Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021) tells the story of a young boy, Buddy, growing up in Belfast in the sectarian border zones that internally fissured the state of Northern Ireland. This article suggests that the movie’s critical success partly rests on the movie’s glocal ap...

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Main Author: Kirsten Sandrock
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies 2023-12-01
Series:Review of Irish Studies in Europe
Subjects:
Online Access:https://risejournal.eu/index.php/rise/article/view/3220
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author Kirsten Sandrock
author_facet Kirsten Sandrock
author_sort Kirsten Sandrock
collection DOAJ
description Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021) tells the story of a young boy, Buddy, growing up in Belfast in the sectarian border zones that internally fissured the state of Northern Ireland. This article suggests that the movie’s critical success partly rests on the movie’s glocal approach to Belfast’s history, including its border zones. The film employs a number of aesthetic devices to turn the local experiences of Buddy into a global narrative about childhood, family and border zones. Among these tools are the use of self-referential framing devices, the child’s perspective and elements of nostalgia that link local history to transnational bonds of affection. By using a child's perspective, Belfast transcends the ruptures inherent in Belfast’s zones of division to create connections across cultural, ideological and physical spaces. Situated in a glocal framework, Buddy’s childhood symbolically embodies the experiences of a collective Irish diaspora, one that thinks back to its own or its family’s migrant experiences and turns it into a source of emotional belonging.
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spelling doaj.art-a2425564f8dd443b8468ca9d1fa3f9f12023-12-11T11:10:41ZengEuropean Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish StudiesReview of Irish Studies in Europe2398-76852023-12-0162587210.32803/rise.v6i2.32206202Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)Kirsten Sandrock0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4243-0170Julius-Maximilians-Universität WürzburgKenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021) tells the story of a young boy, Buddy, growing up in Belfast in the sectarian border zones that internally fissured the state of Northern Ireland. This article suggests that the movie’s critical success partly rests on the movie’s glocal approach to Belfast’s history, including its border zones. The film employs a number of aesthetic devices to turn the local experiences of Buddy into a global narrative about childhood, family and border zones. Among these tools are the use of self-referential framing devices, the child’s perspective and elements of nostalgia that link local history to transnational bonds of affection. By using a child's perspective, Belfast transcends the ruptures inherent in Belfast’s zones of division to create connections across cultural, ideological and physical spaces. Situated in a glocal framework, Buddy’s childhood symbolically embodies the experiences of a collective Irish diaspora, one that thinks back to its own or its family’s migrant experiences and turns it into a source of emotional belonging.https://risejournal.eu/index.php/rise/article/view/3220kenneth branaghbelfast (2021)sectarian border zonesglocal narrativesframing deviceschild's perspectivenostalgia
spellingShingle Kirsten Sandrock
Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
Review of Irish Studies in Europe
kenneth branagh
belfast (2021)
sectarian border zones
glocal narratives
framing devices
child's perspective
nostalgia
title Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
title_full Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
title_fullStr Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
title_full_unstemmed Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
title_short Glocal Borders in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (2021)
title_sort glocal borders in kenneth branagh s belfast 2021
topic kenneth branagh
belfast (2021)
sectarian border zones
glocal narratives
framing devices
child's perspective
nostalgia
url https://risejournal.eu/index.php/rise/article/view/3220
work_keys_str_mv AT kirstensandrock glocalbordersinkennethbranaghsbelfast2021