Dear list members,
I fear that my computing limitations may well show up today. The
following message (very interesting and provocative?) was sent to
me in `Mime format' and I do not have the skills to unscramble it if
your e-mail software does not work in this way. So I am sending it
out as it is. I believe that Callum has a 'Word attachment' version,
but I cannot send that to you directly, because the Mailbase
system does not allow this. Sorry!
Best wishes,
Clive Hill
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 10:11:37 +0000
From: Callum Brown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Nationalism and ideas in Scotland
Date sent: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 13:10:12 +0000
From: Callum Brown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: For moderation - Nationalism and ideas in Scotland
To: [log in to unmask]
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--Boundary_(ID_7vBssXh7hcTV0tnl6fK3Tw)
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Dear List,
There are entire university courses in Scotland now on Scottish ident=
ity and nationalism, and the reading is vast. It varies enormously in=
approach and in quality. It might be a surprise to non-Scottish hist=
orians and academics just how disjoined Scottish historical studies h=
ave become from not just English or British agendas, but from the his=
torical profession's direction generally in the last 10 to 15 years. =
A lot of Scottish historical scholarship has become single-issue driv=
en - that of national identity, how it was upheld, where it has been =
previously undetected, and what it has done to create this revitalise=
d nation with its own spinning machine (sorry, Parliament).
=20
Much of the scholarship is driven by complex nationalist agendas unde=
rpinned by myths on Scottish civic society and identity - the myth of=
the 'lad o' pairts', the myth of 'the democratic intellect', the myt=
h of an historically egalitarian society (a myth enjoying something o=
f a renaissance recently), and the myth of the proto-socialism of Sco=
ttish clerics and philosophes of the 18th and early 19th centuries. T=
hese myths have been leading in the last 15 years onto nationalist re=
-interpretations of Scottish historical events. A good one is that th=
e Disruption of 1843 (the schism of the Church of Scotland that creat=
ed the Free Church) was a 'nationalist revolt' - for which see Willia=
m Storrar's book, Scottish Identity: A Christian Vision, which is rub=
bished by me in Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707, and in a=
chapter in Ingmar Brohed (ed), Church and People in Britain and Scan=
dinavia (Lund, 1996).=20
=20
The role of putatively 'distinctively Scottish' (trans.: 'non-English=
') ideas is now central to Scottish historical studies. The myths abo=
ve are now deeply embedded in the psyche of many Scottish historians =
(though not all, for there are still some who question the assumption=
s). The egalitarian myth, for instance, is now being widely dissemina=
ted in newspaper articles and the media in an attempt to show that Sc=
ottish society was more welcoming of 'outsiders' (principally Irish C=
atholics) in the 18th and 19th centuries than previous research postu=
lated. To any mildly 'turned' historian, of course, this shows more a=
bout the historians and the contemporary Scottish discursive domain t=
han about the 'past'. Ideas of a 'democratic society' are being used =
as the basis for intellectualising why Scottish nationalism (small an=
d capital 'n') has emerged since the 1960s, and those ideas are being=
'sourced' in a past undergoing massive reconstruction. Indeed, Scotl=
and's past is being reconstituted.=20
=20
One consequence of this is the demonisation of people, events and thi=
ngs of the past which embarress or contradict the new metanarrative. =
Leading amongst these is Scotland's Kailyard literature of 1885-1914 =
(principally the novels of J.M. Barrie, S. Crocket and Iain Maclaren)=
. These writers become panned for appealing to English audiences, whi=
lst ecumenical-minded Scottish presbyterians blame the English for ch=
urch schism in Scotland (see a recent correspondence in The Herald ne=
wspaper). Another effect is for things like the Scottish Labour Movem=
ent, and especially 'Red Clydeside (whether myth or 'reality'), to be=
come scooped up in 'the egalitarian society' myth. The new agenda swe=
eps across all fields, litmus-testing them against the myths, and pig=
eon-holing them appropriately.
=20
--Boundary_(ID_7vBssXh7hcTV0tnl6fK3Tw)
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Dear List,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>There are entire university courses in
Scotland
now on Scottish identity and nationalism, and the reading is vast. It varies
enormously in approach and in quality. It might be a surprise to
non-Scottish
historians and academics just how disjoined Scottish historical studies have
become from not just English or British agendas, but from the historical
profession's direction generally in the last 10 to 15 years. A lot of
Scottish
historical scholarship has become single-issue driven - that of national
identity, how it was upheld, where it has been previously undetected, and
what
it has done to create this revitalised nation with its own spinning machine
(sorry, Parliament).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Much of the scholarship is driven by complex
nationalist agendas underpinned by myths on Scottish civic society and
identity
- the myth of the 'lad o' pairts', the myth of 'the democratic intellect',
the
myth of an historically egalitarian society (a myth enjoying something of a
renaissance recently), and the myth of the proto-socialism of Scottish
clerics
and philosophes of the 18th and early 19th centuries. These myths have been
leading in the last 15 years onto nationalist re-interpretations of Scottish
historical events. A good one is that the Disruption of 1843 (the schism of
the
Church of Scotland that created the Free Church) was a 'nationalist
revolt' -
for which see William Storrar's book, <STRONG><EM>Scottish Identity: A
Christian
Vision</EM></STRONG>, which is rubbished by me in <STRONG><EM>Religion and
Society in Scotland since 1707</EM></STRONG>, and in a chapter in Ingmar
Brohed
(ed), <STRONG><EM>Church and People in Britain and Scandinavia
</EM></STRONG>(Lund, 1996). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The role of putatively 'distinctively
Scottish'
(trans.: 'non-English') ideas is now central to Scottish historical studies.
