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Liturgy of Nation‐Formation: Patrick Pearse and the Theological Background of the Easter Rising of 1916
Author(s) -
Ruczaj Maciej
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/sena.12056
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , liturgy , context (archaeology) , politics , theology , sacrifice , advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer , sociology , philosophy , history , linguistics , physics , law , political science , archaeology , satellite , astronomy
The D ublin 1916 E aster R ising is most often analysed in terms of the ‘blood sacrifice’ concept and its ‘theatrical’ aspect with both rhetorical devices being ascribed to P atrick (Padraic) Pearse – poet, dramatist, and a crucial figure in the development of the discourse of I rish nationalism. This article proposes a reading of P earse's literary and political texts centred on the relation between the religious and the political. Starting with the delineation of the complex ‘translation of the sacred’ from the religious to the secular context, the article then examines the two above‐mentioned key dimensions of the R ising, its sacrificial and ‘theatrical’ aspects, demonstrating their theological affinities. The two are interconnected through the thomistic theory of the liturgical sign, suggesting that the E aster R ising, as a crucial event in the construction of I rish nationhood, was devised and carried out per analogiam to the liturgical symbolism of the C atholic M ass.