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Competing to Control the Post-conflict Present: Articulating Victimhood in Exhibitions in Northern Ireland

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Representing the Experience of War and Atrocity

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture ((PSCMC))

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Abstract

The author focuses on museum exhibitions. He examines two exhibitions displaying episodes of violence and atrocity from the conflict in Northern Ireland (1968–1998), euphemistically referred to as ‘the Troubles’. The exhibitions considered are the Irish Republican History Museum and the Police Museum, both of which are located in Belfast. Jackson pays attention to how victimhood is articulated in these exhibitions, and the implications of this in terms of how the conflict is encountered and understood by visitors. His analysis locates both museums within the much broader ‘struggle’ over the past in Northern Ireland where, in the absence of consensus around the conflict, a range of actors compete to establish their understanding of the past as the dominant version.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Among republican and loyalists, the prison is known as Long Kesh (or simply ‘the Kesh’) whereas its official name is HMP Maze.

  2. 2.

    At the time of writing, Northern Ireland has been without devolved government since January 2017 when then Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned triggering an election. Despite elections in March 2017, the Assembly has not met due to significant divisions between the two main parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin.

  3. 3.

    Rubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from both standard firearms or specialised riot weapons and are intended as a non-lethal alternative to conventional metal bullets. They were first used in Northern Ireland in 1970 and were replaced by plastic bullets in the mid-1970s.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

    Matthew Jackson

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  1. Matthew Jackson
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Correspondence to Matthew Jackson .

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  1. Keele University , Keele, UK

    Ronnie Lippens

  2. Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool, UK

    Emma Murray

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Jackson, M. (2019). Competing to Control the Post-conflict Present: Articulating Victimhood in Exhibitions in Northern Ireland. In: Lippens, R., Murray, E. (eds) Representing the Experience of War and Atrocity. Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13925-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13925-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13925-4

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