Semi-colonial Marginalisation Narratives in Scottish Language Planning and Literature
Keywords:
Scotland; postcolonialism; semi-colonial; literature; language planningAbstract
Scotland’s coloniality remains a topic of scholarly debate. I advocate a semi-colonial approach to Scotland in the context of its institutional, literary and linguistic output prior and immediately following the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence (indyref). This heuristic can unpick narratives of marginality surrounding the country’s responses to devolved powers and the legacy of its involvement with empire. Firstly, language practice, policies, and planning in Scotland (Scots and Gaelic) are complicated yet accommodated by their marginalised semi-colonial status. Secondly, select examples from the contemporary Scottish literary canon are examined considering postcolonial and semi-colonial critique amidst wider debates of coloniality and cultural marginalisation. This offers a useful corrective to postcolonialism being seen as a form of subtle cultural resistance in Scotland’s case.
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