Race, politics, and Irish America: a Gothic history

Abstract

Dublin to New York being documented (Éimear O’Connor); Morris Graves’ “new life” of painting in Ireland (Danielle M. Knapp) discussed and the photographer Dorothea Lange’s photo-anthropological project mostly in 1950s County Clare (James R. Swensen) scrutinised. Aside from its niche subject concern, this collection taps into emerging themes which have broached the academic scrutiny of artistic output, literature, and history since the 1990s. This is done obliquely, for instance, Clark’s chapter notes the “reciprocity is sacred” (176) between the kinship of Choctaw Nation peoples and Ireland through a brief examination of not only their (predominately female-composed) artwork and poetry but how this speaks of environmental and social degradation. These are themes befitting for Anthropocene scholars in Irish studies. A carefully traced historical relationship between Ulster Scots and Scottish emigrants and southeast tribes is given spanning 300 years by Clark expanding diasporic studies. Further, Irish artist Danny Devenny’s mural of African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the placement of Douglass’ sculpture to commemorate Douglass and Daniel O’Connell’s relationship by Irish activist and writer Don Mullan are carefully analysed by Fowler. The parallels between “transnational solidarity that support[s] resistance movements” (136) strike chords with and interpolate intersectionality debates across African American and Irish contexts in this detailed chapter which is historically informed. As Fowler admits in the introduction to Art History at the Crossroads of Ireland and the United States this is a “small contribution to the scholarship on transcultural exchange between Ireland and the United States” (5) designed to stimulate further dialogue on the topic. The essays are extremely short in length yet pithy and could be well served as seminar discussion pieces in the very teaching environment Elkins alluded to. This text could be helpful in visual studies art history field which have an Irish Studies focus or Irish locus. The collection is a novel intervention in subject matter and interdisciplinary in nature. At times too though, it must be said that some the writing felt partial with conclusions of some chapters ending rather abruptly, secondary sources wanting and further meditation on the new ideas proposed would have been helpful. Not that these represent complete ideas but the beginning of a discussion where the bombastic and conclusive cannot hold space. A thought-provoking and valuable read nonetheless, this collection will hopefully provoke pragmatic application in the seminar room and stimulate further theoretically and historically-framed output from the Irish Studies community.