Robert Burns: The Ploughman Poet in No Man´s Land

Abstract

Considered by some critics and scholars as one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement in Britain, others, however, have failed to acknowledge this writer's contribution as a romantic poet leaving him in no man's land. A quarter of a millennium after his birth, Scottish poet Robert Burns, 'the man of independent mind', is still struggling to find his space in the literary canon. Was Robert Burns born in the wrong place at the wrong time asto be eligible for the label of romantic poet within the British tradition? lf that was the case, did his work be long to a Scottish tradition whose distinctive aesthetic features would have discarded his poetry from fully fitting in the Romantic movement in Britain despite sorne conspicuous similarities? This dissertation will aim to find a plausible answer to these questions by looking into relevant socio-political aspects, personal experiences and literary influences that might have helped shape Burns's style, and which would ultimately allow to determine to what extent his poetic production complies with the Romantic canon. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Romantic manifesto Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1800) as a major exponent of formal, aesthetic and ideological aspects pertaining to Romantic poetry will be the framework of my analysis in order to assess the romantic quality of Burns's selected poetic work, while The Bard (2009), professor Robert Crawford's comprehensive biography on Robert Burns, will serve as the starting point to comprehend the complexity of the ploughman poet and his time.Algúns críticos e estudosos considerados como un dos pioneiros do movemento romántico en Gran Bretaña, pero outros non lograron recoñecer a contribución deste escritor como poeta romántico deixándoo en terra de ninguén. Un cuarto de milenio despois do seu nacemento, o poeta escocés Robert Burns, "o home da mente independente", segue loitando por atopar o seu espazo no canon literario. ¿É que Robert Burns naceu no lugar incorrecto no momento incorrecto podía ser elixido para a etiqueta de poeta romántico dentro da tradición británica? Se fose así, o seu traballo foi longo cunha tradición escocesa cuxos trazos estéticos distintivos terían descartado que a súa poesía se encaixase plenamente no movemento romántico en Gran Bretaña a pesar das semellanzas? Esta disertación terá como finalidade atopar unha resposta plausible a estas preguntas mirando aspectos sociopolíticos relevantes, experiencias persoais e influencias literarias que puideron axudar a dar forma ao estilo de Burns e que finalmente permitiría determinar en que medida a súa produción poética cumpre co Canon romántico. O marco da miña análise será o marco romántico do manifesto romántico de William Wordsworth e Samuel Taylor Coleridge Prefacio ás Lyrical Ballads(1800) como expoñente principal dos aspectos formais, estéticos e ideolóxicos relacionados coa poesía romántica para valorar a calidade romántica da obra poética