77 LITERATURE Luka Ličar University of Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, Slovenia Literature of Scotland and Slovenia: From Devolution to Post-devolution, from Socialism to Independence and Beyond Summary is article looks at the situation of nationalism a nd literature in both Scotland and Slovenia in the 1980s and onward until the present day. In the case of Scotland the focus is on the devolution process and the literary renaissance which followed the failed referendum. e focus is also on the post-devolution literature and the challenges it faces both in terms of retrospect and the future challenges. In Slovenia in the 1980s the main points are the role of literature and culture in the process of democratisation and the reimagining of literature to re'ect on the new situations. During this process comparisons as well as dierences between both nations are revealed and some are speci%cally pointed out. Finally, there are certain concepts of how literature can advance and also hinder the development of a nation, which should be taken into consideration in the future developments. Key words: Scotland, Slovenia, Devolution, Post-devolution, Nova revija, Mladina, Independence, Minority Literature Literatura škotske in Slovenije: Od devolucije do post-devolucije, od socializma do neodvisnosti ter naprej Povzetek Članek skuša vzeti v obzir stanje na Škotskem in v Sloveniji od osemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja do dandanašnjih dni. V primeru Škotske smo pozornost posvetili procesu devolucije in literarni renesansi, ki je sledila neuspelemu referendumu. T u je še poudarek na literaturi post-devolucije in izzivi, s katerimi se sooča, tako v smislu retrospektive kot tudi prihodnjih izzivov. Ko gre beseda o Sloveniji v osemdesetih so glavni poudarki na vlogi literature in kulture v procesu demokratizacije ter ponovnem osmišljanju literature, da ustrezno odseva novonastale situacije. Skozi ta proces se razkrijejo nekatere primerjave kot tudi razlike med obema narodoma. Na koncu je vplogled še v nekatere idejne zasnove, ki bi jih veljajo podrobneje raziskati. Ključne besede: Škotska, Slovenija, devolucija, post-devolucija, Nova revija, Mladina, neodvisnost, manjšinska literatura UDK 821.111(411).091”198/201”:821.163.6.091”198/201” DOI: 10.4312/elope.8.1.77-87 78 Luka Ličar Literature of Scotland and Slovenia: From Devolution to Post-devolution, from Socialism to Independence and Beyond Literature of Scotland and Slovenia: From Devolution to Post-devolution, from Socialism to Independence and Beyond 1. Introduction e United Kingdom and Yugoslavia in the nineteen ei ghties – both can be described as a collective of nations, cultures and identities packed into an overarching super-state. In the case of Yugoslavia it was a Socialist Federal Republic, while the United Kingdom remains a constitutional monarchy. e intent of this article is to focus on only two parts of these super- states, namely Scotland and Slovenia, and to deal with a speci%c situation and time period, where literature, or culture in general, met with a political situation. ese situations will be analysed and put into perspective from the viewpoint of both Slovenia and Scotland, while dealing with speci%c elements unique to each, which will be compared when so appropriate. Initially it may seem like a long stretch to compare two nations which at %rst glance seem so unalike and indeed were in dierent political situa tions at the time. e core of the perceived problem, however, was quite the same in both Slovenia and Scotland. at problem was – and perhaps still is – how to maintain a national identity and culture in a country which is primarily opposed to such an idea, since one of the main points of its existence is to promote the idea of a single nation, more often than not quite irrespective of the personal aims of some of the people living therein. In Yugoslavia it was to be Yugoslavian, irrespective of the fact that the person originated from Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Slovenia. In the United Kingdom it was to be British, regardless of which part of the Kingdom or its colonies the person came from. Literature is a strong pillar in any state, one which tries to preserve or empower its national identity and, therefore, also one which is often pressured or sometimes even misused to that very end. In the %rst part of this paper, the focus is on Scotland, from a political and cultural viewpoint; this it will be followed by the situation in Yugoslavia and Slovenia. e %nal part deals with similarities but also unique elements of both, including the concluding thoughts. 2. Devolution and Post-devolution in Scotland Devolution was an ongoing process in Scotland, Ireland and also Wales, the main idea was to slowly decentralise the government in Westminster and in the process grant more independence to various parts of the United Kingdom. e referend um on devolution in Scotland took place in 1979 and failed. Even though the majority was in favour, the devil was in the details, a clause added to the bill made all the dierence. Pe ter Kravitz, the editor of #e Picador Book of Contemporary Scottish Literature, explains it in a nutshell: In March 1979 the people of Scotland were asked whether they wanted their own parliament separate from England. e majority said yes. However, a last minute clause added to the bill stated that 40 per cent of the total electorate had to be in favour. is took non-voters to be saying no. Governments get elected on less. (Kravitz 1997) 79 LITERATURE rough this failure, Scottish national politics too k a serious blow. e political option essentially failed Scotland or at least that was the general thought at the time. is, however, proved to be an