You might also like

More about Afterlives of Walter Scott

• Book details
• Synopsis
• Trending among others

You get 543 loyalty points

Book synopsis

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was once a household name, but is now largely forgotten. This book explores how Scott's work became an all-pervasive point of reference for cultural memory and collective identity in the nineteenth century, and why it no longer has this role. Ann Rigney breaks new ground in memory studies and the study of literary reception by examining the dynamics of cultural memory and the 'social life' of literary texts across several generations and multiple media. She pays attention to the remediation of the Waverley novels as they travelled into painting, the theatre, and material culture, as well as to the role of 'Scott' as a memory site in the public sphere for a century after his death. Using a wide range of examples and supported by many illustrations, Rigney demonstrates how remembering Scott's work helped shape national and transnational identities up to World War One, and contributed to the emergence of the idea of an English-speaking world encompassing Scotland, the British Empire and the United States. Scott's work forged a potent alliance between memory, literature, and identity that was eminently suited to modernization. His legacy continues in the widespread belief that engaging with the past is a condition for transcending it.

Book details

Book category Books in English Literature & literary studies Literature: history & criticism Literary studies: general

• Full title: Afterlives of Walter Scott
• Author: Ann Rigney
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Number of pages: 348
• EAN: 9780199644018
• ISBN: 0199644012
• ID: 01323838
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Weight: 546 g
• Dimensions: 142 × 223 × 14 mm
• Date of publishing: 08. March 2012

Trending among others

---

---

---