The National Independence War in Ireland: A Review of Bloodysunday and Hunger Films

Abstract

In this study, the reasons of the Irish National War of Independence, historical development and Bloody Sunday (2002) and Hunger (2008) films, which centered on these historical events, were analyzed using historical research and content analysis methods. In addition to the literature review of the study, war, civil war, ideologies of nationalism, struggle for freedom and independence, etc. are chosen through films selected with purposeful sampling. It is based on the inferences obtained through the features. These representations were examined through descriptive analysis. Thus, the reasons of the historical struggle, the development of the events and the factors affecting the process were examined in the films. In this context, Bloddy Sunday and Hunger films provide clues to examine the events of the period due to their historical document characteristics and the fact that the events are handled strikingly and realistically. The Bloody Sunday movie showed that the British Government's intervention against the march of organizations promoting civil rights in Northern Ireland was due to the British Government's desire to make their presence felt in Ireland and the methods they used to break the resistance. Looking at the movie Hunger, it turns out that the events experienced by Bobby Sands, one of the important names of the struggle, in prison and the thought that feeds her in this struggle of Sands is again a search for independence.Çalismada tarihsel arastirmalar ve içerik analizi yöntemlerinden yararlanilarak Irlanda Ulusal Bagimsizlik Savasi’nin nedenleri, tarihsel gelisimi ve bu tarihi olaylari merkezine almis Bloody Sunday (2002) ve Hunger (2008) filmleri incelenmistir. Çalisma literatür taramasinin yani sira amaçli örneklem ile seçilmis filmler üzerinden savas, iç savas, milliyetçilik ideolojileri, özgürlük ve bagimsizlik mücadelesi vb. özellikler üzerinden elde edilen çikarimlara temellendirilmistir. Bu temsiller, betimsel analiz yoluyla incelenmistir. Böylece, filmlerde tarihi mücadelenin sebepleri, olaylarin gelisimi ve sürece etki eden unsurlar incelenmistir. Bu baglamda Bloddy Sunday ve Hunger filmleri gerek tarihi belge niteligi tasima özelliginden gerek olaylari çarpici ve gerçekçi bir sekilde ele alinisindan dolayi dönemin olaylarini incelemek adina ipuçlari sunmaktadir. Bloody Sunday filmi ile Kuzey Irlanda’daki sivil haklari savunan örgütlerin yürüyüsüne karsi yapilan müdahalelerin sebebinin, Ingiliz Hükümetinin Irlanda’daki varligini hissettirme istegi ve direnisi kirmaya yönelik uyguladigi yöntemler oldugu gösterilmistir. Hunger filmine bakildiginda ise, mücadelenin önemli isimlerinden Bobby Sands’in hapishanede yasadigi olaylari ve Sands’in bu mücadelesinde onu besleyen düsüncenin yine bir bagimsizlik arayisi oldugu ortaya çikmaktadir.