Author : Alexander Moffat
Publisher : Luath Press Ltd
ISBN 13 : 190991293X
Total Pages : 371 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (99 download)
Book Synopsis Arts of Independence by : Alexander Moffat
Download or read book Arts of Independence written by Alexander Moffat and published by Luath Press Ltd. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is only one argument for Scottish independence: the cultural argument. It was there long before North Sea oil had been discovered, and it will be here long after the oil has run out. How have perceptions of Scottish culture been shaped by its role within Britain? What would be different about culture in an Independent Scotland? Why is culture the key to the independence debate? ALEXANDER MOFFAT and ALAN RIACH take a hard look at the most neglected aspect of the argument for Scotland's distinctive national identity: the arts. Their proposition is that music, painting, architecture and, pre-eminently, literature, are the fuel and fire that makes imagination possible. Neglect them at your peril. For Moffat and Riach, jobs, health and trade are matters of material fact that need to be enlivened by imagination. How can we organise society to help us approach what the arts have to give. Why have we been so poor at representing our arts comprehensively, both within Scotland and internationally? What can be done? How might things be different? The arts are of paramount importance in the modern world. Moffat and Riach take the argument out of the hands of politicians and economists and beyond the petty squabbles of party politics. Praise for Arts of Resistance An inspiration, a revelation and education, as to the extraordinary richness and organic cohesion of twentieth-century Scottish culture, full of intellectual adventure and openness to the wider world... full of passion and intelligence... This is a landmark book. THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT