in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Fall, 2000

Dr. Leith Davis

web site: http://www.sfu.ca/personal/leith

The nature of Scottish national identity within Britain has come under renewed consideration as a consequence of the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in July, 1999. An important part of that reconsideration involves a reexamination of how nostalgia has functioned in the articulation of Scottish national identity subsequent to the Act of Union in 1707. After the loss of their political identity after 1707 and the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745, Scots resorted to imagining their community in the cultural realm in various ways, many of which involved a glorification of the past. This course will consider the construction of Scottish identity within Britain from the beginning to the end of the eighteenth century, examining works by both Scottish and English writers such as: Daniel Defoe, Lord Belhaven, Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, William Collins, Thomas Gray, James Macpherson, Tobias Smollett, Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Robert Burns and Walter Scott. Finally, we will speculate on the relationship between nostalgia and Scottish national identity in the twenty-first century, where globalized images ranging from Braveheart and Trainspotting threaten a different kind of fictionalizing of Scotland.

• due Oct. 24 at the beginning of class

Final Paper (10 pages): 30 %

• due Nov. 30 at the beginning of class

Final exam: 25 %

In-Class Seminar and write-up (3-5 pages): 15%

• see instructions below

Participation and attendance: 5%

• attendance for all classes is required. Students should inform instructor of reason for absence and supply a note from a doctor in case of illness. Students missing more than two classes without proper notification will be given a "0" for participation.

• due Oct. 24 at the beginning of class

Final Paper (10 pages): 30 %

• due Nov. 30 at the beginning of class

Final exam: 25 %

In-Class Seminar and write-up (3-5 pages): 15%

• see instructions below

Participation and attendance: 5%

• attendance for all classes is required. Students should inform instructor of reason for absence and supply a note from a doctor in case of illness. Students missing more than two classes without proper notification will be given a "0" for participation.

Plus photocopied material and material on reserve.

The 1707 Act of Union: Defoe and Belhaven's debate

Allan Ramsay

The 1745 Rebellion and Robert Fergusson

Sept. 26: The Ballad Revival and Scottish Song

Oct. 3:

The Scottish Enlightenment

Oct. 5: 

Bardic Nationalism

Johnson and Boswell in Scotland

Tobias Smollett

Robert Burns

Walter Scott 

Contemporary nostalgia

Scotland in the global marketplace: Bravehearts and Trainspotters?

Introduction: Nostalgia and the Imagined Community of the Nation

The 1707 Act of Union: Defoe and Belhaven's debate

Allan Ramsay

The 1745 Rebellion and Robert Fergusson

Sept. 26: The Ballad Revival and Scottish Song

Oct. 3:

The Scottish Enlightenment

Oct. 5: 

Bardic Nationalism

Johnson and Boswell in Scotland

Tobias Smollett

Robert Burns

Walter Scott 

Contemporary nostalgia

Scotland in the global marketplace: Bravehearts and Trainspotters?

1. Read the assigned seminar article.
2. Present the article to the class, bearing the following points in mind:

• what is the main argument of the article?
• how does the author develop her/his argument?
• what kinds of critical assumptions was the author making in the article?
• how convincing was the argument? were there aspects which you disagreed with or found confusing?
• what was the main strength of this article in your opinion?

1. Provide three questions for the class which will allow discussion of the day's reading. At least one question should be based on issues and/or questions raised by the article. You may want to divide the class into smaller groups, arrange a game around the concepts presented, etc. Be creative, but make sure you do justice to the text(s).
2. Hand in a 3-5 page write-up of the discussion, in which you consider what aspects of the discussion you found most beneficial, how your point of view altered (or didn't), and what questions you were left with at the end of the discussion. This will be due a week after your seminar presentation.

You will receive informal peer reviews on your presentation and a mark from me based on:

• presentation of the article: conciseness, comprehension of the ideas, engagement with the ideas, engagement with audience (don't just read out your material), use of audio-visual aids.
• choice of questions: engagement with the material, level of challenge.
• discussion: effectiveness, time management.
• cohesiveness of group and participation of all members
• write-up: effective consideration of the discussion of the questions

*Note: material for the seminar presentation is on reserve in the library, either in the books or articles sections of Reserves. Everyone, not just the seminar presenters, is encouraged to read the articles.

Seminars are intended to encourage students to develop critical and oral presentation skills. Students will work together in pairs or small groups. Each group will present the criticle article for the week to the class and facilitate discussion of the day's reading. The formal part of the presentation should take no more than twenty minutes, allowing plenty of time for discussion.

1. Read the assigned seminar article.
2. Present the article to the class, bearing the following points in mind:

• what is the main argument of the article?
• how does the author develop her/his argument?
• what kinds of critical assumptions was the author making in the article?
• how convincing was the argument? were there aspects which you disagreed with or found confusing?
• what was the main strength of this article in your opinion?

1. Provide three questions for the class which will allow discussion of the day's reading. At least one question should be based on issues and/or questions raised by the article. You may want to divide the class into smaller groups, arrange a game around the concepts presented, etc. Be creative, but make sure you do justice to the text(s).
2. Hand in a 3-5 page write-up of the discussion, in which you consider what aspects of the discussion you found most beneficial, how your point of view altered (or didn't), and what questions you were left with at the end of the discussion. This will be due a week after your seminar presentation.

You will receive informal peer reviews on your presentation and a mark from me based on:

• presentation of the article: conciseness, comprehension of the ideas, engagement with the ideas, engagement with audience (don't just read out your material), use of audio-visual aids.
• choice of questions: engagement with the material, level of challenge.
• discussion: effectiveness, time management.
• cohesiveness of group and participation of all members
• write-up: effective consideration of the discussion of the questions

*Note: material for the seminar presentation is on reserve in the library, either in the books or articles sections of Reserves. Everyone, not just the seminar presenters, is encouraged to read the articles.

Seminar Material:

Kinghorn, Alexander and Alexander Law. "Allan Ramsay and Literary Life in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century." In Andrew Hook, ed. History of Scottish Literature, vol. 2, 1660-1800. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1987. pp. 65-79. 

Crawford, Robert. "Robert Fergusson's Robert Burns." In Robert Burns and Cultural Authority, ed. Robert Crawford. Iowa City: U. of Iowa P., 1998. pp. 1-22.

Brown, Mary Ellen. "Old Singing Women and the Canons of Scottish Balladry and Song," in Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan, eds. A History of Scottish Women's Writing. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1997. pp. 44-57.

WEEK FIVE: Oct. 5: 

Scott, Mary Jane. "James Thomson and the Anglo-Scots." In Andrew Hook, ed. History of Scottish Literature, vol. 2, 1660-1800. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1987. pp. 81-100.

Stafford, Fiona. "Fragments of Ancient Poetry." Ch. 6 in The Sublime Savage: James Macpherson and the Poems of Ossian. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1988. 96-112.

Hickey, Alison. "'Extensive Views' in Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland," Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 32:3 (Summer, 1992), 537-53

Turnbull, Gordon. "James Boswell: Biography and the Union." In Andrew Hook, ed. History of Scottish Literature, vol. 2, 1660-1800, pp. 157-174.

Simpson, Kenneth. "The Scot as English Novelist: Tobias Smollett." Ch. 1 in The Protean Scot: The Crisis of Identity in Eighteenth Century Scottish Literature. Aberdeen: Aberdeen UP, 1988. pp. 14-40.

Murphy, Peter. "Robert Burns," Ch. 2 in Poetry as an Occupation and an Art in Britain 1760-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. pp. 49-93.

Scotland in the global marketplace: Bravehearts and Trainspotters?

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