CFP: Writings from Scotland before the Union

Saturday, April 22nd, 2017

The Centre for Scottish Culture, University of Dundee

Keynote Speaker: Dr Sarah Dunnigan (University of Edinburgh)

With Scottish national identity playing a key role in the political landscape of the British Isles, notions of “Scottishness” are now under scrutiny like never before. The culture of Scotland before the Act of Union of 1707 and how Scotland represented herself in literary terms, however, is often overlooked in these arguments. Hosted by the Centre for Scottish Culture, Writings from Scotland Before the Union is a one-day conference that will examine the literary culture of Scotland prior to the Act of Union of 1707, with the objective of gaining a clearer, more rounded understanding of how Scotland saw herself in literary terms before formal Union. We extend a call for papers of twenty minutes in length, summarised in an abstract of no more than 250 words, topics for roundtable discussions or panels of no more than three speakers on the following (though not limited to) areas:

• Pre-“Written Culture” writings.
• Day-to-day or ephemeral writings.
• Politics and propaganda.
• Scotland and the wider world.
• The written languages of Scotland before the Union.
• Scotland’s written engagement with other parts of the British Isles.
• The influence of pre-union Scottish writings on subsequent works.