31 August: ESSE Panel "Cities in Scotland: Cultural Heritage and National Identity"
PD Dr. habil. Nora Pleßke and Dr Clarisse Godard Desmarest (University of Picardie Jules Verne, France) are organising a panel entitled "Cities in Scotland: Cultural Heritage and National Identity" at the 15th conference of the European Society for the Study of English in Lyon on 31 August 2021. Within the panel, Scotland's cultural heritage will be discussed as an important national asset with a focus on cities. Instead of the country's natural heritage, which is often prioritised in analyses of Scotland's past, the focus will be on the country's urban heritage and how this relates to issues of national identity. The panel on Scotland's urban heritage includes the following contributions on urban development, architecture, monuments, art, public memory, tourism, and literature and film:
10:30 to 12:30 hrs
- Cities Outside Scotland: The Urban Heritage of the Scottish Communities Abroad (Esther Mijers, University of Edinburgh, UK)
- Anatomising ‘Athens’: Architecture, Medicine, and Writing in Early Modern Edinburgh (Anne-Marie Akehurst, University of York, UK)
- Edinburgh’s Political Martyrs’ Monument: Reconciling Civic and National Identities (John Lowrey, University of Edinburgh, UK)
- Restoring the ‘Georgian House’: Architecture, Politics and Identity in 1970s Edinburgh (James Legard, Simpson & Brown Architects, UK)
- V&A Dundee and Cultural Institutions: The Role of Museums in Culture Led Regeneration (Kirsty Hassard, V&A Dundee, UK)
14:45 to 16:45 hrs
- Edinburgh and the Art Market in the First Age of Enlightenment (Murray Pittock, University of Glasgow, UK)
- Nomadic Murals: Architectural Tapestry in Post-War Scotland (Lisa Mason, National Museums Scotland, UK)
- Maydays to Mayfests: Cultural Politics and the Popular Arts in Glasgow, c.1983-1990 (Angela Bartie, University of Edinburgh, UK)
- Notions of National Identity within the Scotland’s Urban Realm (Kirsten Carter McKee, University of Edinburgh, UK)
17:00 to 19:00 hrs
- The Discursive Construction of Scottish Towns as Wellness Retreats in On-Line Tourism Promotion Texts 2019-20 (Irmina Wawrzyczek, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland)
- Narrative and National Identity: A Literature House for Edinburgh (James Loxley, University of Edinburgh, UK & Tara Thomson, Edinburgh Napier University, UK)
- The Themes of Urbanism and Identity in Val McDermid’s My Scotland (Yildirim Ozsevgec, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey)
- The City in Iain Rankin’s Novels (Florence Dujarric, Supméca – Institut Supérieur de Mécanique de Paris, France)
- Edinburgh on Screen: Rethinking Scottish National Identity in Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting (Deividas Zibalas, Vilnius University, Lithuania)
For more information on the conference, registration and the full programme with abstracts, please visit the conference website.