations attempt to reclaim a national (but minority) language (Ó Ruairc 1996; Moring 2007) and compete with other broadcasters (Horrocks and Perry 2004) to attract an audience (Smith and Abel 2008) by an appeal to identity (Cormack 2000; 2007; Delap 2007). This paper investigates idents from TG4 and MTS. What image or brand have the language and culture in these mini-advertisements? Thornley's (2004) discussion of "transculturation" is useful in examining the often inventive approach taken to elements of the dominant culture. Indeed, the motto 'Súil eile' (another perspective) is the criterion for many TG4 projects, and there is a clear awareness of multiple audiences in the MTS logline, 'mā mātou, mā rātou, mā koutou, mā tātou' (just for us, for them, for all of you, for all of us). In the symbiotic relationship between a minority station and other larger stations in terms of the depiction/creation of local and national identity, language is used as another marketing tool. TG4 and MTS idents respond to and celebrate current sociolinguistic changes (Romaine 2006; Ó Tuathaigh 2008), making them visible.
La Bretagne linguistique, Jun 1, 2015
L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche co... more L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche comparative des cas breton, irlandais et māori The use of minority languages in television production: a comparative study of the cases of Breton, Irish and Maori
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 31, 2013
Screen education, 2008
Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on ... more Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on Film, by Thomas Caldwell, Insight Publications, Elsternwick, 2005.
Estudios Irlandeses, Mar 15, 2013
Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra di... more Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra dimension to a relatively conventional entertainment genre through its use of the Irish language on screen and on set. One of the largest scale longer-term drama productions for TG4, Aifric is aimed at an audience which enjoys Australian series, British soaps and American sit coms. Significantly, viewers are addressed as members of a similar culture, who understand its norms and expectations, rather than as some pan-global 'youth audience' who exist only to be entertained. Aifric presents humorous stories about somewhat quirky characters with credible relationships. Although the language is not foregrounded as a theme in the drama, its treatment results from very conscious decisions by the programme-makers. Performed by largely native-speaking actors, there is a strong drive to present a vibrant and funny Irish-speaking world. However, for most viewers, the use of the indigenous national language on screen remains noteworthy. Telegael were sensitive to this in taking on the commission, and in choosing to create an 'Aifric universe' where Irish is fluently used by everyone, add another layer to the question of Irish language identity.
La Bretagne linguistique, Feb 1, 2013
Patton (2003), une politique de 'laissez-faire' (benign neglect) n'est autre qu'un refus de l'Éta... more Patton (2003), une politique de 'laissez-faire' (benign neglect) n'est autre qu'un refus de l'État-nation d'honorer une obligation éthique de réparer les dégâts du passé. Depuis son indépendance politique, l'État irlandais considère l'irlandais comme première langue officielle, et garantit sa présence dans l'éducation nationale (Ireland, 1937). Cependant, seulement un
Estudios Irlandeses, Mar 15, 2009
Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māo... more Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māori/ Māori Television Service (MTS) in 2004. Despite obvious differences between the two broadcasting environments, both stations attempt to reclaim a national (but minority) language (Ó Ruairc 1996; Moring 2007) and compete with other broadcasters (Horrocks and Perry 2004) to attract an audience (Smith and Abel 2008) by an appeal to identity (Cormack 2000; 2007; Delap 2007). This paper investigates idents from TG4 and MTS. What image or brand have the language and culture in these mini-advertisements? Thornley's (2004) discussion of "transculturation" is useful in examining the often inventive approach taken to elements of the dominant culture. Indeed, the motto 'Súil eile' [another perspective] is the criterion for many TG4 projects, and there is a clear awareness of multiple audiences in the MTS logline, 'mā mātou, mā rātou, mā koutou, mā tātou' [just for us, for them, for all of you, for all of us]. In the symbiotic relationship between a minority station and other larger stations in terms of the depiction/creation of local and national identity, language is used as another marketing tool. TG4 and MTS idents respond to and celebrate current sociolinguistic changes (Romaine 2006; Ó Tuathaigh 2008), making them visible.
This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the f... more This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: x Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. x Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. vi tradition has come to me through print and CD recordings as well as through the traditional means. As Sadler (2007) has noted, this may be an inevitable feature of intergenerational transmission in contemporary times. English is a problematic medium because it often appears to be inevitable. However, for people who have a different first language, it is never an unquestioned given, as anglophone monolinguals sometimes seem to believe. The thesis is told through this third language, which acts sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a divider, and sometimes as a negator of the two original languages. Something is lost by this translation. I cannot access the deep heart of the Māori situation, nor do I pretend to. It is difficult to imagine, however, a form of communication by which Irish language and Māori language television might meet each other that does not require English as a lingua franca. In a way, it is useful to have a third term (although it is not neutral, being the coloniser's language in both cases), as to write this thesis in Irish would marginalise Māori and to write it in Māori is beyond my capabilities. With English, some distance is achieved. On the other hand, producing work about a language rather than in a language is perhaps to admit the greater linguistic politics which silence the 'subject'. To use English is to admit its power. The colonial traces have left us with nuances and a particular way of seeing and being. And yet, I use English with an awareness of its limitations. When I use words and phrases from the other languages, it is to show that English is not universal. It must make room for these other concepts, for things that it can never fully express. This thesis, although written in English, contains pieces in Irish and te reo Māori, mostly drawn from the words of the people I interviewed during the course of the project. To honour their expression, and to indicate the role these languages play in the content and in the texture of this thesis, I quote directly, and follow with a translation into English for readers who are not conversant with te reo Māori or Irish. Following the Māori writer Patricia Grace, I do not use a visually different font or typeface to indicate the use of different languages 1. I value language, culture and song as a means of understanding other people and of finding a meaning in life itself. I am more concerned with visions and ideals, and how these persist and adapt in the face of obstacles, than with institutional policy per se. The people who campaigned for and who established Māori Television and Teilifís na Gaeilge are people who see alternatives. They see space to play with between laws and existing practices. They find a new way to encourage old values. The most important thing for me is people, and the most important thing about people is their spirit. So this project privileges the spirit and the ideal, and examines their manifestation in broadcasting and working practices.
