Understanding Scotland’s Languages and Literature 3301-JS2811
In order to understand the very essence of Scotland, it is necessary to reach towards the country’s languages and literature, how the turns of history have influenced what has been written, and how this literature has been written. Scotland’s multilingual situation in the past and today have had a natural influence on how writers have, over the centuries, used her three languages, Gaelic, Scots (Lallans) and Standard Scottish English, in the varied literary genres that make up this country’s literary heritage.
The course is for BA students.
It will address the following topics:
1. The languages of early Scotland and what the language situation looks like today.
2. The most important poets of the 15th and 16th centuries and their influence on the further development of Scottish literature.
3. The Reformation and the English language.
4. The union with England and the influence of the Scottish Renaissance on the language dichotomy of the 18th century.
5. Robert Burns - the National Scottish Bard.
6. Linguistic divisions and polarisations in the 19th century.
7. The 20th century Scottish Literary Renaissance: Hugh MacDiarmid
8. The significance of Glasgow and Glaswegian on the literary map of Scotland: Tom Leonard and James Kelman
9. Scotland’s 21st century Poet Laureates: Edwin Morgan, Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay and Kathleen Jamie
10. The position of Scotland today after the Scottish Independence Referendum (2014) and the so-called Brexit Referendum of 2016.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
1. Students gain knowledge of the most important events in Scotland’s history, how they influenced the linguistic variety of the country's inhabitants, and how this variety in turn has helped to shape the country’s literature and national awareness.
2. Students become acquainted with the complexities of Scotland's languages and how they are reflected in literary works.
Skills:
1. Students are able to assess the usefulness of various aspects of their acquired knowledge concerning Scotland.
2. Students are able to analyse and define different reseach methods, conduct their own research and formulate nencountered problems.
Social competences:
1. Students are aware of the social significance of their knowledge and skills.
2. Students understand the ethical dimension of their activities and follow ethical principles.
During class discussions students acquire the skill of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, phonetically and lexically.
Assessment criteria
Students are assessed on the basis of regular and active attendance in class (a max. of 3 absences are allowed) and a final written examination.
Bibliography
Bold, Alan (1989) Scotland: A Literary Guide, London & New York: Routledge.
Corbett, John (1997) Language & Scottish Literature, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Corbett, John (1999) Written in the Language of the Scottish Nation. A History of Literary Translation into Scots, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Goring, Rosemary (ed.) (1992) Chambers Scottish Biographical Dictionary, Edinburgh & New York: Chambers.
MacQueen, John & Winnifred (ed.) (1972) A Choice of Scottish Verse 1470-1570, London: Faber & Faber.
McClure, J. Derrick (1995) Scots and Its Literature, Varieties of English around the World, Vol. 14, Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamin’s Publishing Company.
Korzeniowska, Aniela (2008) Translating Scotland. Nation and Identity, Warsaw: University of Warsaw.
Stalmaszczyk, Piotr (2005) Celtic Presence. Studies in Celtic Languages and Literatures: Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish, Łódź: Łódź University Press.
Wallace, G. & R. Stevenson (eds) (1994) The Scottish Novel since the Seventies, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Watson, Roderick (ed.) (1995) The Poetry of Scotland. Gaelic, Scots and English, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: