Walter Scott And Modernity

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

A bestselling author in his own time and long after, Sir Walter Scott was not only a writer of thrilling tales of romance and adventure but also an insightful historical thinker and literary craftsman. Over the last two decades, scholars have come to see him as an important figure in Romantic-period literature, Scottish literature and the development of the historical novel. Walter Scott and Contemporary Theory builds on this renewed appreciation of Scott's importance by viewing his most significant novels - from Waverley and Rob Royto Ivanhoe,Redgauntlet, and beyond - through the lens of contemporary critical theory. By juxtaposing pairings of Scott's early and later novels with major contemporary theoretical concepts and the work of such thinkers as Alain Badiou, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida and Slavoj Žižek, this book uses theory to illuminate the complexities of Scott's fictions, while simultaneously using Scott's fictions to explain and explore the state of contemporary theory.

Ivanhoe follows Wilfred of Ivanhoe, part of one of the few Saxon families at a time when English nobility was dominated by the Normans, who is out of favour with his father for his allegiance to the Norman king, Richard the Lionheart. The gripping storyline beautifully captures the 12th century tensions between Saxons and Normans, Nobility and Commonality and Jews and Gentiles, with a whole host of well-known characters from Robin Hood to Friar Tuck. REVIEWS: A curious exemplification of the power of a single book for good or harm is shown in the effects wrought by Don Quixote and those wrought by Ivanhoe. The first swept the world's admiration for the meiaeval chivalry-silliness out of existence; and the other restored it. MARK TWAIN[Ivanhoe] may have been badly wounded in combat - only to recover and save the day - but he has never been sliced up like this. SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY This is exactly what is needed in order to rescue Sir Walter Scott. ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH. I applaud this new, shorter version of Ivanhoe which makes this wonderful novel, once so popular, accessible to a new generation of readers who will be able to enjoy its classic blend of history and romance. PROFESSOR GRAHAM TULLOCH, Editor of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley novels Professor David Purdie's meticulous adaption has made Sir Walter Scott's classic much more accessible to the modern reader... Purdie has managed to conserve Scott's masterly evocation of the 'sights, colours and sounds' of the Middle Ages. EDINBURGH LIFEBACK COVER: Fight on, brave knights. Man dies, but glory lives! A mediaeval tale of political intrigue, tumultuous romance, family machinations and a country's struggle for peace, Ivanhoe is one of Sir Walter Scott's finest historical novels. Banished from his father's court, Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns from Richard Lionheart's Crusades to claim love, justice and glory. Tyrannical Norman knights, indolent Saxon nobles and the usurper Prince John stand in his way. A saga of tournaments and melees, chivalry and love, nobility and merry men, Ivanhoe's own quest soon becomes a battle for the English throne itself... David Purdie's inspired reworking of Ivanhoe's complex characters, romance and high drama is an engrossing page-turner. His armour polished, his sword and dialogue sharp, Ivanhoe re-emerges alive for the modern age.

Studiul aduce o lumină nouă asupra operei lui Walter Scott, arătând relevanța ei în contextul contemporan. Combinând într-o abordare neo-formalistă teoriile lui Hayden White, Bogdan Ștefănescu și Mikhail Bakhtin, volumul de față demonstrează modul în care alteritatea, în ficțiunea lui Scott, aduce remediile necesare societății, dacă societatea permite existența alterității alături de ea, fără încercarea de a-i șterge diferențele. Importante sunt momentele de suspendare temporară a codurilor culturale, în stilul conservator al parodiei lui Bakhtin, permițând astfel o supapă de evacuare a tensiunilor sociale. Dincolo de jargonul tehnic, cartea pune în fața cititorului pasajele cele mai distractive din opera vastă a lui Scott, precum și un studiu interesant al iluminismului scoțian și al sferei publice care a reușit să încorporeze feedback-ul culturii populare, ajungând la început de secol XIX să exporte modelul său de succes în întreaga lume.

Harry Shaw's aim is to promote a fuller understanding of nineteenth-century historical fiction by revealing its formal possibilities and limitations. His wide-ranging book establishes a typology of the ways in which history was used in prose fiction during the nineteenth century, examining major works by Sir Walter Scott--the first modern historical novelist--and by Balzac, Hugo, Anatole France, Eliot, Thackeray, Dickens, and Tolstoy.

At 250, Walter Scott points toward our possible futures. Scott, although we necessarily look on his times as past, of course experienced them as present. His times were times of crisis. Scott, then, has much to share in the experience, narration, anticipation and response to change as a condition of life - a condition our era, with its existential challenges to climate, to public health, to civilization knows only too well. In Scott at 250, major scholars foreground the author as theorist of tomorrow - as the surveyor of the complexities of the present who also gazes, as we do, toward an anxious and hopeful future.

It seemed like a dream to Waverley that these deeds of violence should be familiar to men's minds and currently talked of as happening daily in the immediate neighbourhood, without his having crossed the seas. Scotland, 1745: Edward Waverley is a naïve English soldier drawn into the heart of the Jacobite rebellion. Charmed by clan leader Fergus MacIvor and his sister Flora, he allies himself with the Jacobite cause - a bold and dangerous move. He finds himself caught between two women - feisty Flora and demure Rose - proving that love can be just as powerful as politics. First published in 1814, Waverley is widely regarded as the first historical novel in the western tradition. This new edition celebrates the 200th anniversary of its publication, and has been expertly reworked for modern readers by Jenni Calder. Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones. It is not fair. He has Fame and Profit enough as a Poet, and should not be taking the bread out of other people's mouths. I do not like him, and do not mean to like Waverley if I can help it - but fear I must. JANE AUSTEN The best book by Sir Walter Scott. GOETHE One of the things I have always admired about him is that he goes for the big picture. He deals with society at moments of big change and looks at how those moments of historical change affect individual people. JAMES ROBERTSON