Journal of Irish Studies, 2015
Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in fo... more Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in founding the Derry Film and Video Collective in 1984, and working as camera operator on the controversial documentary Mother Ireland (Harkin 1986). He has produced or directed many well-received documentaries, and in 2007 directed the bilingual feature about a group of Conamara immigrants to London, Kings (2007) which like An Bronntanas, was nominated as the Irish entry for 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Academy Awards. (1) This is an impressive record: given the challenges in making feature-length drama in Irish, it is unsurprising that only a handful of original features in the Irish language exist. (2) Written by Collins, Joe Byrne, Paul Walker and Eoin McNamee, the story tells of the personal, familial and community fallout that ensues when the main character, reformed alcoholic and recently returned emigrant JJ Magill (Dara Devaney/ Darach O Dubhain), chooses the darker side. The story's central themes include filial loyalty, where the doughty Carmel (Charlotte Bradley) impels her younger son to take over his late father's struggling business despite his brighter prospects across the the Atlantic, and romantic love, where the feisty Roisin (Michelle Beamish) chooses the better of the two brothers and manages to keep a blind eye turned to their increasingly frantic cover-ups. Community is personified in the factory workers, who rely on one entrepreneur to keep their town working, and the Irish-American Garda Sean Og (John Finn), whose courteous manner belies distress at his detective son (Owen McDonnell) Fiachra's cruelty. First broadcast as a five-part television series in October-November 2014, An Bronntanas was very successful with its core audience, (a survey by the audience panel Fios Fise showed 60% to be 'very satisfied' with the series) and the wider Irish public (TAM ratings for the first four episodes reached 340,000), making the thriller one of the most popular indigenous dramas so far on TG4. Similarly, the feature film 'cut' attracted a capacity crowd at the Galway Fleadh in July 2014 (Butler 2014). This was not the first time that ROSG, a small Conamara independent production company co-founded by Ciaran O Cofaigh and Robert Quinn, sought to express a noir vision in its drama. Since the beginning of the short film schemes organised by TG4 and the Irish Film Board/ FilmBase, ROSG's presence has been consistent, with Cosa Nite [Clean Getaway] (1998) and An Leabhar [The Book] (2000), both nominated as 'best short' at the 1999 and 2002 IFTAs respectively (Lysaght, 2004). (3) Their 2010 series/ feature adaptation Na Cloigne [The Heads], ventures into supernatural territory. (4) Although ROSG is also involved in documentary and animation, the dark aesthetic of their fictional offerings continued into longer productions such as the ambitious feature Cre na Cille (2007), a visually rich adaptation of Mairtin O Cadhain's eponymous modernist novel. An Bronntanas was originally designed as a six-part television series, but due to funding difficulties, the decision was made to reduce this to five-parts with a companion feature film version also produced for festival screening (O Cofaigh 2014). In the vein of Celtic noir, whose atmosphere is influenced in equal part by recent Nordic noir TV drama and by the darker side of Irish rural society, An Bronntanas engages with big moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people. The storyline follows the twists and turns that ensue when a volunteer lifeboat crew decides to cover up an unexpected drugs find--and a murder--for their own gain. Dealing with characters on and beyond the margins (fish factory employees in danger of being downsized, Polish visitors, alcoholics and returned emigrants --not to mention Irish-speakers), the drama overturns older screen images of the romantic west. Filmed all over Conamara, An Bronntanas was four years in the planning, with action, gun, explosions and night-time boat rescue storm scenes, (5) making it a very ambitious project for the time and finances allowed. …
La Bretagne linguistique
L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche co... more L'usage des langues minoritaires dans la production des émissions télévisuelles : une approche comparative des cas breton, irlandais et māori The use of minority languages in television production: a comparative study of the cases of Breton, Irish and Maori
La Bretagne linguistique, Feb 1, 2013
This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the f... more This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: x Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. x Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. vi tradition has come to me through print and CD recordings as well as through the traditional means. As Sadler (2007) has noted, this may be an inevitable feature of intergenerational transmission in contemporary times. English is a problematic medium because it often appears to be inevitable. However, for people who have a different first language, it is never an unquestioned given, as anglophone monolinguals sometimes seem to believe. The thesis is told through this third language, which acts sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a divider, and sometimes as a negator of the two original languages. Something is lost by this translation. I cannot access the deep heart of the Māori situation, nor do I pretend to. It is difficult to imagine, however, a form of communication by which Irish language and Māori language television might meet each other that does not require English as a lingua franca. In a way, it is useful to have a third term (although it is not neutral, being the coloniser's language in both cases), as to write this thesis in Irish would marginalise Māori and to write it in Māori is beyond my capabilities. With English, some distance is achieved. On the