Overcoming the Troubles in Westeros: changing perceptions of post-conflict Northern Ireland through the diegetic heritage of Game of Thrones

Abstract

ABSTRACT The fantasy series Game of Thrones (GoT) has become a phenomenon that reaches far beyond the television screens. Through extensive on-location filming, the series has linked its diegetic world of Westeros to countless heritage sites across several countries, most prominently Northern Ireland. Through narrative and special effects, GoT has overcoded these landscapes with their on-screen identities leading not only to a surge in tourists who want to travel to fictional locations such as ‘Winterfell’ and ‘King’s Landing’, but also affecting previously established global perceptions and local identities. Previously associated with the heritage of the Northern Ireland conflict, the so-called Troubles, GoT enabled a reimagining of this landscape through popular culture. A multi-sited visual ethnography on the impact of the series on the heritage landscapes of its filming locations reveals that popular culture can create a new heritage – even entirely fictional and one of blood and death itself – that can significantly contribute to overcoming national trauma and memory conflict. This sentiment was especially emphasized by people growing up and living in Northern Ireland, who saw their home’s reputation significantly improved and their new role as ‘Game of Thrones Territory’ as a unifying narrative in an inherently dissonant heritage context.