An &quot;Outlander&quot; Approach to Identity: A Case Study on “Scottish Identity” in the Eighteenth Century

Published from the 1990s onwards, Diana Gabaldon’s "Outlander" book series tells the story of a 1940s English nurse who travels back in time to 1740s Scotland. Although a fictional story, Gabaldon entwines it with historical peoples and events, particularly those surrounding the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. This research maps out the interaction between historical facts and fictional narration in "Outlander" to examine its effects on the construction of an “eighteenth-century Scottish identity”. The first three novels of the book series – "Outlander" (1991), "Dragonfly in Amber" (1992), and "Voyager" (1993) – prove to be particularly insightful because they highlight an “outlander” approach. Originally from a different time and space, the novels’ protagonist as well as her creator and audience embody this approach by anachronistically voicing twentieth century worldviews. The first chapter examines "Outlander"’s dialogue between traditional and modern worldviews on topics of...Show morePublished from the 1990s onwards, Diana Gabaldon’s "Outlander" book series tells the story of a 1940s English nurse who travels back in time to 1740s Scotland. Although a fictional story, Gabaldon entwines it with historical peoples and events, particularly those surrounding the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. This research maps out the interaction between historical facts and fictional narration in "Outlander" to examine its effects on the construction of an “eighteenth-century Scottish identity”. The first three novels of the book series – "Outlander" (1991), "Dragonfly in Amber" (1992), and "Voyager" (1993) – prove to be particularly insightful because they highlight an “outlander” approach. Originally from a different time and space, the novels’ protagonist as well as her creator and audience embody this approach by anachronistically voicing twentieth century worldviews. The first chapter examines "Outlander"’s dialogue between traditional and modern worldviews on topics of spirituality, love and abuse, trauma and mental health issues as well as gender roles. Rather than transcending ideology, Gabaldon reinstates a modern one. Consequently, Gabaldon risks repeating a saviour role reserved for a superior English coloniser. Simultaneously, an empathy for the “eighteenth-century Scot” arises from the focalisation within as well as outside the novels. Specifically Gabaldon’s use of romance genre conventions and contemporary feminist expectations support that reversal of terms. A construction of an “eighteenth-century Scottish identity” is furthermore entwined with an appraisal of external conditions, as argued in chapter two. An examination of language shows that in its selective exclusion of Scottish Gaelic, "Outlander" both reflects a realistic condition and exoticizes the unknown. Similarly, the Scottish lands are aestheticized in contrast to metropolitan Paris in order to make the former, as well as a “Scottish identity”, more attractive. Both these elements challenge an objective approach to formulating an “eighteenth-century Scottish identity”. What follows from the analyses of an “outlander” approach and its effects is that the "Outlander" novels emphasise intersections which contribute to the construction of a partial, stereotypical, and narrativized “eighteenth-century Scottish identity”. Rather than providing a true essence, the "Outlander" book series presents a distanced approach which reveals the limiting politics of representation and – in extension – the need for more than a single story.Show less

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An "Outlander" Approach to Identity: A Case Study on “Scottish Identity” in the Eighteenth Century