Bisson Sarah, Sorbonne Université
Edinburgh working class in transition: portraying Thatcher’s children in Irvine Welsh’s Glue
Glue, which can be defined as an epic novel of Scottish scheme life, is Irvine Welsh’s most ambitious novel in scope as the story follows the life of four friends who grow up in an Edinburgh scheme from the early 1970s to the beginning of the new millennium. Such a time span not only introduces the reader to over three decades of Scotland social and cultural history, it also documents a geographical transition induced by the post-war slum clearance programmes that mirrors the process of fragmentation of the traditional working class into a new and complex social group that Ben Clarke (2023) assimilates to Marx and Engels’s concept of lumpenproletariat. There is obviously a formal continuity between Glue and the author’s previous books as a substantial part of the plot is told in vernacular Scots from the four characters’ points of view but the structure here also marks a significant change with the introduction of a third-person narrator in the first and the last part of the novel. Welsh’s departing from his usual narrative technique quite clearly pertains to the epic genre the author intends to tackle but also proves to be quite revealing as to the complexity of giving a voice to a Scottish working class in transition: the challenge here consists in providing a grand narrative to a shifting marginalised and fragmented social group. The use of vernacular Scots undoubtedly both subverts linguistic and textual hierarchies and posits the legitimacy of working-class language and culture (Cairns Craig) but as it is here embedded within a more conventional and traditional narrative framework written in sometimes extremely formal English, one may wonder as to the status actually given to these schemies’ voices and working-class identity, which appear to be blurred, confused and precarious. This paper intends to demonstrate through a detailed analysis of the shifts in language registers that, despite its being dismissed as too arrogant and bourgeois (Ferrebe) because the author is increasingly estranged from the experiences of the community he writes about (Kelly), Glue’s experimentations with form actually illustrates the paradoxes and challenges faced when attempting to record major economic and social changes and to give a voice to a subordinated social group in transition.
Biography: Sarah Bisson teaches English in Paris Teachers’ Training College (Sorbonne Université – Faculté des Lettres). Her training and work experience has led her to conduct research into both Scottish literature and didactics. After focusing on the representation of space in Sir Walter Scott’s novels, she is now interested in narrative strategies in contemporary Scottish literature. She has published articles on Sir Walter Scott’s Jacobite novels, contemporary Scottish writers and the use of literature in teaching English (ESL). Her publications also include secondary-school textbooks and storybooks for children.
Bory Stéphanie, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Institut d’Études Transtextuelles et Transculturelles
The Just Transition Framework for Wales: Between political commitments and popular expectations
In 2016, the Welsh Parliament or Senedd adopted the Environment Wales Act, committing the Welsh Government to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, turned into net zero Wales in February 2021. Scotland committed to reach net zero in Climate Change (Emission Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019. The British Government was the last to impose a similar commitment, with the publication of Net Zero Strategy Build Back Greener[1] in October 2021. Yet, the four nations in the UK have different emissions profiles, and national characteristics. While, for instance, transport accounts for the largest share of the emissions in England and Scotland, agriculture and energy supplies represent the leading emissions sources in Wales and Northern Ireland[2].
To start their “journey to net zero and a greener, stronger, fairer Wales”[3], the Government launched in December 2023 the Just Transition Framework for Wales, setting out its strategic policy approach to achieving a just transition from the fossil-fuelled economy of the past to a new low carbon future, underpinned by the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015. It then decided to hold “Climate Conversations” across Wales from December 2023 to March 2024 to actively engage the public and create a common vision, and it published a presentation of the responses in June 2024.
It may thus be wondered to what extent political commitments by Welsh leaders are in tune with people’s expectations, or whether the urgent transition to net zero demanded by environmental associations will prove to be a source of divide between power and people.
This presentation aims to study the responses given by Welsh people to the consultation and confront them with decisions recently made and policies introduced by the Welsh Government.
[1] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero & Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, policy paper, 19-10-2021, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy, accessed in September 2024.
[2] See Nuala Burnett, Suzanna Hinson & Tona Stewart, “The UK’s plans and progress to reach net zero by 2050”, House of Commons Library, 26-09-2024.
[3] Welsh Government, Net Zero Wales, Second Carbon Budget 2021-2025, October 2021.
