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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2019

Ireland’s ‘imponderable dividends’: a nascent cultural diplomacy policy in the postwar years

Résumé

This paper proposes to examine Ireland’s cultural diplomacy in the aftermath of the Second World War. From a diplomatic perspective, 1949 marked a major turning point for Ireland. By passing the Republic of Ireland Act, the state officially became a Republic and withdrew from the Commonwealth. The new Republic strove to achieve international recognition and to win support for its anti-partition policy. To promote itself as an independent, sovereign nation, two bodies were set up that same year: the Irish News Agency, created at the behest of Minister of External Affairs Seán MacBride, and the Cultural Relations Committee, an advisory board to the Department of External Affairs in charge of furthering the development of cultural relations with other countries and to make available information on every aspect of Ireland’s national culture life. Focusing on diplomatic archive material and 1950s publications such as the Irish Life and Culture pamphlet series, this paper will analyse the conditions of the emergence of the Cultural Relations Committee, its objectives and activities. Indeed, it is necessary to interrogate contemporary notions such as “political and cultural propaganda” and “cultural publicity” to understand how politicians and civil servants conceived of the work of this advisory body and how the means deployed to represent Ireland reflect the values and priorities of Ireland’s foreign policy during this period. The discussions on membership of the future Cultural Relations Committee and the topics to be addressed provide an insight into the competing visions of Irish identity in the new state at a time of great political change. The paper will also explore the extent to which there was editorial independence in curating and commissioning work and the choices relating to the target audience for the Committee’s output. These crucial aspects will further our understanding of the scope and ambition of the Cultural Relations Committee.
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Dates et versions

hal-02997606 , version 1 (10-11-2020)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-02997606 , version 1

Citer

François Sablayrolles. Ireland’s ‘imponderable dividends’: a nascent cultural diplomacy policy in the postwar years. La diplomatie culturelle depuis 1945 dans le monde : rayonnement, influence, coopération., Université Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle, May 2019, Paris, France. ⟨hal-02997606⟩
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