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РАЗДЕЛ III. ЛИТЕРАТУРА НАРОДОВ СТРАН ЗАРУБЕЖЬЯ SECTION III. FOREIGN LITERATURE
УДК [821.111-1(411):(73)] "18" DOI: 10.18413/2313-8912-2021-7-2-0-12
Lilia R. Velilaeva <B> ¡Women in the 19th century Scottish emigration poetry of the USA
Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University 8 Uchebnaya St., Simferopol, Republic of Crimea, 295015, Russia E-mail: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6491-8633
Received 17 May 2021; accepted 7 June 2021; published 30 June 2021
Abstract. The article analyzes the poetic texts of 19th-century Scottish immigrant poets in the United States, in which women were the protagonists. The Scottish poetic emigration discourse is presented by poets-men, but women occupy a special place among the characters: mothers, brides, wives, girls. The analysis of poetic texts is aimed at identifying the main types of female characters and determining artistic techniques and genre-stylistic features of poetic texts, which are relevant for integral poetological analysis of the Scottish poetic emigration discourse. The methods of genre analysis, comparative analysis, historical and biographical methods are used to analyze feminine discourse. Feminine discourse is analyzed in the following aspects: character (dominant types of female heroines) and genre-stylistic (the main artistic techniques and genres that poets prefer). It is revealed that among the Scottish heroines the greatest preference is given to women from the close (family) circle: mothers, brides, wives, etc., but they rarely become the main heroines of poems. There are practically no heroines-Americans. This absence explains the biographical context of Scottish emigration poets: emigration for many of them occurred in adolescence and adulthood. Among the dominant artistic techniques, idealization stands out and plays a significant role in the transformation of the female image of a mother, bride, girl, wife into the image of the Motherland-Scotland. The absence of heroines-Americans suggests that the United States is still a new country for expatriate poets. Elegy and epitaph became the basic genres.
Keywords: Feminist discourse; Emigration poetry; Emigration discourse; Women-heroines; Idealization
How to cite: Velilaeva, L. R. (2021). Women in the 19th century Scottish emigration poetry of the USA. Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, V.7 (2), 128-134, DOI: 10.18413/2313-8912-2021-7-2-0-12
УДК [821.111-1(411):(73)] "18" DOI: 10.18413/2313-8912-2021-7-2-0-12
Велилаева Л. Р. Ф | Женщины в шотландской эмиграционной поэзии США XIX в.
Крымский инженерно-педагогический университет пер. Учебный, 8, г. Симферополь, Республика Крым, 295015, Россия E-mail: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6491-8633
Статья поступила 17мая 2021 г.; принята 7 июня 2021 г.; опубликована 30 июня 2021 г.
Аннотация. Объектом анализа данной статьи послужили поэтические тексты шотландских поэтов эмигрантов США XIX века, в которых действующими лицами были женщины. Актуальность. Шотландский поэтический эмиграционный дискурс представлен поэтами-мужчинами, однако среди персонажей особе место занимают женщины: матери, невесты, жены, девушки. Анализ поэтических текстов направлен на выявление основных типажей персонажей-женщин и определения художественных приемов и жанрово-стилистических особенностей поэтических текстов, что является актуальным для целостного поэтологического анализа шотландского поэтического эмиграционного дискурса. Методы исследования. Для анализа феминистического дискурса использованы методы жанрологического анализа, компаративного анализа, историко-биографический метод. Результаты исследования. Феминистический дискурс проанализирован в следующих аспектах: персонажном (доминантные типы героинь-женщин) и жанрово-стилистическом (проанализированы основные художественные приемы и жанры, которым поэты отдают предпочтение). Выявлено, что среди героинь-шотландок наибольшее предпочтение отдается женщинам из ближнего (семейного) круга: матерям, невестам, женам, но главными героинями стихотворений они становятся редко. Героини-американки практически отсутствуют. Это отсутствие объясняет биографический контекст шотландских поэтов-эмигрантов: эмиграция для многих произошла в подростковом и зрелом возрасте. Выводы. Среди доминантных художественных приемов выделяется идеализация, которая играет существенную роль в трансформации женского образа матери, невесты, девушки, жены в образ Родины-Шотландии. Отсутствие женщин-американок свидетельствует о том, что США все еще новая страна для поэтов-эмигрантов. Базовыми жанрами стали элегия и эпитафия.
