Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity

This article explores the formation of British imperial identity through a focus on the career of Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832), a well-known Whig intellectual and imperial careerist who originally hailed from the Highlands of Scotland. Using Mackintosh's unpublished letters and autobiograph...

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Main Author: Gust, Onni
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30989/
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author Gust, Onni
author_facet Gust, Onni
author_sort Gust, Onni
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description This article explores the formation of British imperial identity through a focus on the career of Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832), a well-known Whig intellectual and imperial careerist who originally hailed from the Highlands of Scotland. Using Mackintosh's unpublished letters and autobiography, the article shows how he imagined and narrated his relationship to the Scottish Highlands from the vantage points of Bombay and London. In contrast to recent historiography that has focused on the translation of Scottish society, culture, and identity in British imperial spaces, this article argues that disidentification from the Highlands of Scotland and the erasure of different peoples, cultures, and textures of life was integral to Mackintosh's configuration of a British imperial identity.
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spelling nottingham-309892020-05-04T20:19:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30989/ Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity Gust, Onni This article explores the formation of British imperial identity through a focus on the career of Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832), a well-known Whig intellectual and imperial careerist who originally hailed from the Highlands of Scotland. Using Mackintosh's unpublished letters and autobiography, the article shows how he imagined and narrated his relationship to the Scottish Highlands from the vantage points of Bombay and London. In contrast to recent historiography that has focused on the translation of Scottish society, culture, and identity in British imperial spaces, this article argues that disidentification from the Highlands of Scotland and the erasure of different peoples, cultures, and textures of life was integral to Mackintosh's configuration of a British imperial identity. Cambridge University Press 2013-07 Article PeerReviewed Gust, Onni (2013) Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity. Journal of British Studies, 52 (03). pp. 615-637. ISSN 1545-6986 Highland Scotland; British Empire; Imperial networks; Britishness; Gender; Identity; Belonging http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8956687&fileId=S0021937113001147 doi:10.1017/jbr.2013.114 doi:10.1017/jbr.2013.114
spellingShingle Highland Scotland; British Empire; Imperial networks; Britishness; Gender; Identity; Belonging
Gust, Onni
Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title_full Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title_fullStr Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title_full_unstemmed Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title_short Remembering and forgetting the Scottish Highlands: Sir James Mackintosh and the forging of a British imperial identity
title_sort remembering and forgetting the scottish highlands: sir james mackintosh and the forging of a british imperial identity
topic Highland Scotland; British Empire; Imperial networks; Britishness; Gender; Identity; Belonging
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30989/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30989/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30989/