Undergraduate Course: Gaelic Identities and Sociolinguistics (CELT10051)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Celtic |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | Yes |
| Course description | This course considers the shifting nature of Gaelic identities in Scotland from the Middle Ages to the present and assesses the ideological and discursive presentation of these identities. The course also addresses the current sociolinguistic dynamics of the language, particularly in relation to the effect of English-Gaelic bilingualism and the impact of recent revitalisation initiatives. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course students should:
- develop a clear understanding of the evolution of Gaelic identities in Scotland, from medieval times to the present
- develop a clear understanding of the current issues concerning shifting identities of Gaelic speakers and their perceptions of the language
- develop an awareness of the principal sociolinguistic issues arising in relation to Gaelic in modern Scotland
- develop the analytical skills to assess critically a diverse body of historical, sociological and sociolinguistic evidence relating to perceptions of Gaelic in Scotland.
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Assessment Information
| One class presentation (25%), one 2500 word essay (25%), one two-hour degree exam (50%). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
1. Gaelic identities in medieval Scotland
2. Gaelic identities in early modern Scotland
3. Gaelic identities in the 18th-19th centuries
4. Contemporary Gaelic identities
5. Gaelic education and questions of identity
6. Learners and 'new speakers' of Gaelic
7. Gaelic identity: literary manifestations
8. Language maintenance and language shift
9. The changing Gaelic language: the impact of institutionalisation
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Burnett, Ray (1998) $ùThe long nineteenth century: Scotland&©s Catholic Gaidhealtachd&©, in Out of the Ghetto? The Catholic Community in Modern Scotland, ed. by R. Boyle and P. Lynch, 163-92. Edinburgh: John Donald.
Dembling, Jonathan (2010). $ùInstrumental music and Gaelic revitalization in Scotland and Nova Scotia&©. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 206, 245-54.
Dorian, Nancy C. (1980). Language Death: A Case Study of a Gaelic-Speaking Community. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Glaser, Konstanze (2006). Minority Languages and Cultural Diversity in Europe : Gaelic and Sorbian Perspectives. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Herbert, Máire (1999). $ùSea-divided Gaels? Constructing relationships between Irish and Scots c. 800-1169&©, in Britain and Ireland 900-1300: Insular Responses to Medieval European Change, ed. by Brendan Smith, 87-97. Cambridge: CUP.
Hunter, James (rev. edn 2000). The Making of the Crofting Community. Edinburgh : John Donald.
Lamb, William (2008). Scottish Gaelic Speech and Writing: Register Variation in an Endangered Language. Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona.
MacAulay, Donald (1994). $ùCanons, myths and cannon fodder&©. Scotlands, 1 (1994), 35-54.
MacCaluim, Alasdair (2007). Reversing Language Shift: The Social Identity and Role of Scottish Gaelic Learners. Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona.
MacCoinnich, Aonghas (2002). $ù&«His spirit was given only to warre:&ª Conflict and Identity in the Scottish Gàidhealtachd, c. 1580- c. 1630&©, in Fighting for Identity: Scottish Military Experience, c. 1550-1900, ed. by Steve Murdoch and Andrew Mackillop, 133-62. Leiden: Brill.
MacDonald, Sharon (1997). Reimagining Culture: Histories, Identities, and the Gaelic Renaissance. Oxford: Berg.
MacDonald, Sharon (1999). $ùThe Gaelic Renaissance and Scotland&©s Identities&©. Scottish Affairs, 29, 100-18.
McEwan-Fujita, Emily (2008). $ùWorking at &«9 to 5&ª Gaelic: Speakers, Contexts, and Ideologies of an Emerging Minority Language Register&©, in Sustaining Linguistic Diversity: Endangered and Minority Languages and Language Varieties, ed. by Kendall A. King et al., 81-93. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
McEwan-Fujita, Emily (2010). $ùIdeologies and experiences of literacy in interactions between adult Gaelic learners and first-language Gaelic speakers in Scotland&©. Scottish Gaelic Studies, 26, 87-114.
McEwan-Fujita, Emily (2010). $ùSociolinguistic Ethnography of Gaelic Communities&©, in The Edinburgh Companion to the Gaelic Language, ed. by Moray Watson and Michelle Macleod, 172-217. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
MacInnes, John (2006). $ùGaelic Poetry and Historical Tradition&©, $ùThe Gaelic Perception of the Lowlands&© and $ùThe Panegyric Code in Gaelic Poetry and its Historical Background&©, in Dùthchas nan Gàidheal: Selected Essays of John MacInnes, ed. by Michael Newton, 3-33, 34-47 and 265-319. Edinburgh: Birlinn.
MacKinnon, Kenneth (2006). $ùThe Western Isles Language Plan: Gaelic to English language shift 1972-2001&©, in Revitalising Gaelic in Scotland, ed. by Wilson McLeod, 49-71. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press.
MacKinnon, Kenneth (2008). $ùScottish Gaelic today: Social history and contemporary status&©, in The Celtic Languages, ed. by Martin Ball & Nicole Müller, 587-649. London: Routledge.
McLeod, Wilson (2003). $ùLanguage politics and ethnolinguistic consciousness in Scottish Gaelic poetry&©, Scottish Gaelic Studies, 21 (2003), 91-146
McLeod, Wilson (2004). Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland c. 1200-c. 1650. Oxford: OUP.
McLeod, Wilson (2009). $ùGaelic in Scotland: &«existential&ª and &«internal&ª sociolinguistic issues in a changing policy environment&©. Sochtheangeolaíocht na Gaeilge: Léachtaí Cholm Chille XXXIX, 16-61.
Meek, Donald E. (1996). The Scottish Highlands: The Churches and Gaelic Culture. Geneva: WCC Publications.
Meek, Donald E. (2004). $ùReligion, riot and romance: Scottish Gaelic perceptions of Ireland in the 19th century&©, in Unity in Diversity: Studies in Irish and Scottish Gaelic Language, Literature and History, ed. by Cathal Ó Háinle and Donald E. Meek, 173-93. Dublin: School of Irish, Trinity College.
Meek, Donald E. (2007). $ùFaking the &«True Gael&ª? Carmina Gadelica and the Beginning of Modern Gaelic Scholarship&©. Aiste, 1, 76-106.
Newton, Michael (2009). Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish Highlanders. Edinburgh: Birlinn.
Oliver, James (2005). $ùScottish Gaelic Identities: Contexts and Contingencies&©. Scottish Affairs, 51, 1-24.
Oliver, James (2010). $ùThe Predicament? Planning for Culture, Communities and Identities&©, in Coimhearsnachd na Gàidhlig an-diugh/Gaelic Communities Today, ed. by Gillian Munro and Iain Mac an Tàilleir, 73-86. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press.
Wells, Gordon (2011). Perceptions of Gaelic Learning and Use in a Bilingual Island Community: An Exploratory Study. Ormacleit: Cothrom Ltd.
West, Catriona, and Graham, Alastair (2011). Attitudes Towards the Gaelic Language. Edinburgh: Scottish Government Social Research.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Anja Gunderloch
Tel: (0131 6)51 1374
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Christina Bould
Tel: (0131 6)50 3622
Email: |
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