Biography: Stéphanie Bory is Professor in British Civilisation in Jean Moulin-Lyon 3 University where she has been teaching since 2001, first to business students, then in the Law Faculty. She has been part of the Language Faculty since 2009. She obtained in 2008 a PhD on the environmental policy of the National Assembly for Wales and is a member of the Institute for Transtextual and Transcultural Studies. She works on environmentalism as well as nationalism and the question of identity, especially in Wales. She convened two international conferences on these topics in Lyon 3 and has published more than 25 articles. She co-directed four issues of the RFCB, as well as two issues of the Observatoire de la société britannique. In 2019 she published a book on Welsh devolution, 20 years after the Government of Wales Act 1998, L’Eveil du dragon gallois. D’une assemblée à un parlement pour le pays de Galles (1997-2017).
Camp-Pietrain Edwige, Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences de la Société (CRISS)
La gestion politique de la transition climatique en Ecosse
La gestion politique de la transition climatique s’effectue pour l’Ecosse au Parlement britannique et à au Parlement écossais. Les autorités britanniques ont la charge des hydrocarbures (qui se trouvent pour l’essentiel au large de l’Ecosse) et de la fiscalité sur les sociétés. Le Parlement écossais gère les autres ressources fossiles et les énergies renouvelables. De plus, le gouvernement SNP a besoin du soutien ponctuel de l’autre parti indépendantiste, le Parti vert, soutien formalisé sous la forme d’un partenariat pendant plus de deux ans. Ainsi, l’Ecosse est la seule partie du Royaume-Uni où les Verts ont pu participer à l’exercice du pouvoir, avec deux ministres. De plus, la gestion de la transition ne se limite pas à l’énergie, s’étendant notamment au logement et aux transports.
Si les deux partis ont des divergences notables d’appréciation de l’ampleur et de la rapidité de cette transition, ils s’accordent pour trouver dans les autorités britanniques des bouc-émissaires, au plan juridique ou financier. Cette configuration est toutefois susceptible d’évoluer dans les prochains moins, avec un SNP qui est en régression électorale et un nouveau gouvernement britannique travailliste se voulant plus soucieux de gérer la transition, mais aussi d’apaiser les relations avec le gouvernement écossais.
Cette communication, fondée sur l’étude des débats parlementaires sur le sujet, au Parlement écossais et à la Chambre des Communes, sur plusieurs années, a pour objectif d’analyser la gestion politique de la transition climatique, afin de mettre en évidence l’influence sur les décisions des Verts, mais aussi de la dimension indépendantiste.
Biographie : Edwige Camp-Pietrain est Professeure des Universités en civilisation britannique à l’Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France à Valenciennes, et membre du Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences de la Société (CRISS). Elle est spécialiste de l’Écosse contemporaine, plus spécifiquement de la vie politique en Écosse (institutions, politiques publiques).
Duthille Rémy, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Culture et Littérature des Mondes Anglophones
Lord Cockburn (1779-1854) and Edinburgh sociability in mutation
Recent studies of sociability, a longstanding concern of Enlightenment scholars, have moved into early nineteenth-century Scotland (Wallace, Mark C., and Rendall, Jane, eds., Association and Enlightenment: Scottish Clubs and Societies, 1700-1830 (Bucknell UP, 2020)). This paper examines a classic source of eighteenth-century and Romantic sociability, often convoked by social and political historians. Henry Cockburn’s Memorials of His Own Time (published in 1856, republished in 1909) developed a discourse on the mutation of Edinburgh sociability, marked by the decline of sickening customs like toasting and heavy drinking, and an improvement in standards. Nostalgia, however, pervades the narrative because intellectual discussion disappears and Cockburn’s club winds down as his old friends die out. Cockburn’s account, and other manuscript accounts of club life, were published in the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods, acquiring the status of a standard account of times gone by. This paper interrogates the construction of a narrative of a transitioning sociability, through Cockburn’s memoirs and the late Victorian context of publication of memoirs and archives.
Biography: Rémy Duthille is Professor in British studies at Université Bordeaux Montaigne. His work bears on British radical ideology and sociability, especially on dining and toasting in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Besides his monograph Le discours radical en Grande-Bretagne, 1768-1789 (Voltaire Foundation, 2017), he has also written on memory, cultural transfer, and male feminists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He is currently turning his attention to the Victorian period and Scottish studies while revising for publication a manuscript entitled “Celebrating Revolution: The British People and Foreign Revolutions, 1789-1848”.
Fontaine Astrid, Université Toulouse II – Jean Jaurès, Centre for Anglophone Studies (CAS)
The Nordic countries in Scotland’s transition to independence. How have the Nordic countries influenced the SNP’s recent publications on ‘Building a new Scotland’?
