Digital Commons Network^™

The Ghost Of John Nisbet: Hugh Macdiarmid’S First Published Work, Alan Riach

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the first published item, a short play, signed with the name 'Hugh M'acDiamid', and sets in its biographical and historical context just after the First World War and in the literary context of 1922 and international modernism, in 1922, viewing it as 'an encapsulation of its moment, and most importantly as an elegiac tribute to a friend,' arguing that 'Performing "Nisbet" as a play intimates the drama of fractured modernist selfhood implicit in the written text,' and concluding that it should be seen 'in the whole national context of Scotland finding a way towards a reconstruction of itself, a …

‘To “Meddle Wi’ The Thistle”’: C. M. Grieve’S Scottish Chapbook, The Little Magazine, And The Dilemmas Of Scottish Modernism, Scott Lyall

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines C. M. Grieve’s (Hugh MacDiarmid’s) most important journal enterprise, The Scottish Chapbook, which critics have assumed marks the beginning of a modernist Scottish renaissance. Against this view, this article argues that the range of contributions to the Chapbook were generally not modernist in their formal characteristics, many recalling the Victorian or fin-de-siècle periods. While the Chapbook’s brief lifespan (1922–23) was typical for modernist little magazines, the dilemmas encountered by Grieve’s periodical – restricted finances, lack of avant-garde contributors – are explained here as a side-effect of ‘localist modernism’, a concept defined by Eric B. White.

Chitterin’ Lichts: Text And Intertext In Sangschaw And Penny Wheep, Patrick Crotty

Studies in Scottish Literature

The essay takes a new look at an old subject, the role of dictionaries in Hugh MacDiarmid’s so-called ‘early lyrics’. While demonstrating that the poet’s exploration of the lexicographical remains of Scots was more thorough-going and systematic than previous accounts have suggested, it positions his recourse to dictionaries in the intertextual habit that links the lyrics both to the English sonnets and prose sketches of the young Christopher Grieve and the encyclopaedic long poems to which MacDiarmid turned after abandoning Scots in the 1930s. The article attends in particular to the wide-angle allusiveness of Sangschaw and Penny Wheep, arguing that …

Linguistic Islands: Archipelagic Perspectives In Hugh Macdiarmid’S ‘Vision Of World Language’, Fiona Paterson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the impact of an archipelagic perspective upon Hugh MacDiarmid’s ‘vision of world language’ as set forth in the 1955 poem In Memoriam James Joyce. Informed by his travels to Scottish islands, documented in The Islands of Scotland (1939), and his engagements with Norn in Shetland, MacDiarmid’s vision is both expansive and particular, characterised by its decentralised plurality, and driven by an attempt to capture both simultaneity and progressivism.

‘No Further From The “Centre Of Things”’: Peripheral Citation In Hugh Macdiarmid’S In Memoriam James Joyce, James Benstead

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines Hugh MacDiarmid’s “citational poetics” – that is, his practice of selecting material from a wide range of pre-existing texts, before transforming that material and then combining it in his own work, often without attribution – and shows how reading MacDiarmid’s long 1955 poem In Memoriam James Joyce with reference to this practice places that text within the lineage of “provincial modernism” identified by Robert Crawford.

Provincialising Macdiarmid: Decolonisation And Scottish Literary History, Alex Thomson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the development of MacDiarmid's aesthetic and political views, in light of decolonial theory and criticism, as showing the 'inexorable and exigent doubling of Scotland with Empire', arguing that though MacDiarmid has been central to the construction of a postcolonial Scottish literary history, free from historical anxiety, a decolonial approach unsettles the narrative of Scotttish exceptionalism and challenges the political romanticism associated with the aesthetic construction of the national, endorsed by MacDiarmid and continued by recent cultural and literary histories [Ed.] .

The Real Christopher: Sleights Of Text And Mind Behind The Persona Of Hugh Macdiarmid, Alexander Linklater

Studies in Scottish Literature

Argues that it was the persona of Hugh MacDiarmid, as much as his poetry, which brought about the Scottish Literary Renaissance of the 1920s, but that behind the extravagant personality lay an obscure biographical puzzle. Christopher Murray Grieve possessed little personal resemblance to his pseudonymous self and even less interest in what motivated him to create such an antagonist. In this essay, the author of a new life of MacDiarmid explores how the dominant figure of 20th century Scottish literature composed himself out of found texts, psychological misdirection and confected autobiography.

Introduction: Denis Saurat On ‘“The Scottish Renaissance” Group’, Scott Lyall

Studies in Scottish Literature

Provides the biographical context and publication history for Denis Saurat’s essay ‘Le groupe de “la Renaissance Écossaise”’, which included Saurat’s French translation of some MacDiarmid poems, describes the essay’s importance in the history of the Scottish Literary Renaissance, explains some shortcomings in Saurat’s perspectives on the ‘renaissance’ and MacDiarmid’s work.