Ключевые слова. Феминистический дискурс; Эмиграционная поэзия;
Эмиграционный дискурс; Героини-женщины; Идеализация
Информация для цитирования: Велилаева Л. Р. Женщины в шотландской
эмиграционной поэзии США XIX в. // Научный результат. Вопросы
теоретической и прикладной лингвистики. 2021. Т.7, N2. C. 128-134. DOI:
10.18413/2313-8912-2021-7-2-0-12
Introduction. The Scottish emigration of the 19th century was an ambiguous and complex phenomenon, which had both a
voluntary and a forced character. The Scots left abroad voluntarily, however, their departure was explained by reasons both
economic (the policy of the Highland clearances),-religious, and cultural.
The 19th-century Scottish emigration poetry of the USA cannot be fully studied without researching its feminine aspect. The main components of any feminist discourse are works about women and works written by women. This article is devoted to the research of literary works written by Scottish émigré poetsabout women.
Main part. The aim of this article is to analyze poetical works about women, which was carried out to implement the following tasks: to identify 1) the main types of female heroines of the Scottish emigration discourse, 2) basic artistic techniques used by the authors to describe their heroines, 3) genre features of the texts involved in the analysis. All this determines the novelty and relevance of this work.
Materials and research methods. The corpus of texts by 28 authors has been analyzed, consisting of 110 works. When conducting the study, methods of comparative analysis, genre analysis, comparative typological and historical-biographical methods were used.
Results and discussion. The image of woman in imaginative literature was profoundly researched both by foreign and Russian scholars. Many of them analyzed the image of woman in poetry, or the role of particular woman in literary works of a certain author (Ignatyeva A. V., Kaplan G., Shofakirova R.M., Yu L., etc.) or of certain literature (Karginova S.N., Sivova O.V., Khayrullina D.M., etc.). General tendencies of the researches are to analyze the image of the woman in correlation with specific author's creative works, national literature, literary tendencies, gender streotypes. None of them is related to the image of woman in emigration discourse.
In the poetic texts of Scottish émigré poets, descriptions of Scottish women are most common. American women did not become heroines of their poetic texts to the same extent. There are several reasons for this. Émigré poets left for the United States when
they were not so young, and therefore it can be assumed that they experienced falling in love while they were still in Scotland. That is why the image of their beloved was often associated with a Scottish girl, about whom they kept memory, received news and dreamt of meeting.
So, for example, D.K. McCallum, in his poem "Bessie dear", shares his memories of a welcome meeting and feelings that are stronger than any distance: "O Bessie dear, I ne'er can tell / The love I have for thee; / O meet me in yon fairy dell, / Down by the hawthorne tree <...> / <...> As magnet to the pole, my dear, / Sae true's my love for thee - / Where I roam, be't far or near - / On land or raging sea <...>" (McCallum, 1870: 55).
A bouquet of a special kind of daisies (gowan) and a branch of heather (a sprig o' heather), widespread in Scotland and Northern England, become the subject of admiration for D.M. Henderson in the poem "Flow'rs frae hame". This is a gift from his girlfriend from Scotland, which for the author is a symbol of his love of Scotland and the love that awaits him in Scotland. The image of the girl in the text is transformed into the image of Scotland: a distant but dearly beloved homeland. For the author, they are one: "<...> My Scotland,' tis thine, the bonnie us rowin '/ An' by a 'the waters between us rowin' / I'll aye be true to my lassie an 'thee" (Henderson, 1888: 14).
The transformation of the image occurs not with the help of hyperbolization, but with the help of idealization. Almost all female images that come from Scotland are idealized. For example, in J. Crichton's poem "The Emigrant Shepherd's Lament" Mary, the friend of an emigrant shepherd, is described as follows: "<...> How sweet at morn to see the mist / Roll aff the peaks the sunlight kiss'd / How saft at eve the dew-draps fell / When Marry met me in the dell <...>" (Ross, 1889: 198). J. Kennedy's girlfriend Mary in the homeland of Scotland is: "Mary wi' the gowden hair, / Bonnie Mary, gentle Mary; / O but ye are sweet an 'fair, / My winsome,
charming Mary <...>" ("Mary wi' the Gowden Hair" (Kennedy, 1920: 90)).
