Howard Gaskill

James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian, said to be translations from the Gaelic of a third-century bard, caused a sensation on their first appearance in the early 1760s. Contrary to the impression often conveyed in literary histories, enthusiasm for the poetry of the 'Homer of the North' cannot be dismissed as a short-lived fad, for its appeal lasted a century or more, both at home and abroad. There is hardly a major Romantic poet on whom it failed to make a significant impact. In the words of Sir Walter Scott, it succeeded in "giving a new tone ot poetry throughout all Europe" and its influence was ubiquitous, from Poland to Portugal, from Paris to Prague. The essays brought together here consider the reception of Ossian in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as in a wide range of European countries. In some the focus is on individual writers (for instance, Goethe, Schiller, Chateaubriand, Espronceda), in others there is a broader sweep and a survey of reception in a national literary culture is offered (for instance, Hungary, Russia, Sweden). One of the two essays on Ossian in Italy at last gives Macpherson's influential epigone, John Smith, his due. Consideration is also given to Ossian's significance for the rise of historicism, and to non-literary forms of reception in music and art. Series Editor: Dr Elinor Shaffer FBA, Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London Contributors: Howard Gaskill, University of Edinburgh Dafydd Moore, University of Plymouth Donald Meek, University of Edinburgh Mary-Ann Constantine, University of Wales Mícheál Mac Craith, University of Galway Joep Leerssen, University of Amsterdam Colin Smethurst, University of Glasgow Sandro Jung, University of Wales, Lampeter Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Wolf Gerhard Schmidt, University of Saarbrücken Peter Graves, University of Sweden James Porter, University of Aberdeen Gabriella Hartvig, University of Pécs Nina Taylor-Terlecka, Oxford, UK Peter France, University of Edinburgh Enrico Mattioda Francesca Broggi-Wüthrich Andrew Ginger Gerald Bär, Aberta University Christopher Smith, Norwich, UK Murdo MacDonald, University of Dundee Reception of Ossian in Europe Review Reception of Ossian in Europe Review 2

The Reception of Ossian in Europe

Fiona J. Stafford

Fiona Stafford

The appearance of James Macpherson's Ossian in the 1760s caused an international sensation. The discovery of poetic fragments that seemed to have survived in the Highlands of Scotland for some 1500 years gripped the imagination of the reading public, who seized eagerly on the newly available texts for glimpses of a lost primitive world. That Macpherson's versions of the ancient heroic verse were more creative adaptations of the oral tradition than literal translations of a clearly identifiable original may have exercised contemporary antiquarians and contributed eventually to a decline in the popularity of Ossian. Yet for most early readers, as for generations of enthusiastic followers, what mattered was not the accuracy of the translation, but the excitement of encountering the primitive, and the mood engendered by the process of reading. The essays in this collection represent an attempt by late twentieth-century readers to chart the cultural currents that flowed into Macpherson's texts, and to examine their peculiar energy. Scholars distinguished in the fields of Gaelic, German, Irish, Scottish, French, English and American literature, language, history and cultural studies have each contributed to the exploration of Macpherson's achievement, with the aim of situating his notoriously elusive texts in a web of diverse contexts. Important new research into the traditional Gaelic sources is placed side by side with discussions of the more immediate political impetus of his poetry, while studies of the reception of Ossian in Scotland, Germany, France and England are part of the larger recognition of the cultural significance of Macpherson's work, and its importance to issues of fragmentation, liminality, colonialism, national identity, sensibility and gender.

Ossianic Translations

From Gaelic to Romantic

Collection of international research surveying the reception of James Macpherson's Ossian poems in European literature and culture.

Howard Gaskill

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