1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781307203321

Autore

Stroh Silke

Titolo

Uneasy subjects : postcolonialism and Scottish Gaelic poetry / / Silke Stroh

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Amsterdam : , : Rodopi, , 2011

ISBN

94-012-0057-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (379 pages)

Collana

Scottish cultural review of language and literature ; ; v. 17

Disciplina

891.631

Soggetti

Scottish Gaelic poetry - History and criticism

Postcolonialism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminary Material -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Colonial beginnings? Celticity, Gaeldom and Scotland until the end of the Middle Ages -- The capitalist nation state and its “civilising missions”: Gaelic identities in flux -- The emergence of an anticolonial voice? -- Mission accomplished – perhaps too well? Romanticism and noble savagery -- When the civilising mission fails: racism, resistance and revival -- Discourses of decolonisation? Cultural cringes, discursive authority, rewriting history, and nationalist poetry -- Language matters, indigenous cultural values, education, and direct postcolonial alignments -- Against traditionalism and nativism? Pluralism, innovation, internationalism and hybridity as alternative decolonising strategies -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Scottish and “Celtic fringe” postcolonialism has caused much controversy and unease in literary studies. Can the non-English territories and peoples of the British Isles, faced with centuries of English hegemony, be meaningfully compared to former overseas colonies? This book is the first comprehensive study of this topic which offers an in-depth study of Gaelic literature. It investigates the complex interplay between Celticity, Gaeldom, Scottish and British national identity, and international colonial and postcolonial discourse. It situates post/colonial elements in Gaelic poetry within a wider context, showing how they intersect with socio-historical and political issues, anglophone literature and the media. Highlighting the centrality of



Celticity as an archetypal construct in colonial discourses ancient and modern, this volume traces post/colonial themes and strategies in Gaelic poetry from the Middle Ages to the present. Central themes include the uneasy position of Gaels as subjects of the Scottish or British state, and as both intra-British colonised and overseas colonisers. Aiming to promote interdisciplinary dialogue, it is of interest for scholars and students of Scottish Studies, Gaelic and English literature, and international Postcolonial Studies.