Eighty years 'Owre the Sea': Robert Burns and the early United States of America, c. 1786-1866.

Sood, Arun (2016) Eighty years 'Owre the Sea': Robert Burns and the early United States of America, c. 1786-1866. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis represents the first extensive critical study of the relationship between Robert Burns and the early United States of America. Spanning literature, history and memory studies, the following chapters take an interdisciplinary approach towards investigating the methods by which Burns and his works rose to prominence and came to be of cultural and literary significance in America. Theoretically, these converging disciplines intersect through a transnational, Atlantic Studies perspective that shifts emphasis from Burns as the 'national poet of Scotland' onto the various socio-cultural connections that facilitated the spread of his work and reputation. In addition to Scottish literary studies, the thesis contributes to the broader fields of Transatlantic, Transnational and American Studies. Previous studies have suggested that Burns's popularity in the early United States might be attributed to his kinship with 'national' American ideals of freedom, egalitarianism and individual liberty. While some of the evidence supports this claim, this thesis argues that it also wrongly assumes a spatiotemporal unity for the nineteenth-century American nation. It concludes by suggesting that future critical studies of the poet must heed the multifarious complexities of 'national' paradigms, pointing the way to further work on the reception and influence of Burns in other 'global' or, indeed, transnational contexts.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Scottish Literature, Robert Burns, transatlantic, transnational, American studies.
• Subjects: E History America > E11 America (General); E History America > E151 United States (General); P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
• Funder's Name: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
• Supervisor's Name: Nigel, Professor Leask and Kirsteen, Dr. McCue
• Date of Award: 2016
• Depositing User: Mr Arun Sood
• Unique ID: glathesis:2016-7397
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 24 Jun 2016 10:14
• Last Modified: 13 Jun 2019 15:02
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/7397