SCOTTISH EMIGRATIONAL POETRY OF THE USA OF THE XIXTH CENTURY: PLOTS AND SYMBOLS

Velilaeva L.R.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2021.25.1.33

ШОТЛАНДСКАЯ ЭМИГРАЦИОННАЯ ПОЭЗИЯ США XIX В.: СЮЖЕТЫ И СИМВОЛЫ

Научная статья

Велилаева Л.Р. * ORCID: 0000-0002-6491-8633, Крымский инженерно-педагогический университет имени Февзи Якубова, Симферополь, Россия

* Корреспондирующий автор (lilivelilaeva[at]yandex.ru)

Аннотация

В статье рассматриваются основные социокультурные явления, происходившие в Шотландии и в США I половины и середины XIX века, актуальные для эмиграционных процессов. С позиций символики и сюжетики «своего-чужого (другого)» определены основные особенности текстов Х. Эйнсли (1792-1878), Д.К. МакКаллума (1815-1878) и В. Вильсона (1801-1860) - ведущих поэтов шотландской эмиграции США того времени. Сюжетообразующая символика проанализирована с учетом языкового, этнического и религиозного критериев. «Свое» пространство связано с обращением к историческим событиям, реалиям и национальным героям Шотландии, попыткой сохранить свой родной язык - скотс. «Чужое» пространство становится «другим», потому что языковой и религиозный контексты США заметно отличались от традиционных для Шотландии.

Ключевые слова: Шотландия, США, эмиграция, поэзия, XIX век.

SCOTTISH EMIGRATIONAL POETRY OF THE USA OF THE XIXTH CENTURY: PLOTS AND SYMBOLS

Research article

Velilaeva L.R. *

ORCID: 0000-0002-6491-8633, Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov, Simferopol, Russia

* Corresponding author (lilivelilaeva[at]yandex.ru)

Abstract

The paper examines the main sociocultural phenomena that occurred in Scotland and the United States during the first half and the middle of the XIXth century that are relevant to emigration processes. From the point of view of symbolism and the plot of «their own-alien (other)» the main features of the texts of H. Ainslie (1792-1878), D.C. McCallum (1815-1878) and W. Wilson (1801-1860) - leading poets of Scottish emigration of the USA at that time are defined. The symbolism of the plot is analysed according to linguistic, ethnic and religious criteria. «Their own» space is connected with the appeal to the historical events, actuals and national heroes of Scotland, an attempt to preserve their native language - Scots. «Alien» space becomes «different» because the linguistic and religious context of the USA differed markedly from traditional for Scotland.

Keywords: Scotland, the USA, emigration, poetry, XIX century.

Introduction

Scots can be called travellers based on their ethnic origin. The ethnic base of the Scottish nation was formed by the Celtic tribes of Gaels and Briton, Picts and Scots, Angles and Danes. They were all permanent migratory people. Emigration processes are an integral part of Scottish history. Emigration as a specific feature of the historical development of Scotland and the Scottish ethnic group attracted the attention of historians, writers, social and political figures.

The purpose of this work is to analyze key plots and symbols in the poetry of Scottish emigrants of the USA of the middle of the XIX century. It was necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) to systematize the main socio-economic and political events in Scotland and the USA in 1800-1860 and the causes of the Scottish emigration of that period; 2) substantiate the general criteria for nuclear story-forming symbols in the USA's emigrant literature of the specified years; 3) to analyze from this point of view the plot and symbolism of Scottish poets-emigrants (H. Ainslie, W. Wilson and D.C McCallum).

The poetic texts of the Scottish emigrants of the middle of the XIX century were the material of this research paper. The relevance of the work is due to the need for a detailed consideration of Scottish poetry in a more general context of the USA-Scottish emigrational literature. The novelty of the study is an attempt to systematize and analyze the leading stories and symbols of poetic texts of H. Ainslie, W. Wilson and D.C. McCallum from the standpoint of the symbolism of «their own -alien».

Historic and literary and socio-cultural approaches, as well as methods of contextual, motive and symbolic analyses are used the article.

Growth of emigrational processes in Scotland of the first half of the XIXth century was determined by: 1) industrialization, 2) urbanization, 3) demographic explosion, 4) the violent abolishment of the ancient clan system and 5) the loss or transformation of the traditional Scottish lifestyle [3], [8].

The Northern American history of the same period was different with its specificity. Among the most significant foreign policy and internal political events, are the following: 1) armed conflicts between the United States and the United Kingdom; 2) United Kingdom Union with Indian tribes; 3) the world enclosed between the British, Americans and Indians after the 3-year war (1812-1815); 4) «Southern Emigration» from the USA in Mexico; 5) Abolitionism [2], [9], [11].

What was the position of Scottish emigrants in all these conflicts? Did it coincide with their position in the centuries-old conflict of the Scottish Kingdom with the Kingdom of England? The main symbolic opposition of this conflict («close, but different») for the Scots in Scotland meant the opposition «Scotland-England». In the United States, the same opposition acquired the form of confrontation between North and South.

