Engl 320(2003)

English 320: Scotland, Print Culture and the Politics

of Nostalgia in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Spring, 2003

Dr. Leith Davis

email: leith@sfu.ca

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 Scottish (and several English) writers such as: Lord Belhaven, Daniel Defoe, Allan Ramsay, Elizabeth Wardlaw, John Home, James Macpherson, Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Robert Burns, Janet Little and Tobias Smollett. Throughout the course, we will speculate on the relationship between the construction of Scottish national identity in the eighteenth century and its twentieth- and twenty-first-century manifestations. We will consider in particular the use of print culture in the eighteenth century versus digital culture in our contemporary era as media through which the "imagined community" of the nation can be expressed and/or questioned. Many of the resources which we will consider are available in digital form on the web, so we will also be concerned with how such resources represent Scottish national identity in relation to the current global infomarket.

Requirements:

First Essay (6-7 pages): 20 %

due Feb. 6 at the beginning of class

Final Paper (10 pages): 30 %

due April 3 at the beginning of class

Final exam: 25 %

In-Class Seminar and write-up (3-4 pages): 15%

see instructions below

Dramatic presentation of Douglas: 5%

Participation and attendance: 5%

attendance at all classes is required. Students should inform instructor of reason for absence. Students missing more than two classes without proper notification will be given a "0" for participation.

*NOTE

First Essay (6-7 pages): 20 %

due Feb. 6 at the beginning of class

Final Paper (10 pages): 30 %

due April 3 at the beginning of class

Final exam: 25 %

In-Class Seminar and write-up (3-4 pages): 15%

see instructions below

Dramatic presentation of Douglas: 5%

Participation and attendance: 5%

attendance at all classes is required. Students should inform instructor of reason for absence. Students missing more than two classes without proper notification will be given a "0" for participation.

*NOTE:

Plagiarism on a paper or exam is subject to penalty ranging from being given a "O" on the particular assignment, to failing the course, to expulsion from the university.

Deferred grades will be granted only in case of severe illness or other emergency.

Texts:

Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland/the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, ed. Peter Levi. Penguin, 199.

Smollett, Tobias. Expedition of Humphrey Clinker, ed. Angus Ross. Penguin, 1967.

Plus photocopied material and material on reserve.

Course Objectives:

1. to rethink the canon of eighteenth-century British Literature by examining texts from Scotland and material that challenges our ideas about literature (eg. texts from popular culture, printed speeches, ballads, etc.)

2. to examine the ways in which print culture was used to create a national identity in Scotland during the eighteenth century

3. to consider the way that digital culture in our current age performs similar and/or different functions to those of print culture in the eighteenth century in creating a sense of local/national/global/ identity

4. to develop students' critical skills, both oral and written

Schedule:

WEEK ONE

Jan. 2:

Introduction: Nostalgia and the imagined community of Scotland

WEEK TWO

Introduction: Nostalgia and the imagined community of Scotland

WEEK TWO

Jan. 7

The 1707 Act of Union: Defoe and Belhaven's debate and the Modern Scottish Parliament

Reading: Belhaven, "The Lord Beilhaven's Speech in the Scotch Parliment"; Daniel Defoe, " "The Vision"; excerpt from A Review of the State of the British Nation (in handout)

"A Devolved Parliament," from the Scottish Parliament website: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/welcoming_you/ff1.htm

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/index.html

If you get a chance, also look at the following items:

"A Scots Answer to a British Vision"

"Reply to the Scots Answer to the British Vision"

"A Second Defence of the Scotish Vision"

"Belhaven's Vision"

Jan. 9:

Recovering the past: songs, ballads and the nation

Reading: Allan Ramsay, "Elegy on Maggie Johnson"; "The Gentle Shepherd" (handout)

Also see information on Ramsay:

http://www.slainte.org.uk/Scotauth/ramsadsw.htm

WEEK THREE:

Jan. 14:

Reading: "The Gentle Shepherd"

Jan. 16:

Reading: Elizabeth Wardlaw, "Hardyknute"

WEEK FOUR:

Jan. 21:

Reading: David Herd, from "Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc." (handout)

3 websites on Scottish ballads:

http://www.fsu.edu/~speccoll/ballad.htm

http://www.springthyme.co.uk/weblog/scotsballadblog.shtml

http://www.it-serve.co.uk/poetry/Ballads/balladhome.php

"Tam Lin":

Read version #1: http://www.tam-lin.org/front.html#tam

Liz Lochhead, "Tam Lin's Lady" (handout)

Jan. 23:

Gil Morice:

http://www.contemplator.com/child/morice.html

Sir Patrick Spens:

http://www.contemplator.com/child/spens.html

Twa Sisters:

http://www.contemplator.com/folk4/twasist.html

Johnny Faa:

http://www.contemplator.com/folk4/johnnyfa.html

WEEK FIVE:

Jan. 28:

The 1745 Rebellion

Reading: Lady Nairne, "Wha'll Be King But Charlie":

Also look at the following websites:

http://www.alanwills.co.uk/trials.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2440115.stm

http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/culloden/inmemory.htm

Jan. 30:

Reading: John Home, Douglas (in course package)

Also look at:

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/home_john.htm

WEEK SIX:

Feb. 4: Rehearsals of Douglas

Feb. 6: Presentations of Douglas

First Essay Due.

