Changing narratives of minority peoples' identities in Welsh and Basque film

Jones, Elizabeth Dilys (2013) Changing narratives of minority peoples' identities in Welsh and Basque film. Doctoral thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

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Abstract

This thesis discusses how changing narratives of Welsh and Basque identity have been represented in film. It builds on Higson’s (1989) notion of ‘heritage film’, and ideas derived from postcolonial theory to develop a threefold system of classification. It develops an argument that narratives of identity have shifted from long-standing ‘traditional’ essentialist versions centred on heteropatriarchy and collective, stable narratives of identity; through a transitional stage featuring the reversal of dualisms on which the ‘traditional’ is grounded and narratives based much more on the individual and connected to a crisis in masculinity; to a stage that transcends these dualisms through featuring ambiguous narratives of multiple selves and characters caught between fractured selves and global currents. Films are thus classified according to the degree that they may preserve, reverse or transcend traditional narratives of identities. Analysis focuses on elements such as the representation of minority nationhood, rural and urban landscapes, character, religion, gendered familial and social roles, aspects of community, cultural heritage, resistance and stories about sameness and difference, continuity and discontinuity, charting how these alter to shape new narratives of identities. It describes how films over the period from the 1930s to the present document the impact of politics and wider social changes and trends on Basque and Welsh peoples, for instance the impacts of Thatcherism and in the case of the Basques, the Civil War, Franco’s regime and post Franco democracy. This threefold system of classification is used to structure the chapters of this thesis. By comparing and contrasting Welsh and Basque films, this thesis identifies common themes that may be evident in film narratives of other minority peoples’ cultures and identities.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DP Spain H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
Divisions:	Theses and Dissertations > Doctoral Theses
Depositing User:	EThOS Web Service
Date Deposited:	09 Aug 2019 09:34
Last Modified:	27 Jan 2023 12:28
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/1080

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