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ETD Abstract Container

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Manufacturing Reality: The Display of the Irish at World's Fairs and Exhibitions 1893 to 1965

O'Leary, Jeffrey M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448719627

Abstract Details

2015, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History.
This dissertation investigates the shifting discourse regarding the display of Irish history, culture, and people within local, national, and international fairground settings in England, Ireland, and the United States from 1893 to 1965. In contrast to existing literature that either focuses upon these locations, primarily world's fairs, as conduits of national self expression or places emphasis on a single fair or cluster of exhibitions in a short span of time in one nation, this dissertation incorporates multiple fairground experiences within the Atlantic world that encompassed generations of spectators and treats the spaces of these fairs, especially midway sections, as cultural battlegrounds, particularly when considering Ireland and the showcase of its heritage for profit by various entities. I argue that state and non-state actors in the Atlantic world controlled myriad depictions of Irishness within multiple fairgrounds and exerted tremendous authority regarding the ways in which the transnational community perceived Ireland, and that the marketplaces linked to these events emerged as sites to mediate ethnic memory. Those groupings associated with the control of Irishness as an ethnic commodity, such as "imperial mothers," the British Parliament, the American Irish, and the Irish themselves, demonstrated purposeful action regarding their quest to "manage" Irishness. Ultimately, the power of the Irish within these transnational spaces remained contested and constrained well into the twentieth century. Central to this activity concerned the creation of what I term a manufactured reality that focused on multiple portrayals of Irishness. The most popular format for depicting Ireland at these exhibitions materialized, generally, with the "Irish Village." This "village" most often presented replicas of famous Irish landmarks, quaint cottages with thatched roofs, Irish-made items for sale, and "real" Irish men and women authentically clad in peasant dress who spoke with a brogue. In short, the presentation of an agrarian-oriented and pre-industrial Irish society became "proof" that Ireland posed very little threat during an era of robust and increasing nationalist sentiment. Although these depictions were by no means indicative of a deteriorating interest regarding Irish nationalism in Ireland, these "villages" became popular venues to display tropes that formed the basis of traditional notions of Irishness in the Atlantic world.
Kevin Adams (Committee Chair)
Mary Ann Heiss (Committee Member)
Elizabeth Smith-Pryor (Committee Member)
Alfred Martin Wainwright (Committee Member)
Richard Feinberg (Committee Member)
352 p.
Ethnic Studies; History
international expositions; Irish fairs; exhibitions; ethnic memory; Irish village; midways; Irishness; Atlantic history

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • O'Leary, J. M. (2015). Manufacturing Reality: The Display of the Irish at World's Fairs and Exhibitions 1893 to 1965 [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448719627

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • O'Leary, Jeffrey. Manufacturing Reality: The Display of the Irish at World's Fairs and Exhibitions 1893 to 1965. 2015. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448719627.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • O'Leary, Jeffrey. "Manufacturing Reality: The Display of the Irish at World's Fairs and Exhibitions 1893 to 1965." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1448719627

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.