Review: Scottish Culture after Devolution

Abstract

These two first books by young scholars raise questions about the study of Scottish literature and culture after devolution. Both books seek to invent ambitious new paradigms; both warn against what they call 'ethnocentric* (Gardiner) or 'essentialist (Bell) accounts of Scottish national identity; both draw on post-colonial theory Bell also draws on sociological accounts of postmodernity. But beneath the jargon of novelty, both authors are basically committed to reconciling cultural nationalism with a cautious liberal pluralism. The interest of the books stems in part from their successes in doing so, and in part from their failures. There are three engaging problems here.