Between June 2022 and April 2024, the Scottish Nationalist government published a series of papers on the theme of ‘Building a new Scotland’. The purpose of these papers was, as stated in the first paper entitled ‘Independence in the Modern World. Richer, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?’, is “to answer key questions about the transition to independence”.
By comparing the economic and social performance of Scotland and the UK with that of ten smaller European countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, the first paper suggested that drawing inspiration from the Nordic countries was a key element in building the future Scotland. This paper will therefore examine the place of the Nordic countries in the shaping of an independent Scotland as part of the ‘Building a new Scotland’ series.
Not only do these documents provide an insight into what the SNP believes an independent Scotland might look like, in order to strengthen its case for a new referendum, but they can also be used to promote further devolution in a number of areas such as taxation, spending or energy. In this respect, the Nordic countries are important because they offer a wide range of opportunities and examples on which the SNP can build to show what could be achieved if Scotland had additional powers, whether through independence or devolution.
In particular, this paper will analyse where, among the thirteen papers published in the series, the SNP most often looks to the Nordic countries to lead the way or facilitate the transition to independence, but also when the SNP government recognises that Nordic policies are not an option for Scotland. We will also consider whether this approach to independence is consistent with previous papers on the subject as well as the context of publication. Indeed, ten of the thirteen papers were published in less than a year, during Hamza Yousaf’s short tenure as First Minister.
Biography: Astrid Fontaine is in her third year of PhD at the Centre for Anglophone Studies and is currently ATER at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès. Her thesis project, supervised by Professor Nathalie Duclos and entitled ‘The Scottish National Party and Northern Europe’, aims to explore the relationship between the Scottish National Party and SNP-led governments, on the one hand, and the Nordic countries, on the other hand.
Graham Lesley, Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire Cultures Education Sociétés (LACES)
The Legacies of Nineteenth-Century Scottish Literature in Popular Culture
This paper will explore the various ways in which nineteenth-century Scottish literary works have transitioned from contemporary cultural relevance to posterity. It examines how modern adaptations and reinterpretations of literary works — in literature, films, TV series, literary tourism sites and video games —continue to reshape the work of authors such as Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and James Hogg for 21st-century global audiences, aligning them with shifting cultural contexts. These new works and their recycled tropes (examples include the romanticized Highlands in Outlander, the enduring duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in cinema, and the reimagining of Hogg’s psychological and supernatural themes in modern Scottish Gothic novels) actively memorialise and extend the legacies of nineteenth-century Scottish authors while raising questions about the commodification of cultural memory. Special attention will be given to the relevance of the built heritage of memorials and author’s houses (such as Abbotsford and 17 Heriot Row) and the phenomenon of literary tourism as both cultural preservation and performance. Framing the analysis through the lens of transition will allow us to explore how these authors and their works have moved through time, space, and cultural forms, becoming dynamic rather than fixed legacies with constantly changing afterlives. The reinterpretation of their legacies serves as a transitional dialogue between the past and the present, inviting critical reflection on the intersection of cultural preservation, commercialization, and artistic innovation in modern Scotland.
Biography: Lesley Graham is senior lecturer at the University of Bordeaux where she teaches in the Department of Languages and Cultures. Her research interests centre on nineteenth-century Scottish literature and in particular on travel writing and other non-fiction genres. She has published widely on Robert Louis Stevenson, his entourage, and his afterlives. She is the editor of the New Edinburgh Edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Uncollected Essays 1880-94 (EUP). Lesley is a past president of the French Society for Scottish Studies.