Denis Saurat’S ‘The Scottish Renaissance Group’ / ‘Le Groupe De “La Renaissance Écossaise”’: An English Translation, Paul Malgrati

Studies in Scottish Literature

Presents an annotated translation of Denis Saurat's 'Le Groupe de la Renaissance Écossaise' (1924), a seminal piece in the history of Scottish modernism, hitherto inaccessible in English, that introduced the works of both Christopher Murray Grieve and Hugh MacDiarmid (considered as two different entities) to the international literary scene.

Notes On Contributors

Studies in Scottish Literature

Brief biographical notes on contributors to Hugh MacDiarmid at 100 (SSL 49.1)

Book Review: I Must Betray You, Rebekah Crawley

The Utah English Journal

Anyone planning to read one of Ruta Sepetys’ historical fiction novels should prepare to have their eyes open to some of the world’s most hushed atrocities. From buried genocides to kidnapped babies, her stories will have you googling the veracity of her words. I Must Betray You is no different. Set in 1989 Romania, this historical fiction will have you captivated by the story of 17-year-old Cristian Florescu as he navigates life under a communist regime.

Book Review: The Life And Crimes Of Hoodie Rosen, Megan Colson

The Utah English Journal

Yehuda Rosen, also known as Hoodie, is a practicing Orthodox Jewish boy living in a new town called Tregaron. His father and others are trying to grow the Jewish community to the dismay of the mayor and other locals. Hoodie doesn’t see this as his problem though, especially after meeting and falling for Anna- Maria Diaz O’Leary, the daughter of the mayor who is trying to keep the Jewish community from moving in.

Book Review: Maizy Chen’S Last Chance, Ashley Hauber

The Utah English Journal

In Lisa Yee’s latest novel, Maizy Chen’s Last Chance, eleven year old Maizy joins her mom for a summer helping at her grandparents’ Chinese restaurant in the tiny little town of Last Chance, Minnesota. While Grandma and Mom run the restaurant, Maizy keeps Grandpa company as he tends to his health and regales her with thrilling stories of their ancestors’ journey from China to a new life in America. When a racist note attempts to blackmail the family restaurant, Maizy leans on the strength and resilience she’s learned from her grandpa’s stories to speak up and fight back against the …

A Lens Shift To Encourage Student Voice In Writing, Camille P. Stewart

The Utah English Journal

The sentence starters I worked so hard to spiral into the year’s curriculum became more than a scaffold– they were a permanent fixture. It was March, and my struggling writers were asking, “What sentence starter comes next?” without understanding why the transition worked. Their writing was organized, but lacked voice and intentionality. Students should know they control and choose their writing, so I decided to give students a new way to see their work and adapt the sentence starters they already knew. To do this, I looked for an allegory that students could connect to while planning their writing.

Adding Diversity Into Your Curriculum: A Three-Step Process With Examples, Lisa Jones

The Utah English Journal

Walking around my classroom library, I noticed a recurring theme among the books: White characters and White authors. While this technically reflected the demographic of my predominantly White community, it did not provide enough representation for my BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Color) students. Rudine Sims Bishop (1990) compares literature to windows (where readers see a different life experience than their own) and mirrors (where readers see themselves and their potential); she warns, “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read… they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of …

Richard Iii, The Tudor Myth, And The Transition From Feudalism To Capitalism, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Over the last 10 years or so there has been a resurgence of interest in the English king Richard III, especially after his remains are found in 2012 after being lost or missing for centuries. Prior to this, there are many publications, reports, and documentaries alluding to a “smear” campaign being conducted against the king by either the Tudor monarchs who succeeded him and/or by their confederates and surrogates. It is alleged that this is done in order to promote and make the Tudor dynasty of the 16^th Century (Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I) appear …

Book Review: Ruin And Resilience: Southern Literature And The Environment, Kevin J. Reagan

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Macdiarmid The Spaceman: Extraterrestrial Space In Hugh Macdiarmid’S Poetry From Sangschaw To A Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle, Michael H. Whitworth

Studies in Scottish Literature

Looking at Hugh MacDiarmid’s Sangschaw (1925), Penny Wheep (1926), and A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926), this article considers MacDiarmid’s use of science, particularly astronomy, in the 1920s. It traces known and possible sources for his scientific knowledge in books and periodicals, especially The New Age. It examines the image of light travelling through space, found in popular astronomy works by Felix Eberty and Camille Flammarion. It also compares his conception of the earth as a moving object in space with that found in poems by Thomas Hardy.