The
myths above are now deeply embedded in the psyche of many Scottish
historians
(though not all, for there are still some who question the assumptions). The
egalitarian myth, for instance, is now being widely disseminated in
newspaper
articles and the media in an attempt to show that Scottish society was more
welcoming of 'outsiders' (principally Irish Catholics) in the 18th and 19th
centuries than previous research postulated. To any mildly 'turned'
historian,
of course, this shows more about the historians and the contemporary
Scottish
discursive domain than about the 'past'. Ideas of a 'democratic society' are
being used as the basis for intellectualising why Scottish nationalism
(small
and capital 'n') has emerged since the 1960s, and those ideas are being
'sourced' in a past undergoing massive reconstruction. Indeed, Scotland's
past
is being reconstituted. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>One consequence of this is the demonisation of people,
events
and things of the past which embarress or contradict the new metanarrative.
Leading amongst these is Scotland's Kailyard literature of 1885-1914
(principally the novels of J.M. Barrie, S. Crocket and Iain Maclaren). These
writers become panned for appealing to English audiences, whilst
ecumenical-minded Scottish presbyterians blame the English for church schism
in
Scotland (see a recent correspondence in <STRONG><EM>The
Herald</EM></STRONG>
newspaper). Another effect is for things like the Scottish Labour Movement,
and
especially 'Red Clydeside (whether myth or 'reality'), to become scooped up
in
'the egalitarian society' myth. The new agenda sweeps across all fields,
litmus-testing them against the myths, and pigeon-holing them
appropriately.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The 'outsider' interested in what is going
on in
Scottish academe is in a difficult position, I believe. For the mildly
liberal
to the wildly radical historian/intellectual, there is a tendancy to admire
the
ideas of the Scottish 'past' and their 'rediscovery'. Social democracy = a
good
thing, let's all admire the Scots, their Enlightenment (oh yes, England
never
had one), their ideas generators (Adam Smith, David Hume, et al), and even
their
clerics (presbyterianism was 'democratic', after all, wasn't it?).
Devolution
and assertion of national identity are good things, let's applaud our
brethren
in the north for bucking Thatcher, poll tax, Blair --- 'The Scots are a
model to
us all' approach. Equally, North American scholars are attracted to Scotland
in
large numbers, tracing <STRONG><EM>their </EM></STRONG>society's myths to
Scottish origins in the Enlightenment and Scottish institutions. American
non-scholars are also attracted, including the Christian Moral Majority
(some of
whom have reputedly fixed on north-west Highland presbyterianism as a
source model), and survivalists and anti-federalists (who fancy they see in
'Braveheart' an ideal devolved society of machismo home-rule and a manifesto
for
all sorts of nasty 'purity').</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I tried to draw an analogy to the 'Scottish myth' system
in a
book on the 'Viking myth' system in <STRONG><EM>Up-helly-aa: Custom, Culture
and
Community in Shetland</EM></STRONG>. Shetland constructed its own
metanarrative
from the 1880s onwards based on its mediaeval Norse past, embedding it in
the
annual fire festival which is today the most spectacular in Europe. When I
say
'Shetland constructed', I mean some Shetlanders, including 'intellectuals',
who
had an enormous effect on school and local history books, cultural
activities,
architecture and literary revival. They reconstituted Shetland's past, and
disseminated it within the society. But behind the myth, I suggested, there
are
other 'reasons' for cultural disctinctiveness - reasons other than national
difference. Shetland on a small scale shows something (though not
everything) of
what is happening on a larger scale <STRONG><EM>in </EM></STRONG>Scotland
and
outsiders views <STRONG><EM>of </EM></STRONG>Scotland.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The starting point for the outsider, I would
urge, is 'turning' on the process of historical scholarship in Scotland.
What
are the new discourses? What is the manner of their circulation? What
'ideas'
are being enveloped within them? Who is benefiting from the discursive power
being generated? The 'past' has become a new fixed 'reality' in so much of
historical research in Scotland when the rest of the profession has been
debating the instabilities of meaning. Scotland has hit its modernism,
constructing a new metanarrative, just when most other places are ditching
metanarratives or grappling with their problematisation. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Nationalism is thus very powerful when it
infects the scholars' agenda. It makes the study of nationalism a difficult
exercise when it is <STRONG><EM>itself </EM></STRONG>a discursive domain of
nationalism. So, by all means read in recent Scottish work on ideas and
nationalism. Try Christopher Harvie's <STRONG><EM>Scotland and
Nationalism</EM></STRONG>, or David McCrone's <STRONG><EM>Understanding
Scotland: The Sociology of A Stateless Nation</EM></STRONG>. But play 'spot
the
birth of the metanarrative' in them before accepting Scotland's 'new
past'
or its 'distinctive ideas' as a concrete 'reality'.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Callum
Brown </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
--Boundary_(ID_7vBssXh7hcTV0tnl6fK3Tw)--
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