Abstract
Irish pubs are associated with a strand of consumer capitalism that relies on the global commodification of culture, the export of ethnic stereotypes, and the creation of experiences that can be consumed along with more conventional forms of consumption. The production of an imagined Ireland in hybrid spaces which are anchored in the immediacy of the local, but also constituted through global connections, can be best understood through Manfred Steger’s concept of the global imaginary. This chapter focuses on the material and semiotic practices in Irish pubs across the world that produce spaces that are simultaneously both local and global, and which generate a global imaginary and global sense of belonging.
Dublin doesn’t feel so far away …
—Lonely Planet, The Dublin Irish Pub in Ushuaia, 2017
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Notes
- 1.
Irish Gaelic: for ‘Land of Youth’.
- 2.
Margo is the stage name of Margaret Catherine O’Donnell an Irish singer and exponent of a hybrid musical genre known as ‘Irish country music’. Common epithets for O’Donnell include ‘The Girl from Donegal’ and ‘The Queen of Irish Country Music’.
- 3.
Bodhrán: Traditional Irish drum
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Hudson, C. (2019). The ‘Craic’ Goes Global: Irish Pubs and the Global Imaginary. In: Hudson, C., Wilson, E. (eds) Revisiting the Global Imaginary. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14911-6_10
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