Saoirse Ronan and Ruth Negga: Hyphenated Irish Stardom (original) (raw)

Abstract

This paper examines the (inter)national identities of two of Ireland's emergent female celebrities, Saoirse Ronan and Ruth Negga, as framed in their films and the media. Ronan, born in America, and Negga, born in Ethiopia, both moved to Ireland at a young age (with Irish parents) and were raised in the country, calling it home. As such, they are largely framed as Irish actors. However, both women are also indelibly linked to another country and can be considered in terms of their hyphenated identities: Irish-American and Irish-Ethiopian. In today's globalised and migratory world hyphenated celebrity identities offer the ideal case study for an interrogation of our own identity construction, performance and negotiation across countries and cultures. The overt and mediated performances of Ronan and Negga demonstrate how their Irish identities are constructed in relation to other national affiliations. Considering gender and ethnicity in addition to nationality, I will examine how each actor is framed in her film performances, particularly as Irish characters (Ronan in Brooklyn (2015) and Negga in Isolation (2005) and Breakfast on Pluto (2005)), as well as their discussion of nationality in interviews. This reveals not only how they position themselves in regards to their multiple national affiliations (and how this changes in different contexts), but also how they are (often conservatively) positioned by others, reflecting broader societal ideologies.

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