Goodbye Ballyhightown: oral history and time

Wallace, R. (2017) Goodbye Ballyhightown: oral history and time. Paper presented to: Afterlives of Violence: Contested Geographies of Past, Present and Future, University of Brighton, 29 June 2017.

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Violent Afterlives Conference Acceptance (58kB)

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract:	In this presentation, I will explore some key issues involved in oral history and time. In 1997, I self-published a community history project which included oral history recollections from inhabitants and people associated with a non-Irish Nationalist area of North Belfast based on previous academic studies by Sociologist Richard Jenkins. The project was titled ‘Goodbye Ballyhightown’ which offered a personal and community critique of the original academic findings as an ‘insider’ rather than ‘outsider’ perspective. One of the key questions I want to examine is ‘how do oral histories of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland at the time of ‘peace process negotiations’ contribute to or challenge the ‘post peace process’ narrative for working class residents of a predominately non-Irish Nationalist community?’ Secondly, how are media artefacts and publications of that particular period received by an academic audience as ‘authentic’ oral voices over a time period of twenty years and what potential do these artefacts offer as contributions to a greater understanding of the real and perceived histories of inhabitants from a non-Irish Nationalist community. This presentation draws upon previously self-generated audio, video, photographic and written accounts of individual and collective histories, of a specific geographical area, mainly during a specific historical period (1982-1997) and offers a critical reflection in the present (2017) on the temporal and spatial concepts associated with oral history and time as an exploration of spaces haunted by violent events.
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D16.14 Oral history D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DA900 Ireland > DA909 History
Creators:	Wallace, Roy
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:	Faculties > Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology > Journalism, Media & Performance
Date:	29 June 2017
Date Type:	Publication
Event Title:	Afterlives of Violence: Contested Geographies of Past, Present and Future
Event Dates:	29 June 2017
Event Location:	University of Brighton
Event Type:	Conference
Language:	English
Status:	Published / Disseminated
Related URLs:	Conference Conference
URI:	http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/9647

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