Scottish Literature - (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature) by Gerard Carruthers (Paperback)

About the Book

This comprehensive guide to Scottish Literature combines detailed literary history with discussion of contemporary debates about Scottishness.

Book Synopsis

This guide combines detailed literary history with discussion of contemporary debates about Scottishness. The book considers the rise of Scottish Studies, the development of a national literature, and issues of cultural nationalism. Beginning in the medieval period during a time of nation building, the book goes on to focus on the 'Scots revival' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before moving on to discuss the literary renaissance of the twentieth century. Debates concerning Celticism and Gaelic take place alongside discussion of key Scottish writers such as William Dunbar, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Carlyle, Margaret Oliphant, Hugh MacDiarmid, Alasdair Gray, Janice Galloway and Liz Lochhead. The book also considers émigré writers to Scotland; Scottish literature in relation to England, the United States and Ireland; and postcolonialism and other theories that shed fresh light on the current status and future of Scottish literature.Key Features*Identifies the main trends in the emergence and development of Scottish literature, situating them in historical and cultural context*Discusses long-running debates about Scottish language and national identity through detailed readings of authors and texts*Introduces students to a variety of comparative and theoretical approaches which further develop an understanding of Scottish literature*Encourages reflection on questions of Scottish nationalism, cultural politics, canonicity and the rise of Scottish Studies

From the Back Cover

Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature Series Editors: Martin Halliwell and Andy Mousley This series provides accessible yet provocative introductions to a wide range of literatures. The volumes will initiate and deepen the reader's understanding of key literary movements, periods and genres, and consider debates that inform the past, present and future of literary study. Resources such as glossaries of key terms and details of archives and internet sites are also provided, making each volume a comprehensive critical guide. Scottish Literature Gerard Carruthers This guide combines detailed literary history with discussion of contemporary debates about Scottishness. The book considers the rise of Scottish Studies, the development of a national literature, and issues of cultural nationalism. Beginning in the medieval period during a time of nation building, the book goes on to focus on the 'Scots revival' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before moving on to discuss the literary renaissance of the twentieth century. Debates concerning Celticism and Gaelic take place alongside discussion of key Scottish writers such as William Dunbar, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Carlyle, Margaret Oliphant, Hugh MacDiarmid, Alasdair Gray, Janice Galloway and Liz Lochhead. The book also considers émigré writers to Scotland; Scottish literature in relation to England, the United States and Ireland; and postcolonialism and other theories that shed fresh light on the current status and future of Scottish literature. Key Features * Identifies the main trends in the emergence and development of Scottish literature, situating them in historical and cultural context * Discusses long-running debates about Scottish language and national identity through detailed readings of authors and texts * Introduces students to a variety of comparative and theoretical approaches which further develop an understanding of Scottish literature * Encourages reflection on questions of

Review Quotes

...this volume stands as a formidable display of erudition and an indispensible guide to the subject.--Liam McIlvanney, University of Otago "Scottish Literary Review"

Carruthers offers an enlightening discussion on past and current modes of deconstructing Scottish literature.-- "Scottish Review of Books"

About the Author

Gerard Carruthers FRSE is Francis Hutcheson Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, General Editor of the multi-volume OUP edition of Robert Burns's collected works and Principal Investigator of the related AHRC project, 'Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century: Correspondence and Poetry'. He is Convenor of Burns Scotland partnership, the 'National Burns' collection involving national and local authority institutions Scotland-wide.