DOCSLIB.ORG

Download (2MB)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Download (2MB) Hamlin, Sarah Elizabeth (2016) Poetic politics: writers and the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/8902/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] 1 Poetic Politics: Writers and the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum Sarah Elizabeth Paterson BA(Hons), DipLang, MA (Otago) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Arts) Department of Scottish Literature School of Critical Studies College of Arts University of Glasgow 2 Abstract This thesis considers the works of six major literary figures in the context of their engagement with the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. These writers are, in order of analysis, Edwin Morgan, J.K. Rowling, Liz Lochhead, Alasdair Gray, Kathleen Jamie, and John Burnside. Each has produced a significant literary oeuvre which is examined here in relation to their involvement in the Referendum debate in relation to each other’s work. The multifaceted relationship between literature and politics is investigated through the lens of the Referendum, utilising these six figures as interrelated case studies. Chapter One explores Edwin Morgan and J.K. Rowling in relation to each other and to the concept of nationalism as manifested in the Referendum period. Chapter Two focuses on postcolonialism and the work of Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead in that same context. The third and final chapter is concerned with Kathleen Jamie and John Burnside’s preoccupation with ecopoetics, and how that concern overlapped with Referendum debates. This thesis provides new readings of these six writers in the context of the Referendum. It sets out to establish that, while their published literary works are often connected to the spectrum of stances these writers took regarding the Referendum, these works need to be considered with respect to the nuanced attention all six had previously given to key themes of the Referendum debate in the decades leading up to that political moment. 3 Table of Contents Abstract Table of Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Author’s Declaration i. General Introduction 1 ii. Individuality 4 i. Poetry and politics in the Referendum 9 Chapter One 1.1 Concepts of nationalism in the Referendum period 18 1.2 The Million Pound Writers 25 1.3 Edwin Morgan’s poetic vision of Scotland 31 1.4 Sonnets from Scotland (1984) 40 1.5 The Makar and the public voice 45 1.6 Locating J.K. Rowling in Scottish literary studies 57 1.7 Harry Potter as a unionist text 67 Chapter Two 2.1 Postcolonialism and Scottish Literature: defining co-colonialism 90 2.2 Liz Lochhead and anti-hegemonic rhetoric 104 2.3 Mirrors and the double marginalisation 119 2.4 Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (1987) 130 2.5 Continuing the Makar tradition 138 2.6 Alasdair Gray’s co-colonialism: Lanark: A Life in Four Books (1981) 152 2.7 Taking back the capital: The Fall of Kelvin Walker (1985) 160 4 2.8 Reversing the gaze: 1982, Janine (1984) 175 2.9 Lochhead, Gray, and the co-colonial voice in 2014 182 Chapter Three 3.1 The Bonniest Companie (2015): the poet as commentator 184 3.2 Jamie and the Dream State 195 3.3 Jamie’s ecopoetics and a cohesive vision of Scotland 206 3.4 Ecopoetics and Referendum rhetoric 214 3.5 Bannockburn: Jamie as the public poet 223 3.6 John Burnside and the role of the poet 232 3.7 Burnside as anti-narrative/anti-Referendum 234 3.8 The country of the working-class 245 3.9 Burnside’s ecopoetics 251 Conclusion 266 Bibliography 272 5 List of Figures Figure 1. Topic Representation in Scotland’s Future Figure 2. Topic Representation in Campaign Infographics Figure 3. Ipsos Mori voter analysis Figure 4. University of Manchester voter identity analysis Figure 5. Trends in ‘Forced Choice’ National Identity 1974-2014 Figure 6. WWII propaganda poster, UK Government Figure 7. WWII propaganda poster, UK Government Figure 8. Liz Lochhead reading ‘Dear Scotland’ Figure 9. Table of seasonal relationships in The Bonniest Companie Figure 10. Poster from ‘Scotland on the Cusp’ event Figure 11. Alex Salmond campaigning with Scottish residents of EU origin Figure 12. Patrick Harvie speaking at a Scottish Greens event Figure 13. Rotunda, Bannockburn Figure 14. Rotunda, Bannockburn Figure 15. Rotunda, Bannockburn 6 Acknowledgements This thesis and the amazing three years I was lucky enough to spend in Glasgow undertaking it would not have been possible without the incredibly generous support of my funders, the William Georgetti Trust. Thank you for having faith in me and for your constant support from beginning to end. Thank you to the Scottish Literature Department of the University of Glasgow, especially to my wonderful supervisors, Rhona Brown and Alan Riach. Thanks to everyone else in the department for making me feel welcome, and especially to Gerard Carruthers for helping to shape the beginning stages of this thesis. Kirsty Strang, Stewart Sanderson, Jonathan Henderson, Arun Sood, Lorna MacBean, Christopher MacMillan, Ian McGhee, and Calum Rodger, you extended your friendship, your collegiality, and your knowledge from the very beginning, for which I will always be so grateful. To my fantastic beasts of officemates: Michael Shaw, Elina Koristashevskaya, Alexandra Campbell, Louise Daly-Creechan, Kirsty Strang, Martin Cathcart Froden, Tara Beall, Mhairi, Katy, Ioulia, Nia, Amy Bromley, Jamie Nixon, Pip, and Stuart Purcell, this would not have been nearly as much fun without you. Thank you Michael for the wisdom of Socrates, Elina for your Elinaness, Tara for joining me in last minute panic, Alex and Louise for your beastliness, and Kirsty for all of it. Thank you Katie Ailes for being my partner in crime, and conceiving Aiblins with me in all its manifestations. Thanks for putting up with me in the final stages of thesis and the first stages of pregnancy, and for teaching me both the importance of the comma, and correct carrot maintenance. To Wassim, Mohammed, Sarwan, Virginie, Zimarko, and all the students of ELCD, thank you for your part in this journey, and may God be with you, always. Thank you to the congregations of Māori Hill Presbyterian Church and B@tch, and of Ruchill Presbyterian Church for your fellowship and prayers. Chantelle, Fraser, Meadhbh, Calum, Aonghas, Patrick, and Shona, thank you for making it hard to be impartial. Liam McIlvanney – this is all entirely your fault, and I’ll be scunnered for life. Thank you for your passion and belief, for your friendship and support, and for holding that fateful debate. Thank you Jessica Ross for skyping me nearly every single Tuesday of this thesis, and to both you and James for being there for me every step of the way. To Keith and Robyn, thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and example, all 26 years of it! Dad, thank you for preparing me to belong to Glasgow from the very start. There’s so much of you in this work. Thank you doesn’t quite cover it Mum! To Jan Paterson, thank you for everything, from the first months of my life which I now have a brand new appreciation for, right up until you proofread this entire thesis, and every single book, maths class, and skype in between. Bernie – there will never be enough words, even in amongst these 100,000. This is for you and Boris. 7 Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Signature: Sarah Hamlin 8 Introduction i. General Introduction On 18 September 2014, the Scottish electorate was asked ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’ 84.6% of the electorate turned out to vote, ‘the highest recorded at any Scotland-wide poll since the advent of universal suffrage.’1 In response to the question, 44.7% of voters answered ‘Yes’ to independence, and a majority of 55.3% answered ‘No’.2 As a result, Scotland remained in the United Kingdom. During the two year-campaign, Scotland’s writers were a vocal presence in the debate. This thesis is concerned with the complicated relationship between writers, their literary work, and the Referendum,3 with particular focus on the theoretical concepts of nationalism, postcolonialism, and ecopoetics. Work on this thesis commenced nine months before the Referendum took place, and concluded in December 2016. By this time, three further significant electoral moments had taken place in Scotland: the 2015 United Kingdom General Election, the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary Election, and a referendum on the membership of the United Kingdom within the European Union (EU), each of which felt the influence of the Referendum debate. In light of this timing, my desire is that this thesis will serve as a useful portrait of key elements in the relationships between the literary world, the political sphere, and the question of Scottish independence, captured during this critical moment in British history (2014-2016). The thesis is organised into three chapters which are further divided into subsections.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Culture and Sport Glasgow
    Culture and Sport Glasgow (operating as Glasgow Life) (A Company which is a Scottish charity (Scottish charity number SC037844) incorporated in Scotland under the Companies Acts with company number SC313851) MINUTE of a MEETING of the Board of Directors of Culture and Sport Glasgow held via Videoconference on 25 November 2020 at 10am. Present: Councillor David McDonald (Chair) Councillor Eva Bolander Professor John Brown CBE Sir Angus Grossart (part meeting) Iain MacRitchie Dr Bridget McConnell CBE Lee McConnell John McCormick Councillor Frank McAveety (part meeting) Siobhan Nairn Councillor Franny Scally (part meeting) Dilawer Singh MBE Attending: Susan Deighan, Director of City Marketing and External Relations; Jan Buchanan, Director of Finance and Corporate Services; Billy Garrett, Director of Sport and Events; Jill Miller OBE, Director of Cultural Services; and Allan Drysdale, Governance and Liaison Officer; all Culture and Sport Glasgow. Apologies: Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli Councillor Michael Cullen 1. Welcome The Chief Executive welcomed those present to the meeting. Having noted that the relevant notice had been issued and a quorum was present, the Board proceeded to business as hereinafter minuted. 2. Apologies noted. 1 The Board noted that apologies had been received from Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli and Councillor Michael Cullen. 3. Appointment of Chairs agreed. The Chief Executive advised that in terms of Article 73 of the Company’s Articles of Association: ‘Each office shall be held (subject to article 74) until the conclusion of the annual general meeting which next follows; a director whose period of office expires under this article may be re-appointed to that office under article 71 (providing he/she is willing to act)’.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: Borderlines: Contemporary Scottish Gothic
    Notes Introduction: Borderlines: Contemporary Scottish Gothic 1. Caroline McCracken-Flesher, writing shortly before the latter film’s release, argues that it is, like the former, ‘still an outsider tale’; despite the emphasis on ‘Scottishness’ within these films, they could only emerge from outside Scotland. Caroline McCracken-Flesher (2012) The Doctor Dissected: A Cultural Autopsy of the Burke and Hare Murders (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 20. 2. Kirsty A. MacDonald (2009) ‘Scottish Gothic: Towards a Definition’, The Bottle Imp, 6, 1–2, p. 1. 3. Andrew Payne and Mark Lewis (1989) ‘The Ghost Dance: An Interview with Jacques Derrida’, Public, 2, 60–73, p. 61. 4. Nicholas Royle (2003) The Uncanny (Manchester: Manchester University Press), p. 12. 5. Allan Massie (1992) The Hanging Tree (London: Mandarin), p. 61. 6. See Luke Gibbons (2004) Gaelic Gothic: Race, Colonization, and Irish Culture (Galway: Arlen House), p. 20. As Coral Ann Howells argues in a discussion of Radcliffe, Mrs Kelly, Horsley-Curteis, Francis Lathom, and Jane Porter, Scott’s novels ‘were enthusiastically received by a reading public who had become accustomed by a long literary tradition to associate Scotland with mystery and adventure’. Coral Ann Howells (1978) Love, Mystery, and Misery: Feeling in Gothic Fiction (London: Athlone Press), p. 19. 