Introduction

In 'Scottish Literature: The English and European Dimensions' R. D. S. Jack addresses the problematical question of the canon of Scottish literature. Criteria for inclusion in the modern Scottish literary canon tend to be defined in reaction to Scotland's self-conscious nationalism. Ethnological features are stressed: works written in the Scots dialect or ones that emphasize certain themes are judged worthier of placement within the contemporary canon than those which qualify for aesthetic reasons. Like the nationalistic historians, poets also incorporated the humanist tradition in their promotion of the national culture. A group of essays here attend to works of Neo-Latin poetry and literature that employ an international tradition of culture in the service of national themes. The seminal role of Italian humanism in the spread of Renaissance values cannot be underestimated and is here illustrated by three essays that chart the cross-fertilization of cultures.