other hand, producing work about a language rather than in a language is perhaps to admit the greater linguistic politics which silence the 'subject'. To use English is to admit its power. The colonial traces have left us with nuances and a particular way of seeing and being. And yet, I use English with an awareness of its limitations. When I use words and phrases from the other languages, it is to show that English is not universal. It must make room for these other concepts, for things that it can never fully express. This thesis, although written in English, contains pieces in Irish and te reo Māori, mostly drawn from the words of the people I interviewed during the course of the project. To honour their expression, and to indicate the role these languages play in the content and in the texture of this thesis, I quote directly, and follow with a translation into English for readers who are not conversant with te reo Māori or Irish. Following the Māori writer Patricia Grace, I do not use a visually different font or typeface to indicate the use of different languages 1. I value language, culture and song as a means of understanding other people and of finding a meaning in life itself. I am more concerned with visions and ideals, and how these persist and adapt in the face of obstacles, than with institutional policy per se. The people who campaigned for and who established Māori Television and Teilifís na Gaeilge are people who see alternatives. They see space to play with between laws and existing practices. They find a new way to encourage old values. The most important thing for me is people, and the most important thing about people is their spirit. So this project privileges the spirit and the ideal, and examines their manifestation in broadcasting and working practices.
Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in fo... more Tom Collins has been an active force in Irish film-making for decades, having been involved in founding the Derry Film and Video Collective in 1984, and working as camera operator on the controversial documentary Mother Ireland (Harkin 1986). He has produced or directed many well-received documentaries, and in 2007 directed the bilingual feature about a group of Conamara immigrants to London, Kings (2007) which like An Bronntanas, was nominated as the Irish entry for 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Academy Awards. (1) This is an impressive record: given the challenges in making feature-length drama in Irish, it is unsurprising that only a handful of original features in the Irish language exist. (2) Written by Collins, Joe Byrne, Paul Walker and Eoin McNamee, the story tells of the personal, familial and community fallout that ensues when the main character, reformed alcoholic and recently returned emigrant JJ Magill (Dara Devaney/ Darach O Dubhain), chooses the darker s...
Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on ... more Review(s) of: Film Analysis Handbook: Essential Guide to Understanding, Analysing and Writing on Film, by Thomas Caldwell, Insight Publications, Elsternwick, 2005.
Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra di... more Aifric (Telegael 2006-8) a live action comedy drama series for young teenagers, gives an extra dimension to a relatively conventional entertainment genre through its use of the Irish language on screen and on set. One of the largest scale longer-term drama productions for TG4, Aifric is aimed at an audience which enjoys Australian series, British soaps and American sit coms. Significantly, viewers are addressed as members of a similar culture, who understand its norms and expectations, rather than as some pan-global 'youth audience' who exist only to be entertained. Aifric presents humorous stories about somewhat quirky characters with credible relationships. Although the language is not foregrounded as a theme in the drama, its treatment results from very conscious decisions by the programme-makers. Performed by largely native-speaking actors, there is a strong drive to present a vibrant and funny Irish-speaking world. However, for most viewers, the use of the indigenous national language on screen remains noteworthy. Telegael were sensitive to this in taking on the commission, and in choosing to create an 'Aifric universe' where Irish is fluently used by everyone, add another layer to the question of Irish language identity.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Ruth Lysaght. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electroni... more Copyright (c) 2009 by Ruth Lysaght. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged for access. Abstract. Born of community and political action, Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) began in 1996, and Whakaata Māori/ Māori Television Service (MTS) in 2004. Despite obvious differences between the two broadcasting environments, both stations attempt to reclaim a national (but minority) language (Ó Ruairc 1996; Moring 2007) and compete with other broadcasters (Horrocks and Perry 2004) to attract an audience (Smith and Abel 2008) by an appeal to identity (Cormack 2000; 2007; Delap 2007). This paper investigates idents from TG4 and MTS. What image or brand have the language and culture in these mini-advertisements? Thornley's (2004) discussion of "transculturation" is useful in examining the often inventive approach taken to elements of the dominant culture. Indeed, the motto 'Súil eile' (another perspective) is the criterion for many TG4 projects, and there is a clear awareness of multiple audiences in the MTS logline, 'mā mātou, mā rātou, mā koutou, mā tātou' (just for us, for them, for all of you, for all of us). In the symbiotic relationship between a minority station and other larger stations in terms of the depiction/creation of local and national identity, language is used as another marketing tool. TG4 and MTS idents respond to and celebrate current sociolinguistic changes (Romaine 2006; Ó Tuathaigh 2008), making them visible.