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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2017

“Through a glass darkly”

Résumé

“You cannot flick a switch and go from Darkness into Light”. With these words, former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness described the lengthy and arduous Peace Process in Northern Ireland. If the Good Friday Agreement set the stage for devolved institutions in Stormont bringing together representatives of the Catholic and Protestant communities, the Peace Process is still fragile and unstable. Legacy issues, tense political relationships in a divided society and the threat of resurgent paramilitary violence remain as undercurrents beneath the restless slumber of reconciliation. This paper will explore what representations and insights the contemporary Northern Irish crime Novel offers on the development of the conflict since the height of the Troubles, taking the reader behind the scenes to the dark side of the compromises and difficult business of brokering and sustaining peace in a post-conflict society. Adrian McKinty’s The Cold Cold Ground, Tom Bradby's Shadow Dancer and Stuart Neville’s The Twelve are set respectively in the 1980s, the high point of the Troubles, during the negotiations and after the Good Friday Agreement. In a context where the law has offered an uneven playing field for the nationalist Catholic minority, this paper will thus question whether “the dark side of the law”, can be seen as a “normalised”, intrinsic feature of Northern Ireland that repeatedly erupts on to the political and legislative agenda or rather as a necessary evil, part of the resolution of the Conflict. By delving into the complexities of the novels’ protagonists, be they police officers, lawyers, or politicians, this paper will seek to understand to what extent the dark side of representatives of law and order reflects the ambiguities and tensions that persist under the surface in Northern Ireland. It will also show how a dysfunctional legal system has favoured the emergence of other forms of authority that impose their own sets of rules, and abide by their own values. Finally, in a place where geographic boundaries embody social, religious, cultural or sectarian divisions, this paper will discuss whether the “dark side of the law” provides a singularly opaque and porous zone, conducive to the achievement of Peace.
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Dates et versions

hal-02997585 , version 1 (10-11-2020)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-02997585 , version 1

Citer

François Sablayrolles. “Through a glass darkly”: Reflections on the “dark side of the law” in Northern Ireland through the prism of the Northern Irish Crime Novel. The Dark Side of the Law in Common Law Countries / Les côtés obscurs du droit dans les pays de Common Law, Jun 2017, Paris (Université Paris 2- Panthéon Assas), France. ⟨hal-02997585⟩
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