Folkways

Gibson, C. (2024) Folkways. In: Carruthers, G. (ed.) A Companion to Scottish Literature. Wiley Blackwell, pp. 246-258. ISBN 9781119651444 (doi: 10.1002/9781119651550.ch20)

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Abstract

Before Scott, Edwiin Muir identified a ‘few disconnected figures arranged at abrupt intervals’ with only the ‘rude buttresses of ballads and folk songs’ to keep them from collapsing into the same void. This chapter argues for a modern history of such ideas about the relationship between folk and literary cultures in Scotland. It claims that generalist Scottish literary histories from the late Victorian period and continuing into the 1960s absorbed critical assumptions about the foundational place of folk culture from earlier literatures. The chapter suggests that a modern history of literary ‘folkways’ might contribute to revisionist accounts of Scottish literary history by describing unpredictable irruptions and dispersals, instead of a pattern of overarching continuity or slow absorption. A history of Scotland's literary folkways might do more than track canonical allusions to folkways in uncovering the ‘relatively unexplored layers’ of what constitutes ‘literature’.

Item Type:Book Sections
Additional Information:Online ISBN: 9781119651550.
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Gibson, Dr Corey
Authors: Gibson, C.
Subjects:P Language and Literature > PR English literature
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
Publisher:Wiley Blackwell
ISBN:9781119651444
Published Online:01 December 2023
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