DETAILS
Wednesday 22nd May 2024 at 4:30pm (AEST), 7:30am (IST) [ note new time ]
Prof. Dianne Hall, Victoria University, Melbourne
Stories of migration and return in 1930s Ireland: The Schools Collection
ABSTRACT
In this paper I will analyse the stories that people in 1930s Ireland told of migration to Australia and other diasporic destinations. In the 1930s, school teachers in Ireland were asked to set children the task of talking to older people in their communities about the past. Among the thousands of stories that were collected are a rich vein of narratives about migration. I will analyse these narratives for information about returned migrants from Australia, who were usually portrayed as rich and successful. I will also examine some of the magical or folkloric stories that feature Australia as a far off destination where anything might happen.
SPEAKER
Dianne Hall has written extensively on the histories of gender, violence, memory and religion in Ireland and the Irish diaspora, especially in Australia. She has previously held research positions at Queen’s University Belfast, and the University of Melbourne. She worked with Dr Lindsay Proudfoot, Queen’s University Belfast, on a Leverhulme Trust (UK) funded project on Irish and Scottish settlement in Australia. Her collaborative work with Professor Elizabeth Malcolm, former Gerry Higgins Chair of Irish Studies, has been on gender and violence in Ireland between 1200 and 1900, and on the history of the Irish in Australia. Dianne is an editor of the Australasian Journal of Irish Studies, member of the executive of the Irish Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, the Victoria University Feminist Research Network, Victoria University Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and one of the convenors of the Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar Series.
LOCATION (In-Person and Online)
This free public seminar will be held in-person in the Jabiru Room at Newman College (enter via main gate and follow the signs), and streamed live online via Zoom. The Zoom room will be open 10 minutes before the scheduled start to give everyone time to connect. Please keep your microphone on mute for the duration of the talk. There will be time for questions at the end of the seminar. Please RSVP to Dianne.hall@vu.edu.au if you would like the zoom link.
RECORDING