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

• Superior document: Scottish cultural review of language and literature ; v. 17
• Author: Stroh, Silke.
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Rodopi,, 2011.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Scottish cultural review of language and literature ; 17.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (379 pages)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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.

Table of Contents

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.