Enfilade

New Edited Collection on Women in Eighteenth-Century Scotland
Proposals due by 18 April 2011

The eighteenth century looms large in the Scottish imagination. It is a century that saw the doubling of the population, rapid urbanisation, industrial growth, the political Union of 1707, the Jacobite Rebellions and the Enlightenment – events that were intrinsic to the creation of the modern nation and to putting Scotland on the international map. The impact of the era on modern Scotland can be seen in the numerous buildings named after the luminaries of the period –Adam Smith, David Hume, William Robertson, the endorsement of Robert Burns as the national poet/ hero, the preservation of the Culloden battlefield as a tourist attraction, and the physical geographies of its major towns. Yet, while it is a century that remains central to modern constructions of national identity, it is a period associated with men. Until recently, the history of women in eighteenth-century Scotland, with perhaps the honourable exception of Flora McDonald, remained unwritten. Over the last decade however, research on women and gender in Scotland has flourished and we have an increasingly full picture of women’s lives at all social levels across the century. As a result, this is an appropriate moment to reflect on what we know about Scottish women during the eighteenth century, to ask how their history affects the traditional narratives of the period, and to reflect on the implications for a national history of Scotland and Scottish identity.

An edited collection, Women in Eighteenth-Century Scotland, seeks to address these questions under the themes of work, politics and culture, and family life. Each section will incorporate new research in the field, highlighting the current state of the field and pointing to directions for future research. The themes have been selected to provide an overview of women’s experiences in different areas of eighteenth-century life, but also to engage with the most vibrant areas of current research into European women’s history. Therefore this collection will provide a comparative discussion for women’s history in different national contexts. In addition to providing new research, each article will actively engage with the current historiography of the period, ensuring that the collection offers not only a substantial contribution to Scottish women’s history but also to Scottish national history and identity.

The editors now invite proposals for articles of 8,000 words, including footnotes. The themes of the edition should be interpreted broadly, reflecting the current field, including but not limited to: household work, paid labour, farming, crime, war and violence, reading and writing, education, leisure activities, singing and oral culture, politics, women in public/ private spaces, Enlightenment society, urban/ rural cultures, the body, religion, marriage, children, cohabitation, queer histories, singleness, family networks and more. We are interested in articles that engage with any part of the eighteenth century and the collection hopes to give coverage of the whole century and a variety of social groups. Essays that are broad in their chronological or class coverage are particularly welcome. Proposals of 500 words should be sent to Katie Barclay and Debbi Simonton at k.barclay@qub.ac.uk by the 18th April 2011 and authors will be notified of their acceptance in May 2011. Draft chapters will be due to editors by 31st October 2011 and will be fully peer-reviewed. Revised articles will be due 1st May 2012. For more information, please contact Katie Barclay at k.barclay@qub.ac.uk and Debbi Simonton at dsimonton@language.sdu.dk.