From Goosecreek to Gandercleugh: Studies in Scottish American Literary and Cultural History

For almost half a century scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have worked hard to highlight the distinctively Scottish contribution to the emergence of America's national culture. In particular the impact of the Scottish Enlightenment on the educational, political and cultural life of the USA in the 18th and early 19th centuries has been widely studied. But the map of Scottish-American cultural relations extends far beyond the confines of the Enlightenment. What this book does is offer a series of explorations of the map in a variety of directions and periods from the 18th century to the early 20th. The importance for America's cultural history of Scottish educators, philosophers, historians, rhetoricians and scientists is recognized, but attention is also paid to the literary aspect of Scotland's cultural contribution to America, and the author takes in major figures from both sides of the Atlantic from Walter Scott to William Faulkner. "From Goosecreek to Gandercleugh" offers widely-ranging insights into the intriguing story of the Scottish-American cultural connection.