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A study of John Clare in his historical and political context
No full textAs the title indicates, the basis of the thesis is to set John Clare’s life and work within the context of the social and political history of his time. It is a study that is long overdue. The manner in which topical and political matters were mediated to him and were reflected in his work are analysed. His introduction to the literary and social worlds of Stamford and London is evaluated, and the advantages and disadvantages of patronage assessed. The active and complex political culture of Stamford has been taken into account as this may have affected his later political statements and a growing awareness of his audience. His antagonism to enclosure and the social changes that it engendered are considered. Three major questions that arise from this are addressed. The two local newspapers that Clare is known to have read are used throughout. His correspondence with friends, colleagues and casual correspondents has provided valuable insights as have his poetry and prose writings. Research in the Northamptonshire Record Office has revealed important new information in the form of one book of Enclosure Commissioners’ Minutes dated 1809-14, the first five years of the enclosure of Helpstone, Clare’s native village
Progress and Distress on the Stratford Estate in Clare during the Eighteen Forties
Full text linkIn the late 1980s and early 1990s, the author acquired about 30,000 letters written mainly in the 1840s. These pertained to estates throughout Ireland managed by James Robert Stewart and Joseph Kincaid, hereafter denoted SK. Until the letters - called the SK correspondence in what follows - became the author’s property, they had not seen light of day since the 1840s. Addressed mainly to the SK office in Dublin, they were written mainly by landlords, tenants, the partners in SK, local agents, etc. After about 200 years in operation as a land agency, the firm in which members of the Stewart family were the principal partners - Messrs J. R. Stewart & Son(s) from the mid-1880s onwards -- ceased business in the mid-1980s. Since 1994 the author has been researching the SK correspondence of the 1840s. It gives many new insights into economic and social conditions in Ireland during the decade of the great famine, and into the operation of Ireland’s most important land agency during those years. It is intended ultimately to publish details on several of the estates managed by SK in book form. The proposed title is Landlords, Tenants, Famine: Business of an Irish Land Agency in the 1840s, a draft of which has now been completed. A majority of the letters in the larger study from which the present article is drawn are on themes some of which one might expect - rents, distraint (seizure of assets in lieu of rent) ; ‘voluntary’ surrender of land in return for ‘compensation’ upon peacefully quitting; formal ejectment (a matter of last resort on estates managed by SK); landlord-assisted emigration (on a scale much more extensive than most historians of Ireland in the 1840s appear to believe); petitions from tenants; complaints by tenants, both about other tenants and local agents; major works of improvement (on almost all of the estates managed by SK); applications by SK, on behalf of proprietors, for government loans to finance improvements; recommendations of agricultural advisers hired by SK, ete. Thus, most of the SK correspondence is about aspects of estate management. It seems, in the 1840s, that the only estate in Clare managed by SK was that of the elderly Col. Stratford. Although the files on the relatively small Stratford estate are much less extensive than those on some of the estates investigated in detail in the draft of Landlords, Tenants, Famine, they do refer to most of the core aspects of estate management mentioned above. But in the case of the Clare estate, the material on some of those themes is extremely thin.
Author interview: considering Emma Goldman with Professor Clare Hemmings
Full text linkWe speak to Professor Clare Hemmings about her new book, Considering Emma Goldman: Feminist Political Ambivalence and the Imaginative Archive (Duke UP, 2018), which examines Goldman’s significance as an anarchist activist and thinker to the past and present of feminist theories and activism. Hemmings shows that the contradictions and tensions within Goldman’s approach to race, gender and sexuality speak to unresolved questions that continue to shape feminist practices and politics today
Why feminist stories matter: Katy Deepwell interviews Clare Hemmings
No full textClare Hemmings is Professor of Feminist Theory and Director of the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics. She is the author of Why Stories Matter: The Political Grammar of Feminist Theory (Duke University Press, 2011). For this volume, Katy Deepwell interviewed her about her views on feminist historiography and feminist theory, which Hemmings has defined in terms of three dominant narratives about the direction of feminism’s past, present and future
The life and works of Osbert of Clare
No full textOsbert of Clare was an English monastic writer, whose works extended from
the mid-1120s to the mid-1150s. His Latin hagiography reflects a deep admiration for
Anglo-Saxon saints and spirituality, while his letters provide a personal perspective
on his turbulent career. As prior of Westminster Abbey, Osbert of Clare worked to
strengthen the rights and prestige of his monastery. His production of forged or
altered charters makes him one of England's most prolific medieval forgers. At times
his passion for reform put him at odds with his abbots, and he was sent into exile
under both Abbot Herbert (1121-c.1136) and Abbot Gervase (1138-c.1157). Also
Osbert, as one of the first proponents of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, wrote
about the feast, worked to legitimize its celebration, and provided us with the only
significant narration of its introduction to England.
