The Mighty Scot: Nation, Gender, and the Nineteenth-Century Mystique of Scottish Masculinity (SUNY Series, Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century) [Hardcover]

Maureen M. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Series: SUNY Series, Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century | Publication Date: January 8, 2009

Turns a spotlight on the Victorian love affair with Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Turning a spotlight on the Victorian love affair with Scotland, The Mighty Scot examines influential representations of Scottishness in literature, art, and hunting memoirs, and explores how Scotland came to be seen as a wellspring of fierce primal masculinity. Maureen M. Martin analyzes portrayals of Scottish masculinity over the course of the nineteenth century and looks at how the mystique of Scottish masculinity arose, the role it played in conceptions of English national identity, and its impact on Scots' attempts to construct a national identity of their own. This engaging book argues that the intricately woven concerns of nationality and masculinity are at the heart of the problematic meanings of Scotland, England, and manliness in nineteenth-century Britain.

"The Mighty Scot is a fascinating study of the nineteenth-century gendering of Scotland and the Scots. Exploring a broad range of representations, Maureen M. Martin elicits from her title figure not only a rich account of nineteenth-century masculinity but also a powerful argument regarding the place of gender in the construction of national identity. As it shows the importance of masculinity in shaping vexed negotiations among the identities of Scotland, England, and Great Britain, Martin's penetrating historical analysis enriches our understanding of a political struggle that continues to the present day." -- James Eli Adams, author of Dandies and Desert Saints: Styles of Victorian Masculinity

About the Author

Maureen M. Martin is Assistant Professor of English at William Paterson University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791476634
• ISBN-13: 978-0791476635
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,188,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MacMachismo, December 2, 2010

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D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mighty Scot: Nation, Gender, and the Nineteenth-Century Mystique of Scottish Masculinity (SUNY Series, Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century) (Hardcover)

"The Mighty Scot" is an interesting contribution to the cultural history of gender identity. It is a collection of essays on various aspects of Scotland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Colonials and provincials sometimes react to the supposed snobbery of the metropolis by claiming to be rougher and tougher and more masculine. Martin demonstrates that the English considered Scottish males more macho, and lowland Scots considered Highland Scots more macho The theme is most clearly stated in the chapter on deer hunting, which is one of the most entertaining. Hunting deer is an unusual and up-market activity in Britain, and hunting on foot with guns was a novelty in the nineteenth century. Some of the accounts suggest that the hunters regarded themselves as in peril from the deer. Inept and cowardly English novices needed the help of virile highland Scottish guides to keep them out of danger.
Earlier chapters describe the way the Jacobite rebellion, in the eighteenth century, was romanticized in the nineteenth century. Two unreadable and one barely readable nineteenth century novels (The Master of Ballantrae, The Wizard's Son and Kidnapped) are given detailed and lengthy critiques with what academics call close readings to detect their underlying socio-economic and erotic meanings. A final chapter is mostly about early 20th century art in Glasgow, with a feminist emphasis.
Martin is a smooth and accomplished writer of enormous erudition, but the detail on some topics may be too great for a general reader. Those who already have a special interest in some of the subjects covered, such as Glasgow Style would be most likely to enjoy it.