opportunity for literature to experience a so called renaissance. e Irish-Scottish writer Donal McLaughlin, who himself experienced this period in the fullest, has this to say on the situation: e renaissance, it is often suggested, had its root in political setbacks. In the wake of both the failed referendum on devolution in March 1979 & Margaret atcher becoming Prime Minister in May that year, Scotland’s writers – like their %lm-maker, painter & musician colleagues – invested in their art, rather than succumb to the double whammy delivered by the political arena. e very considerable fruits of the artists’ respons e to this state of aairs soon gave rise to the theory that Scotland had achieved cultural (if not political) independence. Politics, Cairns Craig even suggested, had been reduced to a mere side-show in Scotland. (McLaughlin 2008, 4) Literature replaced politics in Scotland’s most desperate time of need. Scotland approached identity-building from the viewpoint of culture and to form an opposition to the predominantly British concept of the unity of all the nations living within Great Britain. While Scotland has had a great number of turbulent times throughout history it also produced some of the most well known and %nest writers in the world. When one mentions Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, with his famous lodgings in 221B Baker Street in London, Scotland somehow does not seem to %t in the picture. Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe deals with Saxon noble families and the protagonist, William of Ivanhoe, is also Saxon. R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island tells of the high seas and exotic locations. Of course, they also wrote about Scotland – many of Sir Walter Scott’s novels take place in Scotland, Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel Kidnapped is also set in Scotland and yet these Scottish authors published mostly in England. e reasons for that are fairly simple, England, more speci%cally London, was the cultural centre. e British Empire stretched across the globe and the idea of being British was heavily advertised. “e two largest nations, Scotland and England, came together in 1707, but as commentators are becoming acutely aware this did not result in a British civil society” (Morton 1999, 6). is union was a political construct, and to project the sense of ‘unity’, Crawford explains: T o play a full part, Scottish people would have to move from using Scots to using English, an English, which was fully acceptable to the dominant partner in the political union. is English, it was argued, both had to replace Sco ts and had to be purged of what we would now call ‘markers of Scottish cultural di erence’, purged of Scotticisms. e growing wish for a ‘pure’ English in eighteen century Scotland was not an anti-Scottish gesture, but a pro-British one. If Britain were to work as a political unit, then Scots should rid themselves of any elements, likely to impede their progress within it. Language, the most important of bonds, must not be allowed to hinder Scotland’s intercourse with expanding economic and intellectual markets in the freshly de%ned British state. (Crawford 2001, 18) 80 Luka Ličar Literature of Scotland and Slovenia: From Devolution to Post-devolution, from Socialism to Independence and Beyond Language, and through it literature, were subjected to the idea of unity. ere were, however, also other factors, which helped promote the idea of being British. is continued well into the twentieth century: e Second World War had witnessed the extensive use of government propaganda to shore up British identity and the fact that half a million Scots were integrated with other individuals from the United Kingdom in the armed forces helped reinforce a sense of Britishness. e English were no longer stereotypes or caricatures, but serving comrades, and the fact that many Scots were stationed in England helped to introduce them to their fellow-countrymen and –women. (Finlay 2002, 8-9) After 1979, the failed referendum and the rise of Margaret atcher, “which seemed then to be cementing Scotland’s subnational status for good” (Schoene 2007, 8), there were also positive results as it “only induced the Scottish People to pull in more closely together and develop a more clearly de%ned and morally superior sense of national identity” (ibid., 8). is brought about the renaissance of Scottish literature. Schoene also refers to this literature as the ‘devolutionary Scottish writing’, and it encompasses the works which were produced and published in the time period between the two referendums, the %rst one, which failed in 1979, and the second successful referendum in 1997. is was the period saw the work s of authors such as Ian Crichton Smith, William McIlvanney, James Kelman, Janice Galloway and many others. ey sought to put Scottish literature and Scotland on the world map, strengthen the Scottish identity and create a distinctive voice, the voice of Scotland. With themes that dealt with the troubles of the common people, often set in bleak suburban settings, these authors “challenge limits of language, gender, received history, and authority, be it in law, education, religion. Scottish %ction – and indeed Scottish writing generally – is now more varied in mood, more eclectic, and more willing to challenge Scotland’s traditional beliefs and values than ever before” (Giord 2002, 980). If the period of devolutionary Scottish writing was marked by an empowerment of the Scottish identity through the use of colloquial language, Gaelic expressions, local colour and situations speci%c to Scotland, there is also usually an opposing thought. e dangers of nationalism, which include also the fact that literature can become