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Robert Burns and Scottish Cultural Politics: The Bard of Contention (1914-2014)
1399503456 pdf Robert Burns is Scotlands best known and most influential poet yet his political legacy also ranks amongst the most contentious. His ambiguous verse, oscillating between patriotic odes, egalitarian lines and royalist songs, lends itself to interpretations from across the political divide. Blending political history and literary studies, this book explores this contested legacy of Scotlands National Bard. It follows the transformations of Burnss image throughout the late modern era, as revolutionaries, nationalists and avant-garde writers co-opted Burnss myth to subvert their countrys social and constitutional order. From Great War unionism to 1940s socialism and contemporary nationalism, the examination of Burnss tempestuous afterlives sheds light on the ongoing Scottish question. Overall, it reminds us that poetry is a very shifting ground on which to build a national identity. Read more