7. Ann Radcliffe (1995) The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, ed. Alison Milbank (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 3. 8. As James Watt notes, however, Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne remains a ‘derivative and virtually unnoticed experiment’, heavily indebted to Clara Reeves’s The Old English Baron. James Watt (1999) Contesting the Gothic: Fiction, Genre and Cultural Conflict, 1764–1832 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the Earliest to the Present Time
    ALLAN EAMSAY. 101 " Harmonious pipe, how I envye thy bliss, worth." During the poet's latter years much When to with kiss! press'd Sylphia's lips gentle of his time was spent at Pennycuik House, and And when her tender fingers round thee move at his death its master erected at his beautiful In soft embrace, I listen and approve seat an obelisk to Those melting notes, which soothe my soul to love. family Ramsay's memory. Embalm'd with odours from her breath that flow, Sir John by his second wife had seven sons Fou music when she's to yield your pleased blow; and six daughters. One of the former was And thus at once the fair charming lovely the author of the well-known work on Naval Delights with sounds, with sweets perfumes the air. Tactics, and father of the eccentric Lord Go, happy pipe, and ever mindful be Eldin, To court the charming Sylphia for me; one of Scotland's most eminent lawyers. Sir Tell all I feel you cannot tell too much John died at Pennycuik, October 4, 1755. Repeat my love at each soft melting touch; His extremely humorous and popular song of Since I to her my liberty resign, Take thou the care to tune her heart to mine." "The Miller" first appeared in the second volume of Yair's Charmer, published at Edin- It was to this lady that Allan Ramsay, in burgh four years before Sir John's death; and " 1726, dedicated his Gentle Shepherd." The since that date it has been included in almost baronet was one of Ramsay's warmest friends, all collections of Scottish song.
    [Show full text]
  • © Patricia M`Cafferty, May 2004. Abstract
    PATRICIA MCCAFFERTY WORKING THE 'THIRD WAY': NEW LABOUR, EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS, AND SCOTTISH DEVOLUTION THESIS PRESENTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW MAY 2004 © PATRICIA M`CAFFERTY, MAY 2004. ABSTRACT Labour's election victory in 1997 was heralded as a new era, the dawn of a Third Way, a novel attempt to chart a unique political course overcoming the perceivedlimitations of both New Right and Old Labour. In this thesis I explore the era of New Labour generally and, in particular, the impact of the Third Way on working lives. Key to my analysis is New Labour's attempt to synthesise oppositional interests,in particular those of capital and labour. This involves a crucial rhetoric of flexibility, competitivenessand partnership. My research explores the rhetoric of New Labour in relation to the reality of this new force in power. It does this by: " drawing out key features in the development of New Labour, especially its relation to Old Labour; " examining central elementsof New Labour ideology; " arguing that Scotland should be seen as central to the transition from Old to New :Labour; " utilising a case study of industrial relations developments in a major electronics factory in the West of Scotland and, to a lesser extent, key developmentsin public sector employment. My main finding is that where New Labour's ideology promisespositive benefits, the form of its implementation has negative impacts for workers. Since I take New Labour as a process, my thesis concludes with a more speculative exploration of possible future developments,both in relations to New Labour's role in them, and their possible impact on the New Labour project.
    [Show full text]
  • Explored Through the Revision of Place in Jackie Kay's Fiere, Kathleen Jamie's the Tree House A
    Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. Repetition as Revision: Explored through the Revision of Place in Jackie Kay’s Fiere, Kathleen Jamie’s The Tree House, and Crane, a Creative Composition by Lynn Davidson A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Lynn Davidson 2015 Abstract This thesis examines anaphora, parallelism, and repetends, and asks if and how these techniques of repetition allow for negotiation among meanings, contexts and possibilities in contemporary poetry. The thesis is comprised of two sections, creative and critical, with a seventy percent creative and thirty percent critical split. The critical study is based on a close analysis of anaphora and parallelism in Jackie Kay’s Fiere (2010) and repetends in Kathleen Jamie’s The Tree House (2004), while repetition is explored creatively through Crane, an original collection of poetry shaped and informed by the critical research. Crane uses techniques of formal repetition to enquire into cultural and emotional links to place, and the impact of return journeys to significant places on a reimagining of place and self. There are five sections in Crane, each of which uses repetition slightly differently to engage with questions of movement between places. The collection uses repetition to explore how ‘going back’ can be a powerful part of the process of revising identity and integrating change.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Bibliography (PDF)
    SOMHAIRLE MACGILL-EAIN BIBLIOGRAPHY POETICAL WORKS 1940 MacLean, S. and Garioch, Robert. 17 Poems for 6d. Edinburgh: Chalmers Press, 1940. MacLean, S. and Garioch, Robert. Seventeen Poems for Sixpence [second issue with corrections]. Edinburgh: Chalmers Press, 1940. 1943 MacLean, S. Dàin do Eimhir agus Dàin Eile. Glasgow: William MacLellan, 1943. 1971 MacLean, S. Poems to Eimhir, translated from the Gaelic by Iain Crichton Smith. London: Victor Gollancz, 1971. MacLean, S. Poems to Eimhir, translated from the Gaelic by Iain Crichton Smith. (Northern House Pamphlet Poets, 15). Newcastle upon Tyne: Northern House, 1971. 1977 MacLean, S. Reothairt is Contraigh: Taghadh de Dhàin 1932-72 /Spring tide and Neap tide: Selected Poems 1932-72. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1977. 1987 MacLean, S. Poems 1932-82. Philadelphia: Iona Foundation, 1987. 1989 MacLean, S. O Choille gu Bearradh / From Wood to Ridge: Collected Poems in Gaelic and English. Manchester: Carcanet, 1989. 1991 MacLean, S. O Choille gu Bearradh/ From Wood to Ridge: Collected Poems in Gaelic and English. London: Vintage, 1991. 1999 MacLean, S. Eimhir. Stornoway: Acair, 1999. MacLean, S. O Choille gu Bearradh/From Wood to Ridge: Collected Poems in Gaelic and in English translation. Manchester and Edinburgh: Carcanet/Birlinn, 1999. 2002 MacLean, S. Dàin do Eimhir/Poems to Eimhir, ed. Christopher Whyte. Glasgow: Association of Scottish Literary Studies, 2002. MacLean, S. Hallaig, translated by Seamus Heaney. Sleat: Urras Shomhairle, 2002. PROSE WRITINGS 1 1945 MacLean, S. ‘Bliain Shearlais – 1745’, Comar (Nollaig 1945). 1947 MacLean, S. ‘Aspects of Gaelic Poetry’ in Scottish Art and Letters, No. 3 (1947), 37. 1953 MacLean, S. ‘Am misgear agus an cluaran: A Drunk Man looks at the Thistle, by Hugh MacDiarmid’ in Gairm 6 (Winter 1953), 148.
    [Show full text]
  • "Dae Scotsmen Dream O 'Lectric Leids?" Robert Crawford's Cyborg Scotland
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2013 "Dae Scotsmen Dream o 'lectric Leids?" Robert Crawford's Cyborg Scotland Alexander Burke Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3272 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i © Alexander P. Burke 2013 All Rights Reserved i “Dae Scotsmen Dream o ‘lectric Leids?” Robert Crawford’s Cyborg Scotland A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Virginia Commonwealth University By Alexander Powell Burke Bachelor of Arts in English, Virginia Commonwealth University May 2011 Director: Dr. David Latané Associate Chair, Department of English Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia December, 2013 ii Acknowledgment I am forever indebted to the VCU English Department for providing me with a challenging and engaging education, and its faculty for making that experience enjoyable. It is difficult to single out only several among my professors, but I would like to acknowledge David Wojahn and Dr. Marcel Cornis-Pope for not only sitting on my thesis committee and giving me wonderful advice that I probably could have followed more closely, but for their role years prior of inspiring me to further pursue poetry and theory, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Hugh Macdiarmid and Sorley Maclean: Modern Makars, Men of Letters
    Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean: Modern Makars, Men of Letters by Susan Ruth Wilson B.A., University of Toronto, 1986 M.A., University of Victoria, 1994 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of English © Susan Ruth Wilson, 2007 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photo-copying or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Dr. Iain Higgins_(English)__________________________________________ _ Supervisor Dr. Tom Cleary_(English)____________________________________________ Departmental Member Dr. Eric Miller__(English)__________________________________________ __ Departmental Member Dr. Paul Wood_ (History)________________________________________ ____ Outside Member Dr. Ann Dooley_ (Celtic Studies) __________________________________ External Examiner ABSTRACT This dissertation, Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean: Modern Makars, Men of Letters, transcribes and annotates 76 letters (65 hitherto unpublished), between MacDiarmid and MacLean. Four additional letters written by MacDiarmid’s second wife, Valda Grieve, to Sorley MacLean have also been included as they shed further light on the relationship which evolved between the two poets over the course of almost fifty years of friendship. These letters from Valda were archived with the unpublished correspondence from MacDiarmid which the Gaelic poet preserved. The critical introduction to the letters examines the significance of these poets’ literary collaboration in relation to the Scottish Renaissance and the Gaelic Literary Revival in Scotland, both movements following Ezra Pound’s Modernist maxim, “Make it new.” The first chapter, “Forging a Friendship”, situates the development of the men’s relationship in iii terms of each writer’s literary career, MacDiarmid already having achieved fame through his early lyrics and with the 1926 publication of A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle when they first met.
    [Show full text]
  • D:\Atlantis\Artículos Para Publicar 26.1\Editado Por Ricardo Y Por Mí
    ATLANTIS 26.1 (June 2004): 101–110 ISSN 0210-6124 An Interview with Liz Lochhead Carla Rodríguez González Universidad de Oviedo [email protected] An essential reference in contemporary Scottish literature, Liz Lochhead has consolidated her career as a poet, playwright and performer since she began publishing in the 1970s. Born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, in 1947, she went to Glasgow School of Art where she started writing. After some eight years teaching art in Glasgow and Bristol, she travelled to Canada (1978) with a Scottish Writers Exchange Fellowship and became a professional writer. Memo for Spring (1971), her first collection of poems, won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and inaugurated both a prolific career and the path many other Scottish women writers would follow afterwards. As a participant in several workshops—Stephen Mulrine’s, Philip Hobsbaum’s and Tom McGrath’s—where other contemporary writers like Alasdair Gray, Tom Leonard or James Kelman also collaborated, Lochhead began to create a prestigious space of her own within a markedly masculine canon. Her works have been associated with the birth of a female voice in Scottish literature and both her texts and performances have had general success in Britain and abroad. Her plays include Blood and Ice (1982), Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (1989), Perfect Days (1998), and adaptations like Molière’s Tartuffe (1985) and Miseryguts (The Misanthrope) (2002), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1989), Euripides’ Medea (2000), which won the 2001 Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, Chekhov’s Three Sisters (2000) and Euripides and Sophocles’ lives of Oedipus, Jokasta and Antigone in Thebans (2003).
    [Show full text]
  • Wooster Sauce – March 2009
    Wooster Sauce – March 2009 I had wanted to tell the Master this and gladden his That is increasingly true in England and the rest of indulgent heart with the tribute being paid to him at this the Commonwealth, but not in India. While no English- outpost of Wodehouseana thousands of miles away language writer can truly be said to have a “mass” from any place he had ever written about. But I had following in India, where only a small percentage of the never been satisfied by any of my drafts of the letter. It population read English, Wodehouse has maintained a had to be just right. Of course, it never was, and now I general rather than a “cult” audience; unlike others, he would never be able to establish this small connection has never gone out of fashion. This bewilders those to the writer who had given me more joy than anything who think that nothing could be further removed from else in my life. Indian life, with its poverty and political intensity, than The loss was personal, but it was widely shared: the silly escapades of Wodehouse’s decadent P. G. Wodehouse was by far the most popular English- Edwardian Young Men in Spats. language writer in India. His erudite butlers, absent- India’s fascination with Wodehouse is one of those minded earls and silly-ass aristocrats, out to pinch endearing mysteries. Many believe that Wodehouse’s policemen’s helmets or perform acts of petty larceny at popularity reflects a nostalgia for the British Empire in the behest of tyrannical aunts, are beloved by most India.
