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A Scots Quair: Elements of the Regional, the National, and the Universal“

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A Scots Quair: Elements of the Regional, the National, and the Universal“ DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s A Scots Quair: Elements of the Regional, the National, and the Universal“ Verfasserin Katharina Mewald angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2010 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 343 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreuer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz-Karl Wöhrer DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY I confirm to have conceived and written this M.A. thesis in English all by myself. Quotations from other authors are all clearly marked and acknowledged in the bibliographical references, either in the footnotes or within the text. Any ideas borrowed and/or passages paraphrased from the works of other authors have been truthfully acknowledged and identified in the footnotes. Katharina Mewald HINWEIS Diese Diplomarbeit hat nachgewiesen, dass die betreffende Kandidatin oder der betreffende Kandidat befähigt ist, wissenschaftliche Themen selbstständig sowie inhaltlich und methodisch vertretbar zu bearbeiten. Da die Korrekturen der/des Beurteilenden nicht eingetragen sind und das Gutachten nicht beiliegt, ist daher nicht erkenntlich mit welcher Note diese Arbeit abgeschlossen wurde. Das Spektrum reicht von sehr gut bis genügend. Die Habilitierten des Instituts für Anglistik und Amerikanistik bitten diesen Hinweis bei der Lektüre zu beachten. Acknowledgements For their patience and support during my studies I owe gratefulness to my family, friends, and colleagues. In particular, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Franz- Karl Wöhrer for his advice in producing the present thesis, as well as Patrick Wolowicz, Dr. Claudia Mewald, Dr. Johann Unger, and Lesley Low who have contributed greatly to the process of writing and revising it. I would also like to thank Prof. J. Derrick McClure for fostering my interest in Scottish literature and actively supporting my research efforts by providing access to important resources at the University of Aberdeen, by answering countless questions and by giving me the opportunity to present an essay, which is part of this research project, under the title “‘Silly Scotch Muck about Cottars and Women’?: The Regional, the National, and the Universal in A Scots Quair” at the Twelfth International Conference on the Literature of Region and Nation, which took place in July 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland. This essay will be published in the conference proceedings in 2010. The findings of chapters three and five of the present thesis have also contributed to the author’s paper “What Became of ‘You’? Language in Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song and Alastair Cording’s Stage Adaptation” presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster (Orkney College, July 2009). The resulting paper will be published in the conference proceedings in 2011. My gratefulness also extends to eminent scholars in the field, among them Isobel Murray and the late Douglas Young, to whom I was introduced by Prof. McClure and who agreed to answer various questions on Lewis Grassic Gibbon, the Quair, its Scottish reception, and much more. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 2. Terminology, Theoretical Concepts, Ideological and Political Background............. 3 2.1. Regionalism........................................................................................................ 4 2.2. National Representation ..................................................................................... 6 2.2.1. Imagology.................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1.1. The Genesis of Stereotypes .................................................................. 7 2.2.1.2. Stereotypes and Literature.................................................................... 9 2.2.1.3. Historical Development of Stereotypes in Literature......................... 11 2.2.1.4. Imagology as an Analytical Tool........................................................ 14 2.2.2. Gibbon, Nationalism, and the Scottish Renaissance ................................. 14 2.3. Universal Representation.................................................................................. 17 2.3.1. Diffusionism .............................................................................................. 18 2.3.2. Religion ..................................................................................................... 20 2.3.3. The Land – Nature – Agriculture .............................................................. 21 2.3.4. Marxism – Communism – Anarchism ...................................................... 25 2.4. Concluding Comments ..................................................................................... 28 3. Language ................................................................................................................. 29 3.1. Linguistic Innovation........................................................................................ 34 3.1.1. Lexis .......................................................................................................... 34 3.1.2. Syntax ........................................................................................................ 40 3.2. Reception.......................................................................................................... 43 3.3. Concluding Comments ..................................................................................... 46 4. Characterisation....................................................................................................... 49 4.1. Scottish Stereotypes.......................................................................................... 50 4.2. Chris.................................................................................................................. 61 4.2.1. Chris and the Land..................................................................................... 71 4.2.2. Chris Caledonia ......................................................................................... 75 4.2.3. Divided Selves........................................................................................... 77 4.3. Communities..................................................................................................... 79 4.4. Concluding Comments ..................................................................................... 86 5. Narrative Structure .................................................................................................. 88 5.1. Voices – Individual and Collective .................................................................. 88 5.1.1. Chris .......................................................................................................... 89 5.1.2. The Community Voice .............................................................................. 91 5.1.3. Development of Voices in the Trilogy ...................................................... 97 5.2. “You”................................................................................................................ 99 5.2.1. The direct-address “you”........................................................................... 99 5.2.2. The self-referring “you” .......................................................................... 100 5.2.3. The generic “you”.................................................................................... 101 5.2.4. Concluding Comments ............................................................................ 103 6. Conclusion............................................................................................................. 104 Bibliography ................................................................................................. 109 Appendix I .................................................................................................... 116 Main settings............................................................................................. 116 Map of Kinraddie...................................................................................... 116 Map of Segget........................................................................................... 117 Appendix II................................................................................................... 118 "Völkertafel" (Styrian Tableau of Nationalities)...................................... 118 Laconicum Europae Speculum ................................................................. 120 Index ............................................................................................................. 122 Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache...................................................... 125 Curriculum Vitae Katharina Mewald ...................................................... 128 - 1 - 1. Introduction “Oh Chris Caledonia, I’ve married a nation!” (Gibbon, Cloud Howe 139, italics his) The present thesis is concerned with the trilogy of novels, A Scots Quair, comprising of Sunset Song, Cloud Howe, and Grey Granite, published between 1932 and 1934 by James Leslie Mitchell (1901-1935) under his pseudonym Lewis Grassic Gibbon.1 The trilogy, and particularly its first novel Sunset Song, has achieved a prominent place in the canon of Scottish literature and has come to be acknowledged as a Scottish classic.2 Over the decades since its publication, several
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