Trauma, Recovery, And Adolescent Relationships In Stephen Chbosky’S The Perks Of Being A Wallflower: An In-Depth Analysis, Rachel Rosen

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

The development of adolescent identity after traumatic experiences is a fragile process. In this essay, I use Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) to explore how adolescent relationships influence the path to recovery after traumatic experiences. After losing both his friend and aunt, Charlie, the novel’s protagonist, begins to write letters, which form the basis of the book. Recounting his journey to recovery, these letters ultimately reveal that Charlie’s aunt molested him when he was a child—a memory that he represses for years. Despite the importance of writing as a way for Charlie to cope with this …

Antisemitism & Vampires: The Surprising Roots Of A Popular Cultural Monster, Hannah Ross

English

This essay was for Justin Shaw’s fall 2023 English major capstone class. The essay examines antisemitism and vampires, specifically Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, John Polidori’s short story The Vampyre; A Tale, and the episode “Monster Movie” from the TV show Supernatural through the lens of antisemitic stereotypes. By looking at the literary history of the vampire one can trace its physical antisemitic stereotypes and the influence of fear of the “other” with reverse-colonization by Jews. Starting with historically classic 19th century texts and ending with a modern day television show, it is evident that the antisemitic physical stereotypes …

Who’S Afraid Of Anne Frank? Or Why White Supremacists Should Fear This Book, Laura S. Brown

Journal of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

No abstract provided.

Ghostlight, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Ghostlight (2024), directed by Kelly O'Sullivan.

Death, Dreaming, And Diaspora: Achieving Orientation Through Afro-Spirituality, Liz Johnston, Jaime Elizabeth Johnston

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Enslavement, colonization, and the systems that uphold racial injustice were and still are a series of new, unfathomable, and challenging experiences that prompt individuals within the diaspora to seek orientation. How does a human cope with centuries of attempts at the systematic destruction of their humanity, culture, and identity? How can they reclaim that identity, especially when so much of it seems lost? I address these questions by utilizing texts from the expansive body of work regarding ethnographic-historical-religious studies on Afro-spiritual practices to better analyze instances in literature in the ongoing practice of diasporic orientation. In this project, I argue …

Catastrophe Of War, Sujit Kumar Singh, Ayushi Jaiswal

Critical Humanities

The paper selects the novel Palpasa Café (2005) by Nepali author Narayan Wagle to highlight the factors that contributed to the Maoist insurgency and counter-insurgency that punctured the Nepali consciousness. It will also critique Eurocentric trauma theory for diminishing the South Asian perspectives of trauma (incidents) from the main discourse of trauma theory. In addition, the paper will explore the detrimental impacts of war and conflict as experienced by Nepalese cops and civilians together, and its long-lasting imprint on their psyche as manifested in different forms of trauma in the text. The dissemination of the 'inarticulable trauma' concept into something …

“This Wonderful Machine”: How Should We Teach Humanities Texts Like Gulliver’S Travels In The Time Of Chatgpt?, Richard J. Haslam

Critical Humanities

The quoted phrase in the essay title comes from a passage in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels in which a Grand Academy of Lagado professor demonstrates a “wonderful Machine” that can generate scores of books “without the least Assistance from Genius or Study.” The essay explore the challenge for teaching classic humanities texts like Gulliver that the (perhaps not so) “wonderful Machine” called ChatGPT poses. Student Owen Terry’s Chronicle essay (May 12, 2023) identifies two crucial aspects of that challenge: “We don’t fully lean into AI and teach how to best use it, and we don’t fully prohibit it to keep …

Full Issue, Keb Editorial Board

Kentucky English Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Vol. 60 No. 3 - Whole No. 406, Megan Abrahamson

Mythprint

Mythprint is the quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. To promote these interests, the Society publishes three magazines, maintains a World Wide Web site, and sponsors the annual Mythopoeic Conference and awards for fiction and scholarship, as well as local discussion groups.

Pedro Mexía And The Politics Of Translation In The Early Modern World, Erin Fairweather, Robert Fritz

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Spanish humanist Pedro Mexía (1497-1551) wrote two highly influential texts in the sixteenth century, the Silva de varia lección (1540) and the Historia imperial y cesárea (1545), which were, notably, written in Spanish, a vernacular language, as opposed to Latin, the academic language of the age. As these books presented previously inaccessible scientific and historical knowledge to the common person, they were soon translated into several languages, achieving widespread fame and influence. However, the texts have been mostly forgotten and have seen little study in recent times. Nevertheless, the Silva and the Historia can help us better understand the politics …

Vol. 60 No. 4 - Whole No. 407, Megan Abrahamson

Mythprint

Mythprint is the quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. To promote these interests, the Society publishes three magazines, maintains a World Wide Web site, and sponsors the annual Mythopoeic Conference and awards for fiction and scholarship, as well as local discussion groups.

Face Of War: A Collective Narrative Podcast -Season 2 Episode 2: From The Woman Veteran's Point Of View, Part 2, Barbara K. Robins, Jessie Stewart

English Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

This podcast series reflects how war impacts all of us by listening to the different perspectives of those that have lived it, understanding how the media shapes our views of war, understanding our own feelings, and learning life skills for managing stress, fear, and anxiety. Our goal is to educate, remind you that you aren’t alone, and give you tools to navigate living and watching war.

Part Two – Being female and navigating the perceptions of others while in the military during deployment and the return home.

The Face of War is a podcast series including interviews and discussions with …