Studying, Reading, Writing...
I can hardly call my life my own anymore. I began this semester by attending an easy Irish language class in west Belfast at Ionad Uíbh Eachach next to Gaelscoil na bhFal once each week. Now I go to this same place twice each week, to the easy class and then to a quite difficult one, and I go once each week to Cumann Chluain Ard, just up the road from Ionad Uíbh Eachach. On top of that, I decided to take dance classes. On Mondays, I go to Irish set dancing. On Tuesdays, I go to ballet. On Wednesdays, I used to go to swingdancing but decided I didn't like the kind of swing they were teaching and switched to set dancing at a different place than I go set dancing on Mondays. Of course, I have my own classes to attend for my MA, only two each week, along with seminars if I'd like to attend them. Doing research on top of all of this has gotten to be almost impossible, but thankfully it's the connections I've made during Irish language classes and set dancing classes that provided the basis for my research.
Tada! (Those afraid of academia, skip this paragraph). I have finally pinpointed what I will be researching for my MA dissertation due this September. To put it as succinctly as possible, I plan to study the relationship between the urban Belfast Gaeltacht, which has sprung up within the past 40-50 years, and the rural Ulster Gaeltacht, which has been around for hundreds of years. (Gaeltacht refers to Irish-speaking areas). I specifically would like to study the formation of Irish-medium teachers in west Belfast and to ask them about their own language education (since most Irish speakers in Belfast are second-language learners), their own reasons for ensuring the language's survival, and how they see themselves in light of the rural Gaeltacht, which has claims to a purer, more traditional linguistic tradition than their own neo-Gaeltacht. This is not to say that there is not an amicable relationship between the two, but there has already been research on the linguistic differences of the urban vs. the rural. Since I will be heading to a rural Gaeltacht in Donegal shortly, I plan to do some research on native speakers' thoughts about Gaeltacht Bhéal Feirste, but the majority of my research (I think) will be on the perspectives of those in Belfast on their belonging within the linguistically-defined community of Ireland's Irish-speaking areas. Variation between rural pockets of Irish-speakers certainly exists, but urban-rural variation is a relatively new development.
I've just re-read what I wrote, and it's very confusing. I'll send you all my 45-page dissertation in September if you'd like to understand more clearly what I've tried to summarise in a few sentences!
As I briefly mentioned above, I am taking a vacation to Donegal in order to brush up on my Irish. By "vacation" I mean "35+ hours of intensive Irish-speaking each week for two weeks." No, there is nobody else in my class doing this with me. There is nobody else interested in Irish language except for me, unless it is a hobby-ish sort of interest, which is depressing --but if this were not the case, Irish would not be a marginalised language. Truth be told, however, Irish in Northern Ireland so far has struck me as being much more prominent than it is in the Republic of Ireland. Rather, there just seem to be so many more language enthusiasts around. There are language classes to be had everywhere: community centres, pubs, schools, universities, special language insitutions, special language groups, libraries... I can't imagine how I went around for the first semester wondering, "Now, where I can I find an Irish language class?" They're around every corner and behind every door! I am not complaining. There is something exciting about being overwhelmed in a good way.
I wish you all a happy and blessed Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment