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22 | 2023
L’Écosse vue d’ailleurs

Scotland from Elsewhere
Edited by Cyril Besson
Études écossaises n° 22 / 2023
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ISBN 978-2-37747-412-7

One could have imagined that in 2014, Scotland had renewed its bond with the United Kindom; after all, 55.3% of Scots had answered “No” to the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, and only 44.7%, “Yes”. Two years later, the Brexit referendum changed things dramatically, since contrary to what had happened everywhere else in the UK, the “Remain” vote won 62% to 38% in Scotland.
This state of affairs allowed the SNP to make itself heard more audibly than ever before: there definitely was an incompatibility between the Scottish nation and British rule, and an inconsistency to the very notion of United Kingdom (see for example Nicola Sturgeon’s speech from 13 March 2017).
Scotland, then, sees itself again as an “other” within the British fold—but what, precisely, is Scotland like in the eyes of others? What is at stake when Scotland is represented elsewhere, politically, artistically, legally or in culture at large? What meanings does the signifier, “Scotland”, take in Canada, for the European Union, or when it circulates as an idea, within the borders of the United Kingdom but also internationally? Conversely, has this detour by otherness been the opportunity for Scotland to think back on itself, reflexively? Those are some of the questions the contributors of this issue address, in a pluridisciplinary approach.

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