WEEK SEVEN:

Ossianic Fabrications:

Feb. 11:

Reading: James Macpherson, Fingal

All 6 books. Begin at:

http://www.exclassics.org/ossian/oss17.htm

Feb. 13:

Reading: James Macpherson, Fingal, cont'd.

WEEK EIGHT:

Feb. 18:

**seminar on Fingal

Reading: James Macpherson, Fingal, cont'd.

Feb. 20:

Mid-semester break.

WEEK NINE:

Johnson and Boswell in Scotland

Feb. 25:

Reading: Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

Feb. 27:

**seminar on Johnson

Reading: Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

WEEK TEN:

March 4:

Reading: Boswell, Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

March 6:

**seminar on Boswell

Reading: Boswell, Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

Optional reading (for your interest): Pope and Guthrie's Hypertext Journey

http://www.somewhere.org.uk/hypertext/journal/home.html

http://www.somewhere.org.uk/hypertext/journal/press/PaulWelsh.html

WEEK ELEVEN:

Robert Burns

March 11:

Reading: Robert Burns, "Epistle to John Lapraik":

"A Bard's Epitaph":

"On a Scotch Bard Gone to the West Indies":

"Tam O'Shanter":

(listen to a reading of "Tam O'Shanter" by Marilyn Wright at:

http://www.electricscotland.com/si/features/burns/index.htm )

March 13:

Reading: Burns, "The Vision":

"Ae Fond Kiss"

"Banks o' Doon":

(listen to Gill Bowman singing "Ae Fond Kiss" and "Banks" at:

http://www.electricscotland.com/si/features/burns/index.htm )

"Auld Lang Syne"

"Ca' the Yowes"

"Green Grow the Rashes":

"Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn":

WEEK TWELVE:

March 18:

Reading: Janet Little, "On a Visit to Mr. Burns" (111); "An Epistle to Mr. Robert Burns" (160); "To My Aunty" (164).

March 20:

Tobias Smollett

Reading: Smollett, Humphrey Clinker

WEEK THIRTEEN:

March 25:

Reading: Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, cont'd.

March 27:

Reading: Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, cont'd.

WEEK FOURTEEN:

April 1: Reading: Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, cont'd.

April 3: Conclusion of course

Final Essay Due

Seminars:

Seminars are intended to encourage students to develop research, critical and oral presentation skills. Students will work together in pairs or small groups. The formal part of the presentation should take no more than half an hour, allowing plenty of time for discussion. Please provide a 1-page handout including an outline of your presentation and relevant information.

Your presentation should include:

1. a brief overview clarifying the surface meaning of the text

2. discussion of what you found interesting about the text in the light of the concerns of this course

3. dicussion of at least one critical article that deals with the material of the text (you can use the suggested articles below or consult the MLA bibliography). You may want to consider:

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?

4. present three questions to the class which will allow discussion of the text. At least one question should be based on issues and/or questions raised by the article. You may want to facilitate a general discussion, 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).

5. Hand in a 3-4-page write-up of your presentation and discussion, in which you consider what aspects of the presentation you thought were most beneficial, how your point of view altered (or didn't) as a result of the questions, 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: 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

Seminar Topics:

Jan. 9: music and song in Allan Ramsay's "The Gentle Shepherd"

suggested article: Crawford, Thomas. "Chapter V" in Society and the Lyric: A Study of the Song Culture of Eighteenth-Century Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1979.

Jan. 16: Elizabeth Wardlaw, "Hardyknute"

suggested article: Stewart, Susan. "Scandals of the Ballad." In Crimes of Writing: Problems in the Containment of Representation. NY: Duke UP, 1994. 102-131.

Jan. 23: "The Twa Sisters"

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

Feb. 18: gender roles in Fingal :

suggested article: Potkay, Adam. "Virtue and Manners in Macpherson's Poems of Ossian." PMLA 107 (1992): 120-30.

Feb. 27: landscape in Johnson's Journey

suggested article: 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

March 6: Boswell reading/writing Johnson in the Journal

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

March 13: Robert Burns, "A Vision."

suggested article: Crawford, Robert. "British Burns." In Devolving English Literature. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 88-110.

March 18: Janet Little, "A Visit to Mr. Burns"

suggested article: Ferguson, Moira. "Janet Little and Robert Burns: The Politics of the Heart." In Romantic Women Writers: Voices and Counter Voices, ed. Paula Feldman and Theresa Kelley. Hanover: Univ. Press of New England, 1995. 207-219.

March 25: Representing Scotland in Humphry Clinker

suggested article: Sharp, Andrew. "Scots, Savages, and Barbarians: Humphry Clinker and the Scots' Philosopy." Eighteenth-Century Life 18 (3): 64-79.

Links:

Internet directory for Scotland

www.scotland.org

The Rampant Scotland Directory: 6,000+ Scotland-related Links, regularly updated.

www.rampantscotland.com/

List of Scottish web sites (Virtual Inn)

www.virtual-inn.co.uk/scottish.html

The Scottish Parliament

www.scottish.parliament.uk/

www.thescottishparliament.com/

BBC Vote 99 -- Scotland

www.news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/vote_99/