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Aestheticized Geographies of Conflict: The Politicization of Culture and the Culture of Politics in Belfast’s Mural Tradition

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Contested Cultural Heritage

Abstract

A culture war has been fought on the walls of Belfast. Factions which had long been accustomed to voicing their dissent through violence and fear-mongering no longer have the openly public support to back their campaigns of bigotry and hatred via the gun [Note 1]. Instead, those who still seek to express their dissent over the Northern Ireland issue have found alternative methods by which they can voice their opinion. The re-opening of the devolved legislature for the Northern Ireland Assembly has re-opened a dialogue at the political level; on the ground, however, where political assertions are embedded in social practice, “political” communities express their cultural authority (in a way that is no less critical although more intriguingly subversive) through the production of mural art.

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Hartnett, A. (2011). Aestheticized Geographies of Conflict: The Politicization of Culture and the Culture of Politics in Belfast’s Mural Tradition. In: Silverman, H. (eds) Contested Cultural Heritage. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7305-4_3

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