WiSe 22/23: HS-Literature and Media: Mediating Scotland
Cordula Lemke
Comments
Today's image of Scotland is still dominated by the myth of peaty and moss-covered Highlands and their tartan-wearing hospitable inhabitants who entertain weary travellers with tales of ghosts and murderers. These apparently authentic traditions can often be traced back to the need to invent a Scottish national identity in the 18th and 19th century. Not only have these inventions found their way into the novels of the time, but writers like Robert Burns, Walter Scott, James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson can indeed be seen as the source of this mythical image of Scotland. In this seminar we will look at the myths these writers employ and construct, at how these inventions affect the image of the Scottish nation.
Texts:
Walter Scott, Waverley
James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
close16 Class schedule
Regular appointments