Derick Thomson and the Gaelic Revival

Explores Derick Thomson's far-reaching influence on the 20th-century revival of Scottish Gaelic Derick Thomson and the Gaelic Revival focuses in expert detail on the 'other' great 20th-century Scottish Gaelic poet and intellectual. Derick Thomson's poetry ranks with Sorley MacLean's as among the best in the Gaelic language, and he contributed to the preservation and development of the language as an editor, journalist, scholar and activist. As well as founding and steering the most important modern Gaelic magazine, Gairm, he instigated a number of ventures aimed at promoting Gaelic and had major impact on Gaelic studies as an academic subject. His vision of the Gaelic revival is characterised by high aesthetic standards, organisational and economic shrewdness, openness to second-language users, support for Scottish political independence and a broad European outlook. The very first book-length study devoted to Thomson, this monograph explores his career within the context of the Gaelic revival in Scotland and other minoritised-language movements in Europe and examines his thoughts on the current and future state of the language as articulated in essays, articles, poems and short fiction. Key features and benefits  Based on previously untranslated sources  Introduces the scholar and activist who was the driving force behind influential initiatives aimed at promoting Gaelic  Offers a fresh European perspective on the subject, from an author with a command of Gaelic who is herself not Scottish  Incorporates a multifaceted approach that brings together Derick Thomson's cultural and political activism, poetry and scholarship  Examines Thomson's engagement with other countries, especially Ireland and Wales, and with other figures, including Alexander MacDonald (Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair), James Macpherson and Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar  Written with regard to international audiences and relevant for both Gaelic speakers and readers without a command of Gaelic  Enables the incorporation of modern Gaelic writing into comparative literature in Europe Petra Johana Poncarová is based at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. She translates from Gaelic into Czech and her award-winning Czech edition of Tormod Caimbeul's Deireadh an Fhoghair is the first complete translation of the iconic novel into any language.