Scottish Literary Review

SCOTTISH LITERARY REVIEW is the leading international journal for Scottish literary studies, committed to approaching Scottish literature in an expansive way through exploration of its various social, cultural, historical and philosophical contexts, and of literary forms, both traditional and new. We are interested in comparative work with literatures from beyond Scotland, the interaction of literature with expressive media such as theatre and film, and in encouraging debate on issues of contemporary significance related to Scottish literary studies, so that SLR is both responsive to, and creative of, new readings and approaches. The journal is listed in the MLA International Bibliography and from 2013 onwards is accessible online via Project MUSE.

Editor’s Introduction

This issue of Scottish Literary Review features a very welcome treatment of Thomas Hudson, artist-courtier in the circle of James VI. Sergi Mainer’s ‘Translation, Power and Gender in Thomas Hudson’s Historie of Judith’ is an exploration of both gender and the European context in late sixteenth-century Scotland. It might be noted that medieval and early modern submissions to SLR are not plentiful. While this editor finds the situation regrettable and would be very pleased to receive more essays in these areas, it may be that the balance of ‘Scottish Literature’ now lies firmly in the post-1700 period, with earlier Scottish culture seen — to some extent at least — as part of more generic European and British Medieval and Early Modern Studies. In the post-1700 period, this issue features Sandro Jung’s ‘James Morison, Book Illustration and The Poems of Robert Burns (1812)’, which exemplifies not only path-breaking attention to a notable though still too little-known Perth publishing house, but also the way in which Gérard Genette’s concept of the ‘paratext’ is now increasingly being adopted in Scottish book studies. David Gray’s treatment of Thomas Beggs’s poem, Rathlin (1820) continues a ‘trend’ of recent years in SLR by paying close attention to ‘Ulster-Scots’ literature. Richard Lansdown adds a chapter to the criticism of James Kelman, a body of work that is now so extensive as to require from someone in the near future hopefully, a proper bibliography. Sila Şenlen Güvenç’s consideration of David Greig’s play, Dunsinane (2010) shows that scholars (and texts, arguably) remain as engaged as ever in the early twenty-first century with issues of Scottish national identity. Our ‘Shorter Essays and Notes’ section features Mark McLean’s ‘“Two Syllables Only”: Hailes, Mallet and Scottish literary anxiety in the age of Enlightenment’ which revisits a perennial favourite in Scottish literary studies: the cultural outlook of the Scottish Enlightenment. The journal also carries Derrick McClure’s obituary for — and fine tribute to — the late and very much lamented Thomas Crawford (1920–2014).

World Congress of Scottish Literatures and IASSL

The first World Congress of Scottish Literatures, believed to be the largest conference on Scottish Literature ever held, was born of a discussion between Ian Brown, Gerry Carruthers and Murray Pittock at Maynooth in 2010. It was convened by Professor Murray Pittock and Dr Rhona Brown, and took place at the University of Glasgow on 2–5 July 2014, supported by a Congress committee, an international advisory panel, and partner institutions and sponsors including Charles University, Prague, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, UC Berkeley, Guelph, Otago, the Robert Burns World Federation, the Scottish Historical Review Trust, Studies in Scottish Literature, The Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society, the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures, and the Association for Scottish Literary Studies. The event welcomed almost 250 delegates from all across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australasia from Brazil to Taiwan and featured panels on Scottish literatures from all periods. Despite the large number of delegates, the Congress was massively oversubscribed, with a waiting list of almost one hundred at the first Call For Papers. It was opened by Professor Murray Pittock (Vice-Principal and Head of GU’s College of Arts), Sir Kenneth Calman (GU Chancellor) and Michael Russell, MSP (Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning), and featured keynote lectures by novelist James Robertson, Professor Ann Rigney...