In addition to the image of a girl-bride, the mothers of emigrant poets are especially gently described. These were mainly women with many children, many of them became widows early and therefore had to provide for their families on their own. They all have a strong-willed character, they are all extremely hardworking and patient. It is thanks to mothers that emigrant poets from early childhood get acquainted with Scottish folklore (songs, ballads, fairy tales) and Scottish literature (Ross, 1889: 54-59, 77-83, 117-121, 194-201).
Along with the images of mothers, there are also images of the wives of Scottish poets-emigrants. Researchers note the uncommonness of G. McPherson's wife, who was "talented and exquisite", steadfastly, endured the premature death of her young child (Edwards, 1883: 381-387). We find the image of the wife of a Scottish emigrant in P. Ross's poem "Twa Scots": "<...> Their lassies syne frae Scotland cam '/ And settled doun in comfort wi' them, / And weel-stocked houses crown ' d the farm / And couthy bairns were born to them" (Ross, 1889: 90). The girls who later became wives came from Scotland and shared all the difficulties and misery with their husbands. Therefore, their common merit is that the "two Scots" become so successful in the new country: "<...> Ane owned a railroad, and a mine, / Ane had a mill and ane a quarry <.> / <.> Ane built a kirk, and fee'd it fair; / Ane built the puir, the stick, the lame / A snug and bien 'like restin' place, / And call'd it a Saint Andrew's Hame <...>" (Ross, 1889: 90).
The female fate of the mother / girl / bride / wife of a Scottish emigrant is lyrically summed up in G. McPherson's poetic text "Genealogical". The poem begins with a mini-portrait of the poet's mother "My worthy frien ', I scarce can tell / Wherein my forbears' footsteps fell, / But haith, I doot that poortith smell / Did nip them sair / For ne'er in ae place wad they dwell / Noo here, noo there.
<...>" (Ross, 1897: 304). The text also ends with a description of the mother, who for the author is dearer and closer to the queen and the saint: "<...> My aged mither blessings cheer / Her life's lang journey year by year, / May sorrow ne'er again draw near / To take a plaint / She's to the bossom far mair dear / Than queen or saint <...>" (Ross, 1897: 306).
It is the image of the mother that is often the ethical tuning fork for the hero. For example, in Thomas C. Latto's poem "When we were at the schule", desperate tomboys, the protagonists of the poem, accidentally hit a chicken belonging to one of the boys' mother, Aunt Jenny, with a ball. They know that by doing this they have inflicted damage on the entire family of a poor woman and therefore experience genuine remorse: "<...> But mind ye lad, yon afternoon, / How fleet ye skipp'd awa". / For ye had crack't auld Jenny's pane. / When playin 'at the ba'. / Nae pennies had we; Jenny grat; / It cut us to the core <...>" (Ross, 1889: 13-14). These pangs of conscience force one of thetomboys to bring a chicken instead of a hit one under cover of the night: "<...> Ye took ye're mither's hen at nicht / An' left it at her door <...>" (Ross, 1889: 14).
Most often, poetic monuments to women are presented in the genre of elegies and epitaphs. The poem became especially touching when the poetic text was written on behalf of the deceased heroine and was addressed to her living husband. For example, in H. McPherson's poem "Whilt Thou Forget?": "<...> When I am laid among the dead, / My darling, wilt thou weep for me? / Or when my spirit thence has fled, / Shalt thou forget who loved but thee? / Yet if from earth first thou should'st stray, / I'd fret my drooping soul away. <.> / <.> Forbear the wild impassioned tear, / Thy riven heart may bid thee shed, / For know my spirit hovers near, / Tho 'I may slumber with the dead. / E'en Heaven cannot Heaven be. / Until there thou shalt dwell with me" (Ross, 1889: 307).
