本文是一篇英语论文，本文以简·阿斯曼（Jan Assmann）的文化记忆为切入点，对《女王的守灵》中的盖尔口头文化、氏族文化和德鲁伊文化进行了探索，揭示了霍格希望苏格兰人继承盖尔文化，促进民族和文化认同，实现文化独立的愿望。
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research background
James Hogg was an outstanding Scottish poet in the British Romantic period,whowas born in Ettrickhall.He was familiar with Scottish legends due to his mother’sinfluence and his experience as a shepherd.As a shepherd,he learned a large quantity ofScottish traditional folk tales from the old shepherds and borrowed classical novels fromhis masters,which provided rich materials for his literary achievement.Hence,Hogg wascalled“The Ettrick Shepherd”,which strengthened the authenticity and authority of hismemory writing of Gaelic culture in the beginning.However,this nickname alsoconstrains Hogg,because he was written as a primitive and vulgar shepherd who wasdifferent from modern society in Noctes Ambrosianae.It is fortunate that“Mr.Hogg,isupon the whole,a very fortunate man;his name is already more familiar to the Englishpublic than a far greater name,namely Burns,was,until seven years after his death”(Pungent,1830:297).In the 1940s,Hogg and his works were well received again becausethe French critic Andre Gide gave a high appraisal of his novel The Private Memories andConfessions of a Justified Sinner.The Queen’s Wake is included.In a word,James Hogg isan outstanding Scottish poet.
1.2 Research objectives,approach and significance
Based on the research background,the theory of cultural memory is adopted toexplore Gaelic culture that Hogg has memorized in The Queen’s Wake,his attitude towardsGaelic culture and the reasons for writing it.Accordingly,three research questions arebeing answered.First,how is Gaelic culture memorized in The Queen’s Wake?Second,what are the connotations of the memory forms in The Queen’s Wake?Third,why doesHogg memorize Gaelic culture in The Queen’s Wake?Based on the research questions,two research approaches are adopted in this thesis to find out the cultural elements thatHogg has memorized in this poem,explore the reasons for Hogg’s writing of The Queen’sWake and analyze Hogg’s attitude towards Gaelic culture.The research approaches areclose reading and historical analysis.Firstly,Gaelic culture in the poem can be interpretedthrough close reading,and they are Gaelic oral culture,clan culture and Druid culture.Secondly,ritual form and textual form in the poem are classified according to Jan Assmann’s cultural memory through close reading as well.Accordingly,the relationshipsamong memory forms,Gaelic culture and their functions are revealed by analyzing thepoem from the perspective of cultural memory.Thirdly,the reasons for Hogg’s writing ofThe Queen’s Wake and his attitude towards Gaelic culture are explored through historicalanalysis.
Based on the research objectives and research approach,the research significance liesin its academic value.Although Hogg is a distinguished Scottish poet,few scholars studyhim and his works in China.Hence,this thesis expects to provide readers with a newperspective of The Queen’s Wake and his other works.It also offers an effective case studyfor Gaelic culture.
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Critical reviews on The Queen’s Wake
The Queen’s Wake is Hogg’s poem that makes him known to the public,and thispoem has been studied for many years from different angles.It will give a comprehensiveunderstanding of The Queen’s Wake and provide more information for the writing of thisthesis from the reviews.
2.1.1 Reviews on female characters
Margaret Laidlaw is Hogg’s mother who profoundly influences him.She has a livelypersonality,and she is filled with songs of spectres,ghosts and fairies.Hogg has said theloss of his mother means he loses the best friend and the support of the woman that hetreasures in his heart.Therefore,his works are always full of pure and courageous femalecharacters,including The Queen’s Wake.
To begin with,it is necessary to learn Hogg’s writing on female characters,which isbeneficial to understand the female characters in The Queen’s Wake and the differences orsimilarities among his other works.Leonardi(2016)discusses Hogg’s female characters through Hogg’s encouragement to women to resist authority and address illegitimatepregnancy from the perspective of the politeness principle.It has challenged the norms oftaste and decorum of the middle class.In Leonardi’s(2016)the other passage,he indicatesHogg’s idea about the solidarity between Lowlands and Highlands is not through thepolitical marriage like Scott’s works,but through the friendship of an independent female.These passages praise the purity of women,convey Hogg’s sympathy for them and raisetheir status respectively.
2.2 Critical reviews on Assmann’s cultural memory
Memory is always a hot topic that scholars have never forgotten,significantly at thetime of the generations who have witnessed the world war are decreasing.At this time,JanAssmann’s cultural memory comes into being to store remote memories.This part focuseson the reviews of cultural memory.
2.2.1 Reviews on the perspective of memory forms
Memory forms are important for preserving remote memories,and they are the mostsignificant carriers to realize the cultural level of cultural memory.Memory forms incultural memory have been researching for a long time,especially in the new era.
