Talking Stones ― The Politics of Memorialization in Post-conflict Northern Ireland

Based on an analysis of more than 150 permanent memorials to the casualties of the Troubles on public soil in the city of Belfast, Viggiani interrogates the spatial and temporal occurrence of forms of memorialization, the iconography, and symbolism used as memorial sites. Her topics include a brief history of memorialization of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the "memory makers" and the projection of narratives of the Troubles, constructing a dominant Republican narrative in the Clonar Martyrs Memorial Garden, attempting a narrative of symbolic accretion at the Ulster Defence Association Sandy Row Memorial Garden, and seeking common ground for the memory of the dead. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Elisabetta Viggiani participated in numerous research projects carried out by the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University Belfast on public displays of identity, political rituals, and symbols in Northern Ireland. She has published in academic journals and co-edited Friends and Foes (2009), two volumes on the themes of friendship and conflict.