Walter Scott and modernity
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Walter Scott and modernity
Edinburgh University Press, c2007
Available at / 6 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [222]-243) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Walter Scott and Modernity argues that, far from turning away from modernity to indulge a nostalgic vision of the past, Scott uses the past as means of exploring key problems in the modern world. This study includes critical introductions to some of the most widely read poems published in nineteenth-century Britain (which are also the most scandalously neglected), and insights into the narrative strategies and ideological interests of some of Scott's greatest novels. It explores the impact of the French revolution on attitudes to tradition, national heritage, historical change and modernity in the romantic period, considers how the experience of empire influenced ideas about civilized identity, and how ideas of progress could be used both to rationalise the violence of empire and to counteract demands for political reform. It also shows how current issues of debate - from relations between Western and Islamic cultures, to the political significance of the private conscience in a liberal society - are anticipated in the romantic era.
Key Features * Explains the historical, political and aesthetic significance of Scott's 'Tory scepticism' * Considers the relationship between Scott's interests and twentieth-first-century debates about nation, empire, community, identity and state legitimacy * Includes detailed analyses of three of Scott's most influential poems * Offers detailed, and carefully historicised interpretations in an accessible style
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Chapter One. Introduction
- Chapter Two. Towards the Modern Nation: The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley
- Chapter Three. The Condition of England: Ivanhoe and Kenilworth
- Chapter Four. Western Identities and the Orient: Guy Mannering, The Talisman
- Chapter Five. Commerce, civilization, war and the Highlands: Rob Roy, A Legend of the Wars of Montrose
- Chapter Six. Liberal Dilemmas. Scott and Covenanting Tradition: The Tale of Old Mortality, The Heart of Mid-Lothian
- Chapter Seven. Liberal Dilemmas. Liberty or alienation? The Bride of Lammermoor, Redgauntlet
- Chapter Eight. Postscript
- Bibliography.
by "Nielsen BookData"