This thesis is divided into two sections. The first section is principally
historical and the second is principally literary. In the first section, I provide an
overview of Osbert of Clare's career and examine in greater detail two of his most
significant undertaking: his promotion of Westminster Abbey and his attempted
canonization of Edward the Confessor. In the second section, I give a philological
study of Osbert Latin style and examine themes that nm throughout his writings, such
as virginity, exile and kingship. Osbert's promotion of the feast of the Immaculate
Conception is included in the second section of the thesis because of its ties to the
themes of virginity and femininity within his writings. There are also two appendices:
the first is a survey of the extant manuscripts of Osbert's writings, and the second is
an edition of Osbert's unpublished Life of St Ethelbert from Gotha,
Forschungsbibliothek MS Memb. i. 8l
Architecture of fluvio-deltaic sandbodies: the Namurian of Co. Clare, Ireland, as an analogue for the Plio-Pleistocene of the Nile Delta
Full text linkUnderstanding and predicting the size, shape and internal architecture of sandbodies is of fundamental importance in hydrocarbon exploration. High quality hydrocarbon reservoirs are often formed in deltaic environments where there is a complex interplay between changes in relative sea level, sediment input and climate. When combined with the intrinsic sedimentary variability of deltas, this makes prediction of the internal facies distributions and architectures of deltaic sandbodies a challenging task. The aim of this thesis is to conduct a detailed qualitative and quantitative field study of fluvial and deltaic sandbody architecture and facies distribution, and to assess the usefulness of the data thus obtained in predicting the
architecture and sedimentary characteristics of reservoir sandstones in the subsurface.
The El Wastani Formation of the Nile Delta, Egypt, has previously been identified as an interval of reservoir quality sandstones within the Plio-Pleistocene deltaic succession. Limited core data, and poor seismic imaging due to gas seepage effects, hindered past attempts to assess the internal architecture and facies of the sandbodies. Therefore it was considered appropriate to use an outcrop analogue to aid understanding of the El Wastani Formation reservoir characteristics. From a review of literature, the Upper Carboniferous fluvial and deltaic sandstones of the Central Clare Group, County Clare, western Ireland,
were found to be suitable analogues for the El Wastani Formation sandstones. Controls on the two sedimentary systems were similar; both were fluvial-dominated and wave-influenced, and both show evidence for fluctuating relative sea-level. Comparisons of facies observed in outcrop (Co. Clare) and interpreted from image logs (Nile Delta) show similar facies and sedimentary successions in the two systems, improving confidence in the choice of analogue.
Fieldwork carried out on the Upper Carboniferous (Namurian) coastal outcrops of Co. Clare produced detailed measurements of facies distributions and bed geometries, which, together with sedimentary logs, palaeocurrent studies and outcrop-scale photomontages, enabled
interpretation and quantification of channel dimensions, internal architectures and stacking patterns. Based on these data, the Tullig Sandstone, a major sandbody within the Central Clare Group, is interpreted to be a low-sinuosity, braided fluvial system that flowed to the
north-northeast. This sandbody shows decreasing amounts of erosion and conglomeratic facies in both downstream and vertical directions, interpreted to reflect the combined effects of delta subsidence and sea-level rise over time, influencing the downstream reaches of the system first. The mean sand to non-sand ratio for the Tullig Sandstone is 97% by area, and connectivity of sandstone facies within this sandbody is 93%. In contrast, mouthbar sandbodies that were studied have a mean sand to non-sand ratio of 90%, and greatly reduced sandstone connectivity, at 65%. The data that characterise the field outcrops can be taken as
indicative of the probable characteristics of the El Wastani sandbodies.
