Cultures of improvement in Scottish romanticism, 1707-1840 / edited by Alex Benchimol and Gerard Lee McKeever.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Benchimol, Alex, editor.

McKeever, Gerard Lee, editor.

Series:

Enlightenment world ; 32

The enlightenment world ; 32

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Scottish authors--History and criticism.

English literature.

Romanticism--Scotland.

Romanticism.

Scottish literature--History and criticism.

Scottish literature.

Scotland--In literature.

Scotland.

Genre:

Anthologies

Physical Description:

1 online resource (247 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2018.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The first applied research volume in Scottish Romanticism, this collection foregrounds the concept of progress as 'improvement' as a constitutive theme of Scottish writing during the long eighteenth century. It explores improvement as the animating principle behind Scotlands post-1707 project of modernization, a narrative both shaped and reflected in the literary sphere. It represents a vital moment in Romantic studies, as a 'four-nations' interrogation of the British context reaches maturity. Equally, the volume contributes to a central concern in the study of Scottish culture, amplifying a critical synthesis of Romanticism and Enlightenment. The conceptual motif of improvement allows an illumination of the boundaries (and beyond) of conventional notions of Romanticism, tracing its long, evolving imbrication with Enlightenment in Scotland. Exploring the holistic treatment of improvement in Scottish literature, chapter-studies include work on agricultural improvement and processes of commercialization, polite cultural renewal and the cotton trade, an expanding print culture and spirituality in death rituals. Taken as a whole, this amounts to an interdisciplinary re-consideration of the central role of improvement in Scottish cultural history of the long eighteenth century, of interest to a wide range of scholars, reflecting the vitality of the exchange between Enlightenment and Romanticism in Scotland."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

part, I Print, Progress and Politeness

chapter Introduction

Mapping Cultures of Improvement in Scottish Romanticism / Alex Benchimol Gerard Lee McKeever

chapter 1 Andrew Millar’s ‘Good Vouchers’

The Malt Tax Crisis and Trade in Controversy / Adam Budd

chapter 2 Let Scotland Flourish by the Printing of the Word

Commerce, Civic Enlightenment and National Improvement in the Glasgow Advertiser, 1783–1800 / Alex Benchimol

chapter 3 ‘Simplicity, Rightly Understood’

Improvement in the Collaboration of Robert Burns and George Thomson / Gerard Lee McKeever

part, II Literature, Land and Commerce

chapter 4 Thomas Pennant, National Description and the Project of Improvement / Nigel Leask

chapter 5 The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Improvement

David Dale, Robert Owen and New Lanark Cotton / Michael Morris

chapter 6 Pastoral Optimism at Improvement’s Frontier

James Hogg’s Highland Journeys / Alex Deans

chapter 7 ‘Earth and Stone’

Improvement, Entailment and Geographical Futures in the Novel of the 1820s / Penny Fielding

part, III Death, Legacy and Medicine

chapter 8 Reading John Anderson’s Will

Improving Human Nature, Science and Scotland in a Commercial Society / Tom Furniss

chapter 9 Medicine and Improvement in the Scots Magazine; and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany (1804–17) / Megan Coyer

chapter 10 A Death in the Cottage

Spiritual and Economic Improvement in Romantic-Era Scottish Death Narratives / Sarah Sharp

chapter 11 Postscript

Varieties of Cultural Improvement in the Long Eighteenth Century / Gerard Carruthers.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781351056410

1351056417

9781351056427 (electronic book)

1351056425

9781351056403

1351056409

9781351056427

OCLC:

1029231834