Radical Returns in an Age of Revolutions
The exile and especially the transportation of political radicals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries forms a key theme in both an academic historiography and a popular mythology of radicalism in Scotland. In particular, the exiles of the “Scottish Martyrs” of the 1790s and the men...
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| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/etudesecossaises, |
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| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lingua: | Anglais |
| Pubblicazione: |
Études écossaises
2011
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| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Riassunto: | The exile and especially the transportation of political radicals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries forms a key theme in both an academic historiography and a popular mythology of radicalism in Scotland. In particular, the exiles of the “Scottish Martyrs” of the 1790s and the men transported in 1820 for their role in the “Radical War” loom large and have received some scholarly treatment. This essay focuses on the theme of radical “return”. The more obvious rhetorical power provided by transported “martyrs” has tended to obscure the ways in which those radicals who did return from exile could continue to play important roles in popular politics. It explores three types of radical return through a number of case studies. First, it looks at an unrepentant radical, who could return from long exile and become involved, once again, in those very activities for which he had been exiled. Secondly, it explores radicals who returned and whose experience of exile proved “politically usable” within subsequent movements. Finally, it explores less tangible ideas of return, such as the sending of letters or “relics” to Scotland from exile. |
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