Oppression chic

A little while ago, we posted about the evolving attitude in Ireland towards Israel, moving from an identification with a perceived plucky upstart symbol of an oppressed people towards a more conventional (for Europeans) sympathy with the Palestinians and therefore a corresponding loss of identification with Israel. Exhibit A in the former synergy was provided by the novels of Leon Uris, of which we are reminded because of news today of his death. Consider the two best known novels: Exodus, a portrayal of the Jewish struggle in hostile Europe, and Trinity, a romantic portrayal of Irish nationalism. Doubtless these struggles were twinned in many readers' minds, let alone for Leon himself. For us, the mention of Trinity evokes sitting in a required sociology class in college while the lecturer railed against the novel and its depiction of a rural nationalist Ireland...how dare Uris write a novel showing no awareness of the brilliant theories of Althusser and Barthes, not to mention Karl Marx? So we always gave Leon some points simply for his ability to produce such irritation in the promoters of our least favourite subject.

Nevertheless, our ranting sociologist did reflect some genuine national discomfort with images of Ireland like the one Uris offered, and it was all made more sensitive because of the trouble Ireland was having in leaving such images behind -- in the late 1980s, the country was still a land of 20 percent unemployment and chronic emigration. But, to play amateur sociologist for a second, Ireland now seems much more comfortable with over-the-top depictions of our past (e.g. the Michael Collins film) so we predict a new round of popularity for Trinity and perhaps even Exodus. Not enough to change opinions about Israel, though.