Summarizing the analysis of the sociocultural background of the emigrational Scottish poetry of the mentioned period, a hypothesis can be expressed about what plots and symbols will be leading in it. These are the symbols of the Motherland (Center), «their» and «alien's» space, as well as contact: less often friendly, more often intense. At the same time, these are the plot motifs of parting, nostalgia, loneliness, fraternity, mission (calling), the feat, death, immortality. In other words, emigration and new American history intensified the experience of old, even «eternal» characters and plots, turning them into modern and topical symbols and plots.

What is the meaning of the listed phenomena and processes for Scottish emigration? How did all these factors affect the poetry of Scots-emigrants? To answer this question, turn to the nuclear story-forming symbolism of any emigrant literature — the symbolism of «their own - alien».

The correlation differs, depending on the criterion taken into account. All the chosen criteria influenced biographies of emigrational poets who were involved and interrelated to different languages, ethnical groups and religions.

1. Language Criterion. The North of the United States, the Anglo-Saxon Yankees culture was closer to Scottish emigrants, since they knew English. Spanish (dominant for the South of the country) - was unfamiliar for them. At the same time, English has been associated in Scotland with an unfriendly (although socially more privileged) British culture of the «Lords», not partners or friends [5], [6], [7], [9].

2. Ethnic criterion. Emigrants from Scotland collided with several ethnic groups in the USA in the XVIII-XIX centuries: 1) Anglo-Saxes (Yankees); 2) Spaniards and other Latin Americans; 3) Indians and metis; 4) with African Americans and mulattos. Historically Yankees were the latest emigration flow. Spaniards (Latin Americans) preceded them. African Americans followed the Latin Americans. The Indians were aborigines, and therefore the colonists exterminated them first, «testing» territories for their own development. Thus, the position of the Indians socially should have been extremely close to the Scots. However, they were separated by a religious criterion (see below). Latin Americans were associated for the Scots with an English version of Catholicism - Anglicanism (as it evolved precisely towards Catholics). So Latin Americans could not be perceived by the Scots as «their own», despite the fact that according to the dominant activities (cattle breeding; «manual», not mechanized agriculture) they stood closer to the island Scots [5], [6], [7], [9].

3. Religious criterion. Scottish emigrants also could not identify themselves more or less complete with a single ethnic group of the United States in accordance with that criterion. Celtic pagan tradition (active just in Scotland) brought them closer to the Indian pagans and African American pagans. But the Scots became Christians in the VI-VIII centuries. And the Indians and African Americans were Christianized only recently. Celtic church (relatively autonomous) of the first millennium AD functionally reminded in the New World rather the religious situation of the USA's North. The leading Yankee's, denomination was Protestantism, which had also had to bring them closer to the Scots. At the same time, many pure American denominations that have arisen later in the United States have not had analogues for Scottish emigrants [5], [6], [7], [9].

As a result, for the Scots in the United States, on the one hand, it was easier to become closer with many ethnic groups, on the other hand, it was much more difficult (or simply impossible) to join in any of them. Did this dual position affect the poetics and the issues of American-Scottish emigrational poetry?

The whole cluster of Scottish writers emigrated to the United States of America from the end of the XVIII century and throughout the XIX century.

Among the most famous poets should be mentioned such figures as Hugh Ainslie (1792-1878), William Wilson (18011860) and Daniel McCallum (1815-1878). In general, however, preachers and / or publicists were dominant among the writers (James Moffat, Thomas Latto, John Lyon, Daniel Henderson, William Brownley, etc.). Then come prose writers (Francis Wright). Anthologies and collections of American-Scottish poetry [1], [4], [10], [12] make it possible to trace exactly what authors, as well as plots and motives represented its classic fund.

All three poets chosen for more detailed analysis were emigrants from well-to-do families. All three left Scotland in the 1820-1830s in order to improve their material welfare [1], [10], [14]. All of them began to create poems in their homeland, in Scotland, and then continued their work on the North American continent. Resonant were such collections of their poems and poems as H. Ainslie's «Scottish songs, ballads and poems» (1855), D.K. McCallum's «Water Mill and other poems» (1870) and Wilson's «Poem» (1875). The last collection was published after the death of W. Wilson. In this regard, he hardly managed to go through the final author's alteration. However, this did not deprive its originality [14].

Analysis of the poetic texts of the authors mentioned from the point of view of their subjects and symbols is based on certain assumptions. We assume a priori that the symbols of the former, «their» and new, «other» space, expressed as a system of realities (including characters) and the system of the tropes. Both symbolic systems have been concentrated already in the names of these books and / or individual works included in them.

