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E-book
Author Calder, Jenni.

Title Lost in the backwoods : Scots and the North American wilderness / Jenni Calder
Published Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, ©2013

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Description 1 online resource (246 pages) : map
Contents Scotland's hard country -- The never-ending forest -- Desperate undertakings -- Glorious independence -- Future prospects and present sacrifice -- Treasures of the forest, the field and the mine -- Regions of adventure -- The hope of the world?
Summary How the American wilderness shaped Scottish experience, imagination and identity How is the Scottish imagination shaped by its Ã♭migrÃ♭ experience with wilderness and the extreme? Drawing on journals, emigrant guides, memoirs, letters, poetry and fiction, this book examines patterns of survival, defeat, adaptation and response in North America's harshest landscapes. Most Scots who crossed the Atlantic in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries encountered the practical, moral and cultural challenges of the wilderness, with its many tensions and contradictions. Jenni Calder explores the effect of these experiences on the Scots imagination. Associated with displacement and disappearance, the 'wilderness' was also a source of adventure and redemption, of exploitation and spiritual regeneration, of freedom and restriction. An arena of greed, cruelty and cannibalism, of courage, generosity and mutual understanding, it brought out the best and the worst of humanity. Did the Scots who emigrated exchange one extreme for another, or did they discover a new idea of identity, freedom and landscape? Key Features:. The book draws on a wide range of Scottish, Canadian and US source material Illuminates overlooked aspects of the Scottish diaspora experience Extends the frontiers of Scottish history Relates to current political, cultural and genealogical concerns
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Scots -- North America -- History
Immigrants -- North America -- History
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies.
HISTORY -- Europe -- General.
Immigrants
Emigration and immigration
Scots
SUBJECT Scotland -- Emigration and immigration -- History
North America -- Emigration and immigration -- History
Subject North America
Scotland
Genre/Form Electronic books
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2013412214
ISBN 9780748647408
0748647406
9781299701601
1299701604
9780748682171
0748682171
9780748689279
0748689273