Arts and the Nation A critical re-examination of Scottish Literature, Painting, Music and Culture

A panorama of ideas about nationality and culture, Arts and the Nation arose from the conviction that Scotland can never be really democratic until it gives the arts the priority of place and attention they demand. This book is a fresh take on subjects new and old, with multifaceted ideas of nationality and culture. Those featured include: William Dunbar, Duncan Ban MacIntyre and Elizabeth Melville are read alongside international authors such as Wole Soyinka and Edward Dorn. J.D. Fergusson, Joan Eardley and John Bellany are considered with American Alice Neel and the art of the ancient Celts. Composers like John Blackwood McEwen, Cecil Coles and Helen Hopekirk are introduced, amongst discussions of education, politics, social priorities, the mass media and different genres of writing. What was the real reason Robert Louis Stevenson dedicated his dark masterpiece to his cousin Katharine de Mattos? Why was Katharine’s own tale of duality published under a pseudonym? When Fanny Stevenson ‘stole’ another story idea from Katharine, why did RLS explode with Hydelike rage at the cousin for whom he had once been ‘the one that loves you – Jekyll, and not Hyde’? Featuring the full text of Katharine’s tale of duality, Fanny’s stolen story and another tale revealing Katharine’s grief at losing her cousin’s love forever, Mrs Jekyll & Cousin Hyde sheds new light on one of the greatest Victorian authors.