Creating the ideal Republican : Northern Ireland prison writings as propaganda

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2002
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Haverford College. Department of History
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
In 1976 a political cartoon entitled "Portrait of a Terrorist" appeared in a magazine in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Instead of depicting one of the menacing black-hooded figures typically associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the cartoon showed "a bemused, unthreatening teenager, average in every way." Indeed, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army began its initial period of recruitment, this image was accurate; the typical Republican paramilitary was a teenage male from the Catholic ghettoes, whose lack of clear political belief was outweighed by his eagerness to participate in some political movement. Therefore, it was the role of Republican propaganda to mold this young man into the Republican image. This thesis examines the ways that the Republican movement used propaganda to create an image of the ideal Republican, which served as a template for the organization's members to follow. It analyzes the propaganda value of the prison writings of three high-profile Republican figures: Bobby Sands, Gerry Adams, and Danny Morrison. These men used carefully chosen tactics to develop a picture of what it meant to be a Republican. This image changed to reflect the shifting strategy of the movement, from a focus on an entirely armed strategy, to a combined policy of armed and political strategies, to primarily politics, to peace.
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