Words as Weapons

‘Culture wars’ in Northern Ireland are literary and rest upon the misperception—and political claim—that Ulster Protestants lack a culture aside from Orangeism. Unionist politicians and Republican writers have accordingly cultivated the myth that Ulster Protestants lack literary heritage and have never been involved in the theatre. The community has internalized a post-conflict ‘defeatism’ and a conviction that it has produced little or nothing of artistic merit. This has been fortified by the individualist, splintered nature of the Protestant community as opposed to the more cohesive and communally robust Catholic equivalent. The Republican movement and its associated writers mainly view literature as an arm of the struggle, which is shown to be important in bringing about an end to conflict, but has led to a derogation of working-class Protestants. The chapter also considers Ulster Loyalist engagement with poetry and drama.