Unstated: Writers on Scottish Independence

Citation

Hames S (ed.) (2012) Unstated: Writers on Scottish Independence. Edinburgh: Word Power. http://www.word-power.co.uk/books/unstated-I9780956628398/

Abstract
Over the past three decades, it is commonly argued, Scotland achieved 'a form of cultural autonomy in the absence of its political equivalent' (Murray Pittock) - a transformation led by its novelists, poets and dramatists. Why, then, is the debate over Scottish independence so much less passionate and imaginative than these writers or their politics? We are deluged by facile arguments and factoids designed to 'manage' the Scottish question, or to rig the terrain on which it is contested. Before we get used to the parameters of a bogus debate, there must be room for more honest and nuanced thinking about what 'independence' means in and for Scottish culture. This book sets the question of independence within the more radical horizons which inform the work of 27 writers and activists based in Scotland. Standing adjacent to the official debate, it explores questions tactfully shirked or sub-ducted within the media narrative of the Yes/No campaigns, and opens a space in which the most difficult, most exciting prospects of statehood can be freely stated.

Keywords
Scottish literature; Scottish nationalism; independence; devolution

People

Dr Scott Hames

Senior Lecturer, English Studies