Kuhn(2007)thinks personal and family photographs are the important carriers topreserve memory.It provides a particularly effective way to understand social and culturalinstruments of memory.The photograph is a kind of memory form to capture remotememories,and his passage demonstrates the function of photographs in cultural memoryat length.Astrid Erll and Ann Rigney(2009)claim the vital role of literature in preservingcultural memory.Literary genres are known to the public who receives the sameknowledge,and they have an impact on cultural memory through the culture shared by anation.Therefore,literary genres are memory forms to affect national identity.This studyrefines the textual form of classics in cultural memory.Cushman and Ghosh(2012)explore the influence of digital preservation on the formation of cultural memory.Theythink digital media offers a reform of previous memory forms,and it preserves traditionalculture in time and space.Haux,Dominice and Raspotnig(2021)consider that the digitalage has cultural memory for digitization and the creation of digital arts have raisedconcerns about the definition,preservation and transmission of heritage.This researchexplains the importance of cultural forms in inheriting cultural heritage.
Chapter 3 Theoretical Foundation...........................13
3.1 Assmann’s cultural memory.......................................13
3.1.1 The development of cultural memory............................13
3.1.2 The content of Assmann’s cultural memory.............................15
Chapter 4 Memory of Gaelic Culture in The Queen’s Wake.......................22
4.1 Memory of oral culture:pursuit of cultural survival space..........................22
4.1.1 Gaelic as oral culture container...................................23
4.1.2 Bard as oral culture carrier....................................29
Chapter 5 Conclusion.............................58
5.1 Major findings............................58
5.2 Implications..................................59
Chapter 4 Memory of Gaelic Culturein The Queen’s Wake
4.1 Memory of oral culture:pursuit of cultural survival space
Oral culture is known as oral tradition,which is a form of human communication.Knowledge,memories,art,idea and cultural material are transmitted orally fromgeneration to generation.It is evident that language and specific people are significant forconveying oral culture.Oral culture allows ordinary people to express their concerns aboutlife through their own language,and some places’names are related to oral tradition.Thephenomena strengthen Gaels’cultural identity.Cultural memory links memory,identityand cultural continuity together.Hogg’s memory of the event that Mary returned to hernative land and held a poetry competition more than 200 years ago was a connection tomemory,identity and cultural continuity.The poetry competition provides group memberswith a common memory to achieve the function of inheriting Gaelic culture and realizingcultural identity.In The Queen’s Wake,oral culture is presented by Gaelic words and bardsto reflect Hogg’s resistance to cultural colonization and his pursuit of Scottish cultural survival space.
4.1.1 Gaelic as oral culture container
Language is the fundamental way of human communication,and it is one of thecrucial characteristics of a nation.Basically,each nation has its own language to conveyits culture,and multi-ethnic countries are no exception.Scotland is a member of amulti-ethnic country,and Gaelic is highlanders’language to communicate.Hence,Gaelicis a significant part of Scottish culture.Gaelic is a linguistic group of one of the twobranches of Insular Celtic languages,and it generally refers to Scottish Gaelic that spokenby highlanders.Furthermore,it was spoken by lowlanders before England’s invasion.As akind of language form,Gaelic is an oral culture container to record history,religion andfolklore of early Scottish society.
Chapter 5 Conclusion
5.1 Major findings
Gaelic culture is researched to reflect Hogg’s aim of achieving cultural independencethrough the analysis of The Queen’s Wake in detail in the light of Jan Assmann’s culturalmemory.The four major findings are as follows:
Firstly,Gaelic culture is memorized through the presentation and reconstruction ofthe memory forms in The Queen’s Wake.Gaelic words,Highland costume,pagan beliefsand nature worship are presented to memorize Gaelic culture immediately,while the statusof bards and the image of Mary Stuart are reconstructed to memorize Gaelic culture.
Secondly,the extensive use of Gaelic words in textual form and the reconstruction ofthe bard in ritual form reflect Hogg’s cultural appeal for the return and the inheritance oforal culture in the printing age.The reconstruction of Mary Stuart,the praise of clanmember’s bravery and the presentation of Highland costume reveal Hogg’s nostalgia ofthe orderly hierarchical society.It also conveys Hogg’s hope to find a stable politicalenvironment to offset the disadvantages of the excessively free society.The memory ofpagan beliefs and nature worship are Hogg’s pursuit of the spiritual and ecologicalfreedom in Druid culture.
Thirdly,the purpose of Hogg’s memory of Gaelic culture is to protect and inherit Gaelic culture,pursuit national identity and realize cultural independence within amulti-ethnic country.At the same time,although Gaelic culture is memorized by Hogg,hedoes not object to the union of England and Scotland.
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