MACMILLAN The Poetics of Space and Place in Scottish Literature (Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies)

This book addresses the poetics of space and place in Scottish literature. Focusing chiefly on twentieth- and twenty-first century texts, with acknowledgement of historical and philosophical contexts, the essays address representation, narrative form, the work of the poetic, perception and experience. Major genres and forms are discussed, and authors as diverse as George Mackay Brown, Kathleen Jamie, Ken McLeod and Kei Miller are presented through theoretically informed, historically contextualized close readings. Additionally considering the role of dialect and region in the poetry and fiction of modern Scotland, the volume argues for an appreciation of the cultural diversity of Scottish writers while highlighting the overarching presence of a connection between self and world, subject and place within Scottish literature. Review “ The Poetics of Space and Place in Scottish Literature assembles a wide range of new and experienced voices to provide original insights into some of the key themes of Scottish literature. The clear commitment to diverse approaches, combined with an elegant structure, results in intriguing juxtapositions: the range of material here, combining multiple genres, periods, and languages, is praiseworthy, and sheds new light on the field. The collection makes a useful contribution to contemporary critical discussions of space and place, and will be important reading for many undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars.” (Timothy Baker, Senior Lecturer in Scottish and Contemporary Literature, University of Aberdeen, UK) About the Author Monika Szuba is Lecturer in English with the University of Gdańsk, Poland. Her research covers twentieth- and twenty-first century Scottish and English poetry and prose, with a particular interest in ecocriticism, informed by the Environmental Humanities. She is the author of Contemporary Scottish Poetry and the Natural World: Burnside, Jamie, Robertson, White (forthcoming). She is co-editor, with Julian Wolfreys, of Reading Victorian Literature: Essays in Honour of J. Hillis Miller (forthcoming). Julian Wolfreys is an independent scholar, UK, and the author or editor of more than forty books, most recently Haunted Selves, Haunting Places in English Literature and Culture: 1800-Present (Palgrave 2018).