The Scottish Renaissance and the Origins of Scottish Nationalism

1 October 2015, 6.30-8 pm, free.
The Saltire Society, 22 High Street, EH1 1TF

At our first seminar we will explore the remarkable literary renaissance which Scotland experienced during the early decades of the twentieth century, focusing on its relationship to literary modernism and the genesis of modern Scottish nationalism. Margery Palmer McCulloch, author of Scottish Modernism and Its Contexts 1918 – 1959 (2009), will introduce this “Scottish Renaissance” in the context of early-twentieth-century nationalism and Home Rule aspirations, while critic Alex Thomson will focus more closely on the challenging poetry and politics of the era’s figurehead Hugh MacDiarmid.

Book tickets through the Scottish Poetry Library Eventbrite page

Speaker Abstracts and Biographies

Margery Palmer McCulloch:
"Transforming Traditions: Poetry and National Identity in the Scottish Renaissance Period"
After a brief discussion of the political context of Scottish nationalism and its Home Rule aspirations in the early years of the twentieth century, both pre-war and post-1918, this talk will focus on the literary revival initiated by Hugh MacDiarmid and his supporters in the early 1920s which sought to bring self-determination and a new modern outlook to Scotland’s cultural and political life. Poetry was initially the dominant medium in this revival, as MacDiarmid sought to create a modern (ist) poetry from an outworn Scots language, but it was supported by innovative writing in fiction, and by a series of lively little magazines. The movement continued throughout the interwar period with a second phase of the poetry revival in the 1940s and 1950s introducing new voices such as Sydney Goodsir Smith in Scots and Somhairle MacGill-Eain (Sorley MacLean) in Gaelic. It ended with the publication of late poetry by MacDiarmid and Edwin Muir in the 1950s. The talk will argue that this movement, known popularly as the ‘Scottish Renaissance’, was in no way a nationalistic, or ‘essentialist’ movement, but a modern movement in which nationalism and internationalism were two sides of the one coin, and one which opened up the road to the vital literary culture we have today.

Biographical Note

Margery Palmer McCulloch’s recent books include Modernism and Nationalism (2004), Scottish Modernism and its Contexts (2009), and the co-edited Edinburgh Companion to Hugh MacDiarmid and Scottish and International Modernisms (both 2011). She was co-editor of Scottish Literary Review from 2005-2013. She is currently Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Glasgow University and Leverhulme Emerita Fellow 2013-2015 researching towards a joint biography of Edwin and Willa Muir and their Scottish and European contexts.

Alex Thomson: "Hugh MacDiarmid: Poetry and Politics"
My talk will explore the controversial poetry and politics of Hugh MacDiarmid. I will discuss some of the problems of getting an accurate historical perspective on the cultural politics of the interwar period, and the difficulties presented by some of MacDiarmid's more extreme views and his obscure poetic style. I will suggest that we need to focus our attention on the poetry rather than be distracted by MacDiarmid's overt political statements, and that both his poetry and political activism are underpinned by an avant-garde sensibility.

Biographical Note
Alex Thomson is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh.