Formal experimentation as social commitment: Irish traveller women's representations in literature and on screen

Abstract

On 1 March 2017, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced formal recognition of Irish Travellers’ unique heritage, culture and identity by the state. This fact triggered my interest in exploring the important cultural questions surrounding Irish travellers and investigating their (mis)representation in the fields of literature and film documentary, and its effects. The aim of this essay is double: first, to focus on the role of formal innovation in representations of Irish Traveller women in examples of contemporary Irish fiction, and its consequences, because their authors use a wide range of formal devices to merge the issues of gender and Irish Travellers’ lives and conditions; second, to contextualize their work by comparison with a selection of documentary films featuring Irish Traveller women. The essay will facilitate some reflections on the complexities of their representation in literature and on screen.