Cultural capital in an understated nation: the case of Scotland

Abstract

The concept of cultural capital is rarely used to explore specifically national cultural formations. This paper explores how Scotland, with its distinctive national identity, yet its constitutionally subordinate position within the UK offers an interesting case to explore the relationship between nationality and cultural capital. It examines how the concept can be used to unpick collective national identities, and how devolution might have changed its relationship to matters of identity and culture. It is especially concerned to show how Scotland's position within the UK leads to a form of cultural formation caught between two contradictory assumptions: that Scotland is 'culture-lite'--insufficiently different from the rest of the UK in terms of cultural markers such as language religion etc to be 'national'; and on the other hand that Scotland is 'culture-heavy' in so far as its cultural iconography is so hegemonic and distorted that it generates deformed narratives and discourses.