The data generated from the quantitative field studies were used to construct computer models of the outcrops, in order to see how well the modelling software was able to reproduce the outcrop architectures and facies distributions, and also to test the sensitivity of the models to different scales of data. One large-scale model was built to include all the Tullig Sandstone outcrops along the coastline, with a vertical resolution (cell height) of 1m. A second smaller model was constructed to cover just the Trusklieve outcrop, and was built using a vertical cell height of O.1m. Each model was designed to fit the sedimentary log data, and was conditioned to reflect the facies percentages and channel dimensions measured and calculated respectively from the outcrops. The results showed that although the larger modelling grid,
with lower vertical and horizontal data resolution, showed significant differences in finegrained facies distribution from the outcrops, it was reasonably successful at reproducing the channel shapes and stacking patterns seen in outcrop. In addition, the high sand to non-sand
ratio meant that sandstone connectivity was not reduced compared with either the outcrops or the small, high-resolution model. The small model was better at reproducing the geometries of beds of fine-grained facies, but lacked the ability to accurately simulate the channel architectures and stacking patterns
Effectiveness of structured patient-clinician communication with a solution focused approach (DIALOG+) in community treatment of patients with psychosis - a cluster randomised controlled trial
No full textBackgroundLarge numbers of patients with psychosis have regular meetings with key clinicians in the community. There is little evidence on how these meetings should be conducted to be therapeutically effective. DIALOG, a computer mediated procedure, was shown to improve outcomes in a European multi-centre trial. DIALOG structures the patient-clinician communication and makes it patient-centred, but does not guide clinicians as to how to respond to patients’ concerns. DIALOG has been further developed into DIALOG+, which uses advanced software and, additionally, provides a four step approach - based on a solution focused model - for addressing patients’ concerns. We designed a cluster randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of DIALOG+ in improving treatment outcomes of patients with psychosis in the community.Methods/designKey workers are recruited from community mental health teams in East London and randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group. Out of their case loads, we identify patients with schizophrenia (F 20–29) and a moderate or lower level of subjective quality of life (MANSA score <5), who are treated according to the allocation of their key workers. Key workers in the intervention group are trained in using DIALOG+ and use it with each patient over a six-month period. Control patients rate their satisfaction with life and treatment on a tablet to control for the effect of regular ratings and the use of modern technology. We are recruiting up to 42 key workers to reach a total sample size of 180 patients. Clinical and social outcomes including costs are assessed after 3, 6 and 12 months. Primary outcome is subjective quality-of-life at 6 months.DiscussionThe trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel intervention (DIALOG+) which uses modern technology to support routine patient-clinician meetings in community care, makes the communication patient centred and guides patients and clinicians to address concerns. DIALOG+ is a generic and widely applicable intervention. If shown as effective, it can be used to improve outcomes of community care on a large scale, ensuring that routine encounters are therapeutically effective. DIALOG+ can also be implemented across services at relatively low additional costs
“Will you meet me on Clare Island?”: Music-making, islandness and ethnography in a small island community
No full textThis dissertation presents an ethnographic account of music and social life on Clare Island, a small community off the west coast of Ireland. Focusing on the structures and settings of music-making, the research details the interactions between island environment and performance in the expression of island life in the twenty-first century. This original research demonstrates music-making as a fundamental process in island community life and an important measure of island health or vitality. Along with examining music-making on Clare Island, the work also explores representations of island life within Irish cultural discourse and suggests dissimilarities between popular narrative and islander experience.
The ethnography centres on fieldwork conducted in 2017 but includes an historical perspective in the analysis. Grounded through ethnographic detail and living memory, this history examines the changing contexts of music-making and island life since the 1940s. Through this modern history, the ethnography describes music-making as an enduring social process in island life. The details of music-making on Clare Island in the twenty-first century suggest that against a changing social, economic and technological environment the universal themes of social bonding persist as core values in the island experience.
The research greatly expands the scope of Irish Studies and also makes important contributions to the fields of ethnomusicology, anthropology, cultural history and Island Studies. This ethnography also complements the Royal Irish Academy’s multidisciplinary research in the New Survey of Clare Island, rounding out the analysis of Clare Island with a comprehensive account of community life in the twenty-first century. Through its analysis of music and island life in the twenty-first century, this dissertation makes an original contribution to knowledge.2021-09-2
“Will you meet me on Clare Island?”: Music-making, islandness and ethnography in a small island community
No full textThis dissertation presents an ethnographic account of music and social life on Clare Island, a small community off the west coast of Ireland. Focusing on the structures and settings of music-making, the research details the interactions between island environment and performance in the expression of island life in the twenty-first century. This original research demonstrates music-making as a fundamental process in island community life and an important measure of island health or vitality. Along with examining music-making on Clare Island, the work also explores representations of island life within Irish cultural discourse and suggests dissimilarities between popular narrative and islander experience. The ethnography centres on fieldwork conducted in 2017 but includes an historical perspective in the analysis. Grounded through ethnographic detail and living memory, this history examines the changing contexts of music-making and island life since the 1940s. Through this modern history, the ethnography describes music-making as an enduring social process in island life. The details of music-making on Clare Island in the twenty-first century suggest that against a changing social, economic and technological environment the universal themes of social bonding persist as core values in the island experience. The research greatly expands the scope of Irish Studies and also makes important contributions to the fields of ethnomusicology, anthropology, cultural history and Island Studies. This ethnography also complements the Royal Irish Academy’s multidisciplinary research in the New Survey of Clare Island, rounding out the analysis of Clare Island with a comprehensive account of community life in the twenty-first century. Through its analysis of music and island life in the twenty-first century, this dissertation makes an original contribution to knowledge.2021-09-2
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