Criticisms
The Atlantean thesis has not generally been accepted by the Irish academic establishment, who have criticised Bob Quinn for his alleged lack of scholarly methodology and the absence of hard evidence to back his theories. Quinn's response to this is to assert that traditional landlubber methods of scholarship ignore the maritime dimension of Irish history and can fail to recognise the deeper, more intuitive links that may exist between cultures and countries. He also asserts that a close- minded, elitist attitude among academics prevents a more sympathetic appraisal of his work. More controversially, he maintains that critics of his work are guilty of an unconscious racism, or in his own words, of being afraid of the idea that Irish people might have 'a touch of the tar' about them. Barry Cunliffe, distinguished Professor Emeritus of European Archaeology and author of 'Facing the Ocean' (2001) wrote the introduction to Quinn's 'Atlantean Irish'.
Read more about this topic: Atlantean (documentary Series)
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