My sister will be here in an hour and a half, meaning that I will have lost half my blog readership. Well, lost internetly, but found somewhere around baggage claim. Speaking of which, I probably ought to begin the hike to Waverley. Look for a full update on her time here in a week. [Spoiler: We'll be making a three-day tour of the western half of Scotland, replete with tourbus and guide. Also a small taste of Festival, Fringe. And a crash course in Edinburgh, mostly on foot, led by yours truly.]
because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
I'll just have to work twice as hard.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too!
ReplyDeleteUgh you Other two Jens are so annoying!
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your sister.
And make sure your haggis and blood pudding are safe before you chow down.
I decided not to indulge in Haggis although Mollina may make me change my mind. I'm not all that excited about it. I'd rather have sausages and mash.
ReplyDeleteHaggis is good.
ReplyDeleteI'd eat it, although I'd leave anything with "blood" in the title alone...
I ate some haggis. It wasn't too bad. Quite rich in flavor. Good with potatoes.
ReplyDeleteNo blood pudding, though. :-P
haggis is good with potato. I don't understand really what the problem is...
ReplyDeleteTwinkies are worse for you
>.<