limited and that the scope in which it can operate “was always, of necessity, politically informed, or at least it was received and critiqued that way, and only considered a success if it made – or could be construed as making – some kind of case for Scotland” (Schoene 2007, 7). is raises the question of self-censorship. If the literary works authors produce are automatically judged against certain restrictions or prerequisites, even if these are merely presupposed, would they not cause the authors to gravitate towards operating within those limits? Schoene dedicates a large part of his text to this very question or whether the literature that was produced during the period of devolutionary Scottish writing had a speci%c purpose of promoting Scottishness and if that role is in some ways ful%lled by reintroducing the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and a successful transfer of power from Westminster to Edinburgh, what becomes of literature and can it be freed from the burden of nationalism? “Clearly, one task for critics of contemporary Scottish literature is to determine whether after devolution ‘Scottishness’ still remains a useful quality marker, viable identity descriptor, or suitable criterion for gauging the canonical eligibility of an author or text” (ibid., 8). Schoene then refers to 81 LITERATURE literature produced after 1999 as the post-devolutionary Scottish writing. is kind of shift was anticipated by other authors in the past. Giord pr edicts it in Scottish Literature in English and Scots: “Perhaps a necessary part of this will be that Scottish writers become less ‘Scottish’ and that their writing will take on a ‘post-nationalist’ tone. If that is a feature that Scottish writers will share with other world writers, and if it is combined with an awareness of the past, then it is a development to be welcomed” (Giord 2002, 1000). One of the more signi%cant elements in the post-devolutionary Scottish writing is the input and creativity of various ethnic groups within Scotland. Numerous works are being created by writers who come from intermixed ethnic backgrounds and communities, since modern Scotland is de%nitely multi-ethnic. ey oer a wider range of w hat post-devolutionary Scottish literature can be, a literature that is not limited to being ‘nationalistic’, by incorporating their experiences and perceptions of the world they live in and also by re'ecting the social aspects that cannot be covered by, as Giord states, the members of the traditional Scottish community. Schoene elaborates further: Scottish nationalism has eectively ceased to be a minoritarian counterdiscourse, raising manifold questions regarding Scotland’s internal interdependencies and alliances. Post-devolution Scotland evidently holds postethnic potential mainly due to its relatively 'exible views on what constitutes a Scottish person, as detailed by its civic citizenship legislation, which values an individual’s choice of residency as highly as their familial descent. (Schoene 2007, 10) Literature in Scotland gains new strengths and becomes more eclectic as the voices of these minorities are heard. It also helps to move the Scottish literature away from a period, which was limiting in its scope and served only a certain purpose. Writers, such as Jackie Kay, of Scottish- Nigerian descent, Eugenie Fraser, a Russian Scottish writer, Raymond Soltysek, David Daiches and many others are just a few of these emerging voices which will carry on the literature of Scotland in the new millennia. Suhayl Saadi tells us in his In$nite Diversity in New Scottish Writing: We are dealing with people who have never known anything other than a multicultural society (and I’m talking here about Scottish writers from both Majority and Minority Ethnic groups). Scotland has actually always been a polyglot – but today perhaps it is simply that it is more visibly so. In a way, it’s a kind of collective identity crisis. Scots are a minority ethnic group within Britain. e English are a Minority Ethnic group in Scotland. We are all Minority Ethnic communities in the world. (Saadi 2010) Contemporary literature seems to be holding its own as the turbulent years of the previous century have passed by; numerous young writers continue to emerge and contribute to the Scottish literature cannon. Looking for new challenges and new opportunities, Scottish literature tries to rise over the self imposed boundaries of devolutionary writing and is trying to rediscover its most basic premises of representing Scotland in all its forms in the contemporary world. 82 Luka Ličar Literature of Scotland and Slovenia: From Devolution to Post-devolution, from Socialism to Independence and Beyond Yet there are some who look at the critical side of devolution. “Following devolution, both Scottish critics and creative writers began to issue reminders that Scotland’s assumed moral superiority as a victim of historical circumstances must not be permitted to persist uninterrogated” (Schoene 2007, 2). Schoene continues to elaborate that Scotland’s part in the British imperial enterprises, such as colonisation or complicity in the slave trade as is disclosed in the award-winning novel Joseph Knight (2003) by James Robertson. ere is also the fact t hat too many perceive devolution as simply a matter of Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales while many forget that England is also a part of the puzzle. One of the fears is that devolution might exculpate the former British nations of historical accountability for colonial violence. Last but not least, there is the fact of long historical and economic ties of Scotland with England. Post-devolution brings responsibilities along with more freedom. 3. From Yugoslavia to Slovenia Slovenia o