The University Press of Kentucky has just released Mary Ellen Brown's
William Motherwell's Cultural Politics. See
http://www.uky.edu/UniversityPress/books/motherwell.html
William Motherwell (l979-1835) journalist, poet, man-of-letters, wit, civil
servant, and outspoken conservative participated in a loose-knit movement
that might be designated cultural nationalism. Interested in preserving
relics of the past that suggested a distinctly Scottish culture and
nation, he was adamantly against changes he saw as eroding Scottish
identity.
Motherwell worked out his ideological stance in a variety of contexts: he
founded the Paisley Magazine, collaborated with James Hogg on a collection
of the works of Burns, edited the Glasgow Couriera leading Tory newspaper,
served as Sheriff Clerk Depute of Renfrewshire, wrote poetry and essays
for the expanding periodical press, and edited and collected vernacular
literature. His l827 edition of ballads, Minstrelsy: Ancient and Modern,
offered views on authenticity, editorial practice, the nature of oral
transmission, and the importance of performance which anticipated much
later scholarly discourse.
W.F.H. Nicolaisen says the study is "a must for all ballad scholars. The
depth, height, and breadth of this study comes as a real eye-opener. This
is ballad scholarship at its best."
Price $39.95, plus postage.
Luisa Del Giudice, Director
I.O.H.I.
Italian Oral History Institute
P.O. Box 241553
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1553
Tel: (310) 474-1698
Fax: (310) 474-3188
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.iohi.org
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