Calum MacLean Esler

While the idea of a three-voiced Scotland using Gaelic, English, and Scots highlights Scotland’s historical multilingualism, the linguistic landscape of 21st century Scotland is even more diverse. This fact runs counter to the narrative that people and nations have only one ‘native’ language in which they can express themselves authentically. Translingual poetry (written in multiple languages or in a language other than the poet’s first) is a medium which allows for the challenging of this monolingual paradigm which is central to the (re)production of the nation-state (one nation, one language, one people).

This project undertakes the first survey of post-devolutionary Scottish poetry through the lens of translingualism. Through a comparative approach drawn from Scottish literary and translation studies it will analyse the way poets based in Scotland utilise multilingualism to represent their experiences of living here, and challenge traditional conceptions of what form Scottish poetry, identity, and community can take. Additionally, by examining the relationship between post-devolutionary translingual poetry and traditional, independent, and DIY publishing, the project also aims to understand how the material politics of production influence the promotion and dissemination of such poetry.