Abstract
Argues that it was the persona of Hugh MacDiarmid, as much as his poetry, which brought about the Scottish Literary Renaissance of the 1920s, but that behind the extravagant personality lay an obscure biographical puzzle. Christopher Murray Grieve possessed little personal resemblance to his pseudonymous self and even less interest in what motivated him to create such an antagonist. In this essay, the author of a new life of MacDiarmid explores how the dominant figure of 20th century Scottish literature composed himself out of found texts, psychological misdirection and confected autobiography.
Recommended Citation
Linklater, Alexander
(2024)
"The Real Christopher: Sleights of Text and Mind Behind the Persona of Hugh MacDiarmid,"
Studies in Scottish Literature:
Vol. 49:
Iss.
1, 163–180.
DOI: 10.51221/sc.ssl.2024.49.1.10
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol49/iss1/10