The cultural, political, social and economic interaction between Ireland and Poland has a long and complex history. This volume hopes to contribute to an emerging debate around the issues concerned by looking at alternative frameworks for understanding the relationship between the two countries. While the topic has attracted growing interest among researchers from various disciplines in recent years, this is the first book dedicated to exploring this cultural relationship in the context of Polish migration to Ireland. The essays in this collection tease out significant strands that connect the two countries, including literature, visual media, education, politics and history. Examining Polish-Irish relations in their wider historical and cultural context allows for new definitions of Irish, Polish and European identities in the New Europe. Especially important in view of the challenges and opportunities that a multicultural Ireland faces after the hard landing of the Celtic Tiger, this book provides new perspectives on a substantial and vibrant cross-cultural relationship.

Autorentext

Sabine Egger is a Lecturer in the Department of German Studies at Mary Immaculate College (University of Limerick). She holds a PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin and has published on memory in East German writing, questions of identity in twentieth-century German and Irish literature and culture, and the teaching and learning of intercultural awareness. Her book From the Margins to the Centre: Irish Perspectives on Swiss Culture and Literature, edited with Patrick Studer, was published by Peter Lang in 2007. John McDonagh is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Mary Immaculate College (University of Limerick). He is the author of Brendan Kennelly: A Host of Ghosts (2004) and editor, with Stephen Newman, of Michael Hartnett Remembered (2006). His latest book, A Fine Statement: An Irish Poets Anthology, was published in 2008.

Inhalt

Contents: John Belchem: Patterns of Mobility: Irish and Polish Migration in Comparative Historical Perspective Róisín Healy: Religion and Rebellion: The Catholic Church in Ireland and Poland from 1848 to 1867 Paul McNamara: Sean Lester and Polish Foreign Policy in the Free City of Danzig, 1934-1937 Jonathan Murphy: Common Resolutions to Common Problems? Drawing Parallels between Irish and Polish Experiences with Frontier Issues in the Twentieth Century John Merchant: Universal Identities and Local Realities: Young Poland s (Mis)readings of Synge Robert Looby: Politics and the Reception of Irish Drama in Post-War Poland Joanna Rostek: From a Polish in Dublin to Polish Dublin: Retracing Changing Migratory Patterns in Two Recent Dublin Novels by Polish Migrants Patrick Nugent: Ireland s Symbolic Landscapes: A Polish Perspective Bartlomiej Walczak: School, Family and EU-migration: Sociological and Educational Implications Liliana Kalinowska: Systems in Process: A Historical Review of Polish and Irish Early Childhood Education Joanna Baumgart/Fiona Farr: Polish Teenagers Integration into Irish Secondary Schools: Language, Culture and Support Systems Ewelina Debaene/Romana Kope ková: Adult Learners Encountering the Polish Language in Ireland Rozalia Ligus: `Adult Children of Emigrants and their Migration Experience Tomasz Kamusella: Immigrants, Migrants or New Irish? Nanette Schuppers: An Initial Report on the Integration of Polish Migrants in Ireland: The Issues of Language and Deskilling Kinga Olszewska: Towards a Cosmopolitan Identity: ArtPolonia and the Aughnacloy Truagh European Schools Project Simon Warren: Against Cosmopolitanism? A Theoretical Exploration of the Tensions between Irish-Speaking and Post-Nationalist Multicultural Ireland.