Resistance to Accommodation: Postcolonial Readings of the Highland Clearances in Iain Crichton Smith's Consider the Lilies.

This article re-examines Iain Crichton Smith's Consider the Lilies (1968) through the lens of postcolonial theory, situating the novel within historical debates on the Highland Clearances and their representation in Scottish literature. While earlier criticism has often treated the Clearances in pre...

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Publicado en:Scottish Literary Review Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 1 - 22
Autor principal: Chiu, Kang-Yen
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Association for Scottish Literary Studies Autumn/Winter2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Resistance to Accommodation: Postcolonial Readings of the Highland Clearances in Iain Crichton Smith's Consider the Lilies.
      aug:
        au: Chiu, Kang-Yen
        affil: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
      su:
        Consider the Lilies (Book)
        Smith, Iain Crichton, 1928-1998
        Eviction
        Postcolonialism
        Scottish literature
      sug:
        subj:
          Consider the Lilies (Book)
          Smith, Iain Crichton, 1928-1998
          Eviction
          Postcolonialism
          Scottish literature
      keyword:
        20th century
        colonialism
        Gaelic culture
        Highland Clearances
        postcolonial
        Scottish identity
      ab: This article re-examines Iain Crichton Smith's Consider the Lilies (1968) through the lens of postcolonial theory, situating the novel within historical debates on the Highland Clearances and their representation in Scottish literature. While earlier criticism has often treated the Clearances in predominantly socio-economic terms, this study foregrounds their colonial dimension, drawing on Gaelic perspectives and theories of internal colonialism. It shows how Crichton Smith depicts dehumanisation, internalised oppression, and cultural marginalisation, while also portraying the resilience of Mrs Scott and Donald Macleod. By combining postcolonial frameworks with Gaelic cultural contexts, the article argues that Consider the Lilies functions as a counter-narrative to the rhetoric of 'improvement', reframing the Clearances as an act of cultural erasure within a wider colonial project. The essay's contribution lies in grounding theoretical models in close reading, highlighting the novel's symbolic dimensions, and clarifying its significance for understanding both mid-twentieth-century Scottish identity and the enduring resilience of Gaelic culture.
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    language: English
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