The Kitsch of the Dispossessed

Since the mid–nineteenth century at least, Ireland has appeared in American culture somewhat as it does on “The Surrealist Map of the World”—larger than life and severely distorted. Most imported Irish cultural elements have, historically, been systematically mediated through mass cultural forms; th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in	Memory Ireland p. 75
Main Author	SPURGEON THOMPSON
Format	Book Chapter
Language	English
Published	Syracuse University Press 29.03.2012
Edition	2
Subjects	Anthropology Applied anthropology Art genres and movements Art history Arts Behavioral sciences Business Business economics Cognitive psychology Commercial art Commercial production Commodities Cultural anthropology Emigration Emotion Emotional states Ethnography Ethnology European history European studies Folk art Folk culture Folkloristics Human geography Human migration Irish culture Irish diaspora Irish famine Irish history Irish politics Irish studies Kitsch Memory Nostalgia Production factors Production output Psychology Social sciences
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Summary:	Since the mid–nineteenth century at least, Ireland has appeared in American culture somewhat as it does on “The Surrealist Map of the World”—larger than life and severely distorted. Most imported Irish cultural elements have, historically, been systematically mediated through mass cultural forms; that is, they have entered into American consciousness as artifacts of commodity culture. That this has been occurring for at least 150 years is clear from recent research into the tourism industry in Ireland, which has been promoting itself actively since the end of the Great Famine. Less researched, however, is what lies behind or motivates