Scotland, Britain and the elsewhere of poetry

Carruthers, G. (2014) Scotland, Britain and the elsewhere of poetry. In: Pollard, N. (ed.) Don Paterson: Contemporary Critical Essays. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 85-97. ISBN 9780748669417

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Publisher's URL: http://www.euppublishing.com/book/9780748669417

Abstract

This chapter analyses Paterson's work in terms of national identity, inheritance, and literary history, considering the poet's engagement with Scottish forebears. How resistant is his work to being read primarily in the context of the Scottish literary tradition? It begins by analysing Paterson's handling of these issues as an editor: his production of the slim anthology of Scotland's ‘national bard’ creatively, and cannily, rethinks the totemic status of Robert Burns. It examines whether the goading, guiding tone of Paterson's critical introductions are editorial strategies that underline the impossibility of completely consensual certainty in interpretation, even editorial interpretation, or whether his brooking of disagreement and his heckling prose reveal a more straightforwardly quarrelsome inability to renounce ‘forceful opinion’. The chapter considers Paterson's poetry in the light of these questions. It also poses questions about Paterson's depictions of the current UK scene and its schisms in prose and poetry.

Item Type:Book Sections (Other)
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Carruthers, Professor Gerard
Authors: Carruthers, G.
Subjects:P Language and Literature > PR English literature
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:9780748669417
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