Boswell In Scotland And Beyond

No Scottish writer seems today more relevant to the questions facing his native land than James Boswell. His exasperation with his country and his frustrated attempts to make a career in England; his ambitious efforts to join the network of European intellectuals; and his self-lacerating concern with his own persona, present a challenging commentary on modern Scotland's politics, culture and society. In turn they make Boswell a figure worthy of international attention as one of the first and most articulate to wrestle with the modern problems of the community and the self.
Yet he remains comparatively neglected. The eight essays in this volume, together with a substantial introduction by its editor, Thomas Crawford, make a powerful case for Boswell’s importance. The Law, nationalism, the European Enlightenment, the image of Scotland, attitudes to women, the idea of exile, journal writing and popular song – a rich selection from the life and work of a man proud to describe himself as ‘a citizen of the world’.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction (Thomas Crawford)
2. Boswell and the Law (William Prosser)
3. Boswell and the National Question (Paul H. Scott)
4. Young Boswell, Aspiring Cosmopolite (Marlies K. Danziger)
5. Boswell, Johnson and Images of Scotland (Claire Lamont)
6. The Myth of Johnson’s Misogyny in the Life of Johnson: Another View (Irma S. Lustig)
7. Boswell and the Idea of Exile (Gordon Turnbull)
8. Boswell and the Diurnal (Pat Rogers)
9. Boswell’s Ballads: A Life in Song (Morris R. and Melita Ann Brownell)