The fact that in addition to similar biographical actuals (the main events, places, as well as historical figures of Scotland and the USA), the texts are united by the language they are written - Scots, which should be taken as starting point of the analysis. These are the poems «Auld Hame Yearnings», «Come owa to the West», «The Auld Frien's an' the New», «The Last Look o' Hame», «On wi' the Tartan», «A Morning An Hail to Coila» by H. Ainslie; «An O'er True Tale» by D. McCallum and «O, Blessing on thee, Land» by W. Wilson. The use of Scots in poems, not English almost always entails the motives of longing in their homeland, memories of its Scottish actuals (checked woolen fabric - Tartan, South-West region of Koyla, Western Islands) and symbols (native land, old friends, etc.)

The next group of texts of common topics and symbols are poems about Scottish historical events and their heroes: H. Anslie's «Farewell to the Land of Burns»; D. McCallum's «King Robert The Bruce», «Song of the Anniversary of the Birthday of Burns». There is not a significant number of actuals and constancy of characters: almost all of them coincide with the symbolism of the first group of texts. The historical memory of poets-emigrants has managed to maintain only the most important actuals of their native history, which have already become symbols, political (Robert Bruce I, the first king of independent Scotland) or artistic (Burns, the first world-famous Scottish poet). For example, in H. Ainslie's poem «The Knight O' Ellerslie» the main hero W. Wallace addresses to his mates with patriotic speech: «<...> Step out, step out, my gallant

knight, / By thysel' thou shanna stride; / Tho' white the locks lie on my brow, / An' my shirt o' mail hings wide <...>» [1, P. 134-135]. This speech correlates with Scottish emigrants' reality to a large extent, it encourages them to defend «their own» history reminding not only the history itself but the language as well.

Scottish poets in Scotland itself allow themselves different feelings towards «their» native places, different ratings of «their» historical past. In emigration (at least during the analyzed period), feelings and appraisal are sharply aligned. Motherland (Scotland) causes only the delight (as a memory) or longing (as a lost paradise). This motif can be traced in H. Ainslie's poem «The lads far awa». First lines of the poem recreate old Scotland as «the land far awa'», which poet left. But in the next lines spatial image of Scotland transforms into the temporal symbol. It is the country of the past: childhood, friendship and love: «When I think on the lads, an' the land I hae left, / An' how love has been lifted, an' friendship been reft, / How the hinny o' hope has been gumbl'd wi' ga', / Then I lang for the lan' an' the lads far awa <...>» [1, P. 46]. Then both temporal and special images of the country underwent two transformations at once: from the one hand they represent only one meeting with someone very close, from the other hand they became global and universal. «The land far awa'» is now the space and time of eternal peace, kindness, love and joy, which make it very close and similar to the Paradise: «<...> When I think of the nights that we spent hand in hand, / When love was our solder, an' friendship our band, / This warld gets dark - but ilk night has a daw', / An' I yet may rejoice wi' far awa» [1, P. 46].

As for the «alien's» space, the analysis gave the following results: Scottish emigrants (including writers-emigrant), were not absolutely alien to the culture, life line and population of the United States. In poetry this leads to the fact that the symbolism and the plot of the «alien» are implemented not so persistently and evaluated not so categorical.

Such regularity is fixed again the titles of works: H. Ainslie's «Harvest Home in America», «A Foreigner's Feeling in the Great West»; D.C. McCallum's «Song of the Western Settler». From the analysis of the headlines, it follows that poets-emigrants do not consume sharply negative assessments, on the contrary, often poeticize a new place of residence. In D.C. McCallum's poem «Soldier's Song of Freedom» American civil war is truly supported by Scottish poet-emigrant: «<...> Precious blood hath been shed, and our sons have been given - / A sacrifice sacred, recorded in Heaven! / But in God we will trust - our Protector and Friend - / Having confidence still in a glorious end! <...>» [10, P. 52-53].

Conclusions

1. For Scotland the middle of the XIX century is characterized by industrialization, population growth, urbanization. However, in parallel, negative phenomena were increasing: weak medical care, food deficiency, violent breaking of the traditional clan system. All this has activated emigration processes. In the history of the United States of the same period, a civil war (1861-1865), abolitionism, abolition of slavery (1865) occured. All this strengthens the migration mobility of the North American population.

2. Nuclear for Scottish emigrant poets (in particular, for H. Ainslie, D.C. McCallum, W. Wilson) becomes the symbolism of «their own» space. It is implemented through the appeal to the main historical events, actuals and heroes of Scotland, the desire to preserve the native language - Scots. This symbolism of «their own» is supported by extremely emotional attitude towards the Motherland: delight or longing.

3. «Alien» space for Scottish emigrational poets is more about the image of it as «other» than absolutely «alien». This is due to the fact that the language of the US ethnic groups and the religious panorama of the new continent had a lot in common with Scotland.

4. The specific correlation of a unified symbolism of «their own - alien (other)» varies from different poets and in different texts depending on the contexts of social, ethnic or religious contexts.

Конфликт интересов Conflict of Interest

Не указан. None declared.

Список литературы / References

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Список литературы на английском / References in English