Кельтская триада: кинематографии британских национальных меньшинств и «внутренний колониализм»

Abstract

The global success, both in viewership and expert community, of auteur feature films Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and The Banshees of Inisherin, directed by Martin McDonagh, and produced by independent Northern Irish companies in 2022–2023, prompts a closer examination of the challenges faced by the national minority cinemas of Great Britain. Specifically, we focus on the culturally and linguistically related regions of Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, collectively referred to in this article as the Celtic Triad, which represent a significant presence in the world cinema landscape. A number of British film historians and sociologists argue that national film industries are on the verge of survival, highlighting two main trends in the context of national cinema: inclusivity and sovereignty. From the perspective of the dominant ethnic group and its major production companies, inclusivity entails assimilation into the mainstream, while sovereignty involves preserving distinct national cultural characteristics. The representatives of national minorities are striving to safeguard these characteristics in the face of what American sociologist Michael Hechter termed internal colonialism—a policy implemented by the dominant Anglo-Saxon ethnic group towards cultures of national minorities and expressed in their marginalization and Anglification. A negative consequence of these dynamics, according to Hechter, is ethnocentrism, that is, the prevalence of one’s own culture in shaping perceptions of the world. Nevertheless, as this article demonstrates, the strategies employed by the Celtic Triad in pursuit of economic independence and artistic self-determination not only ensure the survival of national cinema but also establish its distinct sovereignty and success beyond the borders of Great Britain. Television broadcasting in national languages, which has gained popularity with the advent of digital broadcasting, plays a significant role in this process. An important contributing factor here is the economic and socio-cultural collaborations of these cinemas with both domestic and international partners, relying primarily on the influence of soft power and implying adaptation not only by adjusting to them, but also by active interchange and cross-fertilization of cultures.