Sound waves: “Blue Ecology” in the poetry of Robin Robertson and Kathleen Jamie

Campbell, A. (2017) Sound waves: “Blue Ecology” in the poetry of Robin Robertson and Kathleen Jamie. Etudes Ecossaises, 19, (doi: 10.4000/etudesecossaises.1199)

Abstract

Analysing the poetic seascapes within Kathleen Jamie’s The Tree House (2004) and Robin Robertson’s The Wrecking Light (2010) this article examines the ecological and geopolitical parameters of the so-called “saltwater turn” in contemporary Scottish poetry. Invoking saltwater space as a means of uncovering new environmentally tuned poetic framings the article suggests that Jamie and Robertson’s collections contribute to a growing field of archipelagic poetics which attends to the cultural, historical, and material interplay between the seas, oceans, and islands of the Atlantic archipelago. Exploring the dimensions of “blue ecology”, their work encourages us to fathom new relationships with the nonhuman world whilst also critiquing cultural models which have long cast Scotland as a “marginal” or “fringe” literary space.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Campbell, Dr Alexandra
• Authors: Campbell, A.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Journal Name: Etudes Ecossaises
• Publisher: OpenEdition
• ISSN: 1240-1439
• ISSN (Online): 1969-6337