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Reasons to be Cheerful
In Scotland, we love to celebrate our own inadequacy and cosmic worthlessness, says the head of the Scottish Book Trust. Here. he indulges in a spot of self-flagellation.
lllll. sin. iiiisei‘_\. selliloathing. Ilell. damnation.
death and doom. Suspicion. scorn. scepticism
and unremitting gloom. 'l‘liese are all reasons to he cheerlul. apparently In Scotland. at least.
.'\'o dotiht the populations ol' other cultures partake ol the same kinds ol' iiegati\e emotions Ii‘om time to time. litit in Scotland we are real world leaders in the art ol \L‘lli-Iililgc‘llillltill. \Ve iiitist indulge in something more than the mere e\ei‘cise ol' sell-awareness. soon and sulx'rliciall} shrugged ol'l'. .'\'ot tor us the cheap and eas_\ selli-I'orgix'cness ol the I.atin. nor the measured rationalit} ol' the Dutch. Scandinznian ellicienc) in this department does not impress its. and other \ortherii nations are just as sterile and ner\eless in their gtiilt. we l'eel.
No. we are living in art inlinitel} hostile and righteotisl_\' \engel'til unixei‘se. it‘s just that other l'olk haVnae realised it )c‘t. Lacking true genius tlie_\ liaxe not heen ahle. as we lime. to raise this awareness to an ai‘tl‘orm. and thus to hecome connoisseurs ol' pessimism and sell—hate. I-‘or our part hecatise we ha\e standards you cati he sure that we w ill take great pains to pick in er the anatom} ol' our own worthlessiiess. to champion this cause h_\ endlessl} reliashing the liacts oI this incontroVertihlc case. itiasocliisticalh presenting our shame to the world lior all to see. I’arado\icall_\. this makes its cheerltil there‘s truth to he had in it alter all. Meanwhile. we'll continue to regard other l'olks' Iloundering inahilit) to deal with the essential lacts ol their own crapness with a kind ol‘ dismisshe contempt. (‘learh the} are just amateurs in the sell-hating game. We. on the other hand. liax‘e got proper protessional standards.
.-\nd we're right to shake our heads. .-\l'ter all. the} don‘t know how much I’un it is to he shite. to e\pect to he shite in an} gix‘en lield ol‘ endeamur. 'I'he} don't know how cos} it is either. thinking this wa_\. Imagine that? 'I‘here are people who ha\en‘t _\'et disco\ered that facing up their own cosmic worthlessness is a licence to wallow iii the lll\lll'} ot l‘eeling morall_\ superior h_\ Virtue ol‘ at least knowing it.
Of course. it's eas_\ to parod} this aspect ol' the Scottish ps_\che. But we can ha\e a lot ol‘ Inn with it too. In his wonderl‘ull} skewed “sell-help manual' The Wee Boo/t of ('u/i‘i’ii. Bill Duncan summons all the gloom oI‘ the North-liast cast ot mind while making its laugh out loud. In his hands just the right amount ot‘ ironic distance is maintained hetween Us and the e\idence ol‘ our indetatigahle gloom. The result is health} a hook which encourages tis to lighten tip while honouring the deep well ol' e\perience. sutt’ering and struggle that has come down to us through some triin dreich aphorisms.
But there‘s an unhealthy side to this cultural tick ot' ours too. one which is so w ill'ull} blind to achiexeinent
SELF-
10 THE LIST to Feti .‘ Mir .‘I‘x‘e
‘OTHERS ARE JUST AMATEURS AT THE
HATING GAME'
that it would rather stick its head in the sand than \‘L'It'l‘l'alt' L'lL‘tll‘ L‘\ ltlL'llc‘L‘ HI C\k'L'IICIlCL' Atlttl sllck‘L‘ss. ('learl}. this is the natural preser\e ol our journalists. .Iournalists like :\ntlrew ('olliei' w ho. w ritinfi: in 'Scotlaiid’s national new spaper‘ last month. took the opportunit} to gi\e its a hit ol' a lesson. 'l‘hundering l'rom his ptilpil. not so much slaughtering sacred cows as pulling down the entire ahattoir las he so cliai‘mingh put iti. he told its all that it was time lor the stiii to set on our reputation as a literar) nation.
Iinough ol this celehi'ation ol’our writers and their art? The lact is. Burns e\cepted. we are sllllpl} secondiate in the literar} stakes. The sooner w c lace tip to it the hetter. .'\nd there is a perl'ectl} reasonahle e\planation tor it. he I'arcicall} claimed. You see. the literar} output ol a small nation can iie\ er match the \olume produced hs _\our linglands and .-\mericas. Iii‘go. we are inescapahl) hound to he toreVei‘ second di\ision. It was a hrilliant e\aniple iii a certain kllttl til. per\erted Setilltslt thinking: an apparentl} "scientil'ic‘
ludicrous ignorance. \e\er mind that .'\li Smith won the
\Vhithread .\'o\ el ol' the )ear. or that our
poets like I)on Paterson. .Iuhn Burnside and Kathleen .Iamie are landed and awarded at the highest Ie\el. .'\'e\er mind that Alesander .\Ic('all Smith. Ian Rankin and lr\ine Welsh are among the world's higgest selling authors. Ignore the tact that .-\l. Kenned} and James ls'elman are among the most critically acclaimed. l’a} no heed to the claim that Ilogg. I3}ron. SteVenson and Scott changed the course ot‘ world literature. :\nd make sure not to mention a word till this to our teachers or their pupils. We wouldn‘t want them to get ideas ahoxe their station. would w e'.’ Marc Lambert is CEO of Scottish Book Trust. An SBT literary showcase of 15 Scottish authors in Washington and New York is part of Tartan Week 2006. Details at scottishbooktrust.com.
I,
argument deplo) ed in the ser\ice ot
PlUCKING FRUIIS FROM IHE CULTURAL BUSH
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