Traveller Friends
About this ebook
The late-twentieth century has witnessed a particular prominence assigned to the discourses of “difference” and “Otherness”, discourses which subvert hegemonically-defined representations and demystify what was once simple domination and reification. Representations of cultural minorities, whether literary or visual, play a profound role in how groups such as Irish Travellers are defined and treated by the non-Traveller community. Essentialist notions of migrants and other traditionally-nomadic peoples have a long and complex history. The history of Irish Traveller is no different. For hundreds of years they have en-numerated the projective function of the “Othering” process, a form of rejection and marginalisation that was the institutionalization of ideas and images.
About the author
Paul Harrison, independent film maker and author, was born in England in 1950. He studied Film and Photography at Harrow College of Art and has filmed in many places including Somalia, Iraq, Yemen and the Ethiopian famine for BBC, CNN, Channel 4, RTE, French TV and Concern. His first book News Out Of Africa was published in 1986.
Paul has lived in Ireland since 2001 and was responsible for the first Traveller Exhibition in Tipperary County Museum in 2005. He lives in Co. Tipperary and is writing a book on the history of the people of Ireland.