Lara Perrine, Université Toulouse II – Jean Jaurès, École Doctorale Arts, Lettres, Langues, Philosophie et Communication (ALLPH@), Centre for Anglophone Studies (CAS)
De mouvements culturels à partis politiques : la transition de Plaid Cymru et du Scottish National Party
Plaid Cymru et le Scottish National Party sont les principaux partis politiques nationalistes gallois et écossais, respectivement fondés en 1925 et en 1934. Issus de mouvements culturels, ceux-ci ont connu une évolution importante en devenant des partis politiques à part entière. Plaid Cymru a été créé par un groupe d’intellectuels gallois dans le but de préserver la langue et la culture galloises. De la même façon, les premières années du SNP ont été marquées par le nationalisme culturel. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Plaid Cymru et le SNP ont amorcé leur transition vers un véritable statut de partis, à même de remporter des élections. Ainsi, l’élection de Gwynfor Evans comme premier député du parti gallois en 1966 à Carmarthen et celle de Winnie Ewing pour le SNP à Hamilton en 1967 ont marqué un tournant dans leur transition, puisque remporter des élections est l’objectif principal d’un parti politique. À la fin des années 1960, ces deux partis poursuivent cette transition en obtenant de bons résultats aux élections locales puis de bons résultats lors des deux élections législatives britanniques d’octobre et de février 1974. Enfin, c’est l’introduction de la dévolution en Écosse et au pays de Galles en 1999 qui entérine leur statut de partis capables de remporter des élections, voire de gouverner. En effet, avec la création de l’Assemblée galloise, Plaid Cymru est devenu un acteur significatif de la scène politique galloise, participant notamment aux coalitions gouvernementales comme ce fut le cas en 2007. Cette même année, le SNP a remporté sa première victoire en 2007, malgré la domination travailliste au nouveau Parlement écossais, puis une majorité absolue de sièges en 2011. Depuis, le parti n’a cessé de gouverner en Écosse. Ainsi, en présentant désormais des candidats aux élections dans chaque circonscription et en en remportant certaines, les partis nationalistes écossais et gallois ont prouvé qu’ils s’inscrivaient pleinement dans le paysage politique britannique. Cette transformation reflète un passage progressif de la préservation culturelle à la participation politique active. Lors de cette communication, il s’agira donc de montrer que Plaid Cymru et le SNP sont passés de mouvements nationalistes culturels peu structurés à des partis politiques influents.
Biographie : Perrine Lara est en deuxième année de doctorat au sein du laboratoire CAS, « Centre for Anglophone Studies » et chargée de cours au Département d’Études du Monde Anglophone à l’Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. Son projet de thèse, dirigé par Madame la Professeure Nathalie Duclos, s’intitule : « Les mouvements indépendantistes gallois et écossais depuis les années 1960 ». Ce projet a pour but de comparer deux mouvements nationaux en faveur de l’indépendance au sein d’un même État, afin de mettre en lumière les échanges et transferts entre les deux.
Toussaint Benjamine, Sorbonne Université, Voix Anglophones Littérature et Esthétique (VALE)
A Time and Place of Transition: Spatial-Temporal Liminality and the Fictional Depiction of the Scottish Borders during the War of Independence in Walter Scott’s Castle Dangerous
All of the Waverley Novels can be described as narratives of transition, since Walter Scott’s explicit aim in these historical fictions is to depict moments when two societies—one perceived as more modern than the other—compete for dominance, with the former ultimately prevailing. The novels typically conclude with a happy ending that highlights characters who symbolize reconciliation between the old and new worlds, serving as shining examples of humanity’s capacity for evolution. Castle Dangerous follows this pattern and it is characterized by its exploration of transition and liminality,as it is set in the Scottish Borders during the Scottish War of Independence.
To a certain extent, this novel can be seen as part of the grand narrative of modernity, suggesting a linear historical progression toward the formation of nations. However, this work is actually more complex. Scott’s final novel may center on the survival of Scotland as an independent nation, yet this seemingly triumphant conclusion is undermined by the reader’s hindsight and the fact that Scott’s first novel—whose title would come to define the entire series—celebrates, at least on the surface, the teleological tale of the Union between England and Scotland. Chronologically, the progression seems reversed; however, readers are acutely aware that, despite its historical significance, Scotland’s temporary escape from English domination in the 14th century is merely a transitional moment, not the final resolution between the two nations.
As the conference’s call for papers suggests, “transition” can denote both movement and a state of limbo. In Castle Dangerous, it is the sense of liminality that predominates over progress, coupled with feelings of entrapment and trauma. These themes are reflected not only in the plot but also in the autobiographical elements and paratextual references, which allude to Scott’s symbolic death—his financial ruin ending the masquerade of his anonymity—and to his actual, imminent death.
Biography: Benjamine Toussaint is a senior lecturer at Sorbonne Université where she teaches Scottish history and literature, as well as translation. Her research focuses on 19th and 20th century Scottish authors, especially on the links between national identity and gender. Her most recent papers dealt with the aesthetics of vulnerability in Agnes Owens’s works and with the national and cultural dimension of George MacDonald and Andrew Lang’s fairy tales and she is currently writing a chapter on George MacDonald and the National Tale for the Cambridge University Press Companion to George MacDonald.