    [Show full text]
  • Search and Find: National Poetry Month
    SEARCH & FIND APRIL- NATIONAL POETRY MONTH Non-Picture - Page 1 ■ ■ 1. Dante Alighieri. 2. Aref Qazvini. 3. Voltaire. Clue: Dante Alighieri was a poet Clue:Aref Qazvini was an Iranian Clue:Voltaire was a French and prose writer from medieval poet and musician. Often cal led philosopher, writer, and poet of Florence, Italy, who profoundly a National Poet of Iran, he was a the Enlightenment. He was one impacted European literature. revolutionary during the Iranian of the most versitile poets and He is most famous for authoring Constitutional Revolution and wits of his time. He is shown the Christian epic poem La made many political and here holding a red lamb, a divina commedia. Dante is pro-revolutionary songs. reference to his 1759 satirical credited with inventing the novella Candide. poetic form used in The Divine Comedy, known as terza rima. 4. Laozi. 5. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 6. Maqamat-ut-Tuyur. Clue: Laozi was a philosopher in Clue: Ralph Waldo Emerson was Clue: "The Conference of the ancient China. He is the author an American writer, poet, and Birds," or "Maqamat-ut-Tuyor," of the Tao Te Ching, an import­ leader of the Transcendentalist is a poem completed circa 1187. ant text from Chinese history Movement, which argued that The poem concerns a congrega­ consisting of 81 short, poetic people were essentially good tion of birds, led by a wise sections. He is a central figure and capable of self-improve­ hoopoe, that embark on a both in philosophical and ment. journey. Through their experi­ religious Taoism. ences and the hoopoe's parables and counsel, the birds are cleansed of their egos and attain enlightenment.
    [Show full text]
  • A Poet Builds a Nation.Pdf
    DOI: 10.9744/kata.16.2.109-118 ISSN 1411-2639 (Print), ISSN 2302-6294 (Online) OPEN ACCESS http://kata.petra.ac.id A Poet Builds a Nation: Hafez as a Catalyst in Emerson’s Process of Developing American Literature Behnam Mirzababazadeh Fomeshi*, Adineh Khojastehpour Independent scholars * Corresponding author emails: [email protected] , [email protected] ABSTRACT Numerous studies have tried to elucidate the relationship between Emerson and Hafez. While most of these studies laid emphasis on influence of Hafez on Emerson and others on similarity and/or infatuation, they left untouched some vital historical aspects of this relationship. Taking into consideration the political and literary discourses of Emerson‘s America may illuminate the issue. America‘s attempt to gain independence from Britain, Emerson‘s resolution to establish an American literary tradition, his break with the European fathers to establish that identity, his open-mindedness in receiving non-European cultures and the correspondence between Emerson‘s transcendentalism and Hafez‘s mysticism led to Hafez‘s reception by Emerson. Keywords: Hafez; Emerson; comparative literature; reception; national identity INTRODUCTION The relationship between Hafez and Emerson has been extensively studied. Most of the researchers In addition to being considered the father of trans- have highlighted influence and some have empha- cendentalism, the American poet and philosopher, sized similarity or infatuation. For instance, Fotouhi Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was a remar- and Taebi (2012) believed that Emerson‘s poetic taste kable figure concerning Persian literature. The poet‘s made him study Persian poets and ―correspondence most fruitful years coincided with his careful study of between their mystical insight and his transcendental Persian poets.
    [Show full text]