In the context of the English poetic gender discourse of the XVIIth-19th centuries
the image of a Scottish woman, which is actively promoted and present in the poetic texts of Scottish emigration poets, is rather outdated and patriarchal (Novikova, 2007: 320; Black, 1921: 126; Carruthers, 2009: 228, Lindsay, 1977: 512; Scott, 1976: 519; Smith, 1912: 12; The Edinburg History of Scottish Literature. Enlightenment, Britain and Empire, 2007: 390; The History of Scottish Literature, 1989: 322)). This image is just like that, because it was created by male poets for male readers. In the 17th century, the poet A. Bradstreet said that the role of a woman is not limited only to being a mother, girl or bride: "<...> I am obnoxious to each carping tongue / Who says my hand a needle better fits, / A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong / For such despite they cast on female wits, / If what I do prove well, it won't advance, / They'll say it's stol'n, or else it was by chance <...>" (The Norton anthology of English literature, 1993: 1740).
In the context of educational discourse, the image of a woman, which is relevant for the poetic texts of Scottish emigration poets, is quite consistent with the ideas accepted in society. With all the reforms in the educational systems of Scotland and the United States, throughout the 19th century, in both countries woman was seen primarily as the mistress of the house, wife and mother. Her social function was to organize the household, raise children and organize the family's leisure time. Therefore, women's education was aimed primarily at preparing the girl for these purely family responsibilities (Efimova, 2009: 28; Stepanova, 2005: 30; Balfour, 1903: 307; Davies, 1896: 49; Hunter, Hance, Crawford, 1891: 176, Thomas, 1899: 356).
That is why in the works of the Scottish émigré poets of the United States, a woman and a girl are rarely portrayed at public lectures, amateur evenings. Much more often they occur at the hearth, at handicrafts, at work on the estate. There are few specific mentions of their professions and fields of activity (G McPherson, "Genealogical"; T.C. Latto, "When we were at the schule", etc.). Even visiting churches and
charity work is more regularly narrated not in the female, but in the male version (P. Ross, "Twa Scots", etc.).
As for the American female characters, they were not found in the texts we examined. There are few exceptions (for example, "Anne Brock" by H. McCulloch). It is significant, however, that in this rare case the author does not find anything specifically "American" in his heroine. Before us is the sentimental image of a fragile woman-flower who died from the savageness not even of the polar climate of the United States, but of the cruelty of the human world in general. "<...> O thou who ever art our own! / O faint and fluttering breath! / From lip and eye and brow forever flown. / That room be made for this dread presence, Death! / Who bids both life and time stand still for thee, this day. / Forever and aye! <...>" (McCulloch, 1887: 26). And further: "<...> Of hope, love, knowledge, sorrow, and delight! / Ah! tender plant! on which has fallen the blight; / That, seeing no leaf to seize, nor flower or fruit. / Reached down and stilled the stirrings in the root! / No perfect shaft to mark a well-won goal; / No broken column for a half-run race: / Thy little hands dropped life's unwritten scroll / Upon a shaftless base!" (McCulloch, 1887: 27).
Conclusions. Of course, all of the above is only a preliminary result and requires further research, but already at this stage it allows us to draw some conclusions.
1. The main types of Scottish characters are close relatives of the lyric hero - mother, bride, wife and girlfriend.
2. In the feminist emigration discourse there are practically no American characters. This confirms the idea that American realities, the American way of life were new, not always understandable conditions for the emigrant poets, and were not so easy to accept.
3. The main artistic mean used by the authors is the idealization of female heroines, that differs them from the male heroes.
4. Thus, the image of a woman-Motherland in the Scottish emigration discourse merges with the images of women -symbols of this Motherland.
5. Among the genres that the feminist emigration discourse prefers, the leading are the genres of elegy and epitaph.
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Конфликты интересов: у автора нет конфликта интересов для декларации.
Conflicts of Interest: the author has no conflict of interest to declare.
Велилаева Лилия Раимовна, кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры английской филологии Крымского инженерно-педагогического университета.
Lilia Raimovna Velilaeva, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of English Philology, Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University.
