GarvanNotes
Achievable aims ahead of next meeting (12-1-23)= fillout prison chapter, make more granular reading. Bridge to next chapter (the column)
Notes 26-1-23
For Irish people, the gaol is remembered most for its role in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising. It was the place where the failed rebels were held and where the revolutionary leaders were executed by firing squad.Most notably including the execution of the already gravely wounded James Connoly who had to be strapped into a chair to be executed as he could not stand up by himself. This scene plays out in the 1997 film Michael Collins and in the Netflix drama series Rebellion both productions use Kilmainham Gaol as the filming location. The executions at Kilmainham were an acuteturning point in Irish history. The failed rebellion had not been popular, itwas not a completely national uprising and it had been rushed. After Britainexecuted the rebel leaders, the uprising garnered sympathy. It was within the walls of Kilmainham Gaol that the detested putsch was synthesised into one of the cornerstones of the Irish national narrative and its executed leaders ascended to the pantheon of freedom fighters and folk heroes.
Stress here that this is part of the move from toward a 'media life' for the prison. It begins by producing an image of itself in relation to its colonial history. The prison is a non-human character in an historical narrative, later it will be a non human actor in a fictional story. it would be useful to flag the process of increased mediation at this point.
Perceived as a betrayal by the hand of Ireland’s own, the signing of the treaty was more
bitter than the unsurprising cruelty of Britain. McAtackney notes that above t he former cell for Sighle Humphries’ there is a plaque that denotes the year she was imprisoned at the gaol. The plaque reads 1919-1921 (the war of Independence) however, Humphries was actually imprisoned during the civil war (1922-1924). This error is intentional and was designed in the late 1950s, just prior to the prison's renovation. Pro-treaty revolutionaries pressured the restoration project to avoid any signposting of histories from the civil war (when these pro-treaty revolutionaries where the gaolers)
(McAtackney 2016) In a sentence, again, stress how this is develops your argument, the prison is being built as character (along with collins, Humphries et al) shaping of modern Ireland. Stress that at this point the prison becomes a 'media instrument'.
Achievable aims ahead of next meeting: Next draft of Chapter 1 to Steve by Wed (11-1-23)
Previous feedback:
The mode of address is sound but there needs to more precision and substance around
- the prison as an instrument of colonial power
- How specifically the prison is translated into a media commodity. What happens at the prison (museum)- this suggests a method for other texts.
- of Ireland as a media commodity
What happens here?: 1) Location is decontextualised - but what remains? the semiotics serve a purpose in the context of the film 2) Location substituted the location becomes "the place where X was shot"- it is meta. 3) it engenders further media products such as = city film location tours . New Zealand - lord of the rings- London-Edinburgh, Harry Potter; Northern Ireland Game of Thrones. Real places become references to fictitious places.
How is this different from Joyce and the tower in Dublin? Material relation to history and place.
Places become part of media history.
- more reflection on the semiotics in Paddington; what is being shown; what is it signing?