Univerzita Karlova Filozofická Fakulta Ústav Anglofonních Literatur a Kultur
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Univerzita Karlova Filozofická fakulta Ústav anglofonních literatur a kultur Filologie – anglická a americká literatura Petra Johana Poncarová The Political Poetry of Derick Thomson Politická poezie Dericka Thomsona DISERTAČNÍ PRÁCE Vedoucí práce: Prof. PhDr. Martin Procházka, CSc. Konzultant: Dr Christopher Whyte 2020 Prohlašuji, že jsem disertační práci napsala samostatně s využitím pouze uvedených a řádně citovaných pramenů a literatury, a že práce nebyla využita v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. V Praze dne 10. 1. 2020 Petra Johana Poncarová ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the following people: To my supervisor, Martin Procházka, for his advice, patience, unfailing support, and friendship. Without his encouragement, I would probably never have pursued my interest in Scottish Studies. To Christopher Whyte, my consultant, for the generosity which he has shown to me from the very beginning, sharing knowledge, ideas, resources, and contacts, and for five years of love and friendship. To the staff of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Library – Cairistìona Cain and Greg MacThòmais, for creating the best conditions for research, for their dedication to their work and personal engagement; and to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig lecturers – Màiri Sìne Chaimbeul, the late Tormod Caimbeul, Iain Urchardan, Meg Bateman, and Christine Primrose – to whom I owe much of my command of Gaelic and my understanding of Gaelic literature and culture. To Caoimhín Ó Donaílle and Iain Howieson for their generous friendship and hospitality that make the Isle of Skye a second home. To Ian MacDonald, who has kindly shared with me his unsurpassed knowledge of Derick Thomson‘s life and work, and patiently supported my various projects related to Thomson. To Michel Byrne, who helped to shape the first ideas of this dissertation. To Ronnie Renton and his colleagues from the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, who made me feel truly welcome in the field. To Derrick J McClure and to the late Margery Palmer McCulloch for friendship, support, and help at the very beginning of my career – and ever since. To Aniela Korzeniowska and Izabela Szymańska, most capable organizers of the bi-annual conference Scotland in Europe, who gave me the opportunity to present my first paper and publish my first essay on Scottish literature. Last but by no means least, I am immensely grateful to my colleagues from the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures, and to my friends and family, especially to my husband and parents, for their encouragement, support, and patience. --- I am truly grateful to the Anglo-Czech Education Fund for providing me with a generous scholarship that allowed me to carry out important research for this dissertation in Glasgow and Skye. I dedicate this work to the memory of my dear grandparents, Marie and Jan. Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Rationale ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Politics and Poetry .......................................................................................................... 13 2. Contexts ................................................................................................................................ 17 2.1 Scottish Nationalism ...................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Derick Thomson: A Biography ...................................................................................... 30 2.3 Politics in the Poetry of Thomson‘s Contemporaries ..................................................... 39 3. Reading for Politics in Thomson‘s Poetry ........................................................................... 44 3.1 An Dealbh Briste (1951) ................................................................................................ 45 3.2 Eadar Samhradh is Foghar (1967) ................................................................................ 54 3.3 An Rathad Cian (1970) .................................................................................................. 76 3.4 Saorsa agus an Iolaire (1977) ........................................................................................ 86 3.5 Creachadh na Clàrsaich (1982) ..................................................................................... 95 3.6 Smeur an Dòchais (1991) ............................................................................................... 97 3.7 Meall Garbh (1995) ..................................................................................................... 102 3.8 Sùil air Fàire (2007) .................................................................................................... 108 4. On the Perch: Thomson‘s Political Journalism .................................................................. 115 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 133 5.1 Derick Thomson‘s Politics ........................................................................................... 133 5.2 Derick Thomson as a Political Poet ............................................................................. 142 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 150 1. Introduction 1.1 Rationale As Donald E. Meek expressed it in the eulogy he delivered at Derick Thomson‘s funeral in 2012, ―Derick Thomson, scholar, teacher, Professor, language planner, poet, businessman, editor, politician, propagandist, chairman of boards and trusts in abundance‖ was ―uniquely unique.‖1 Derick S. Thomson, or Ruaraidh MacThòmais in Gaelic as he preferred to be known in relation to his poetry,2 was indeed one of the most universal personalities of the Gaelic world in the twentieth century, outstanding not only in terms of his prolific output but also in the scope of his activities, open critical approach, and inclusive European outlook. Apart from being an influential university lecturer, scholar and translator, co-founder of the seminal quarterly magazine Gairm and ―the father of modern Gaelic publishing,‖3 Thomson also contributed to modern Gaelic literature a total of seven poetry collections: the first one, An Dealbh Briste (The Broken Picture) was published in 1951; the last one, Sùil air Fàire (Surveying the Horizon), appeared in 2007. His career thus spans almost sixty years. Most of the numerous activities he undertook during his long and productive life were aimed at the preservation and further development of Gaelic as a viable, versatile language, and the promotion of Scottish independence. With his usual decisiveness and ready insight into what needs to be done in the Gaelic world, Thomson suggested the following in ―Reflections after Writing An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry‖: ―What I hope will begin to emerge now is a series of period and genre and author studies. For example, there is a fascinating piece of work to be done on the techniques of political verse before 1750, and I would like to see a full-length literary study of Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair.‖4 Although many of the projects Thomson called for in the article from 1974 have been executed since and several others he would perhaps not have hoped for, there are still some important figures of Gaelic literature who await due critical assessment, 1 Donald Meek, ―Appreciation of Professor Derick S. Thomson: funeral oration, as delivered,‖ Passages From Tiree [Donald Meek‘s personal blog] 5 April 2013, <http://meekwrite.blogspot.cz/2013/04/appreciation-of-professor-derick-s.html> 21 June 2019. 2 John MacInnes: ―About a quarter of a century ago two interesting figures appeared on the Gaelic scene. One was Derick Thomson, a young scholar of Aberdeen and Cambridge; the other Ruaraidh MacThòmais, a new Gaelic poet. I still recall my astonishment on realizing they both inhabited the same body: that of the present Professor of Celtic Languages and Literature in the University of Glasgow.‖ ―Review of An Rathad Cian,‖ Scottish International (January 1972): 36. 3 Ronald Black, ―Introduction,‖ An Tuil (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1999) xl. 4 Derick Thomson, ―Reflections after Writing An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry,‖ Lines Review 49 (June, 1974): 17. 1 including the author of the appeal himself and unfortunately also Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, a poet he felt especially akin to. In spite of the impressive range of his activities and the seven books of poetry, which is, according to the editors of Thomson‘s festschrift, ―at its best as good as any in the language,‖5 conspicuously little critical attention has been paid to his multifaceted career. Several illuminating studies have been published, especially by Christopher Whyte, Ronald Black, Michel Byrne, and Ian MacDonald, but even they have not covered all the elements of Thomson‘s art and activism, and for example his last collection, Sùil air Fàire, has not been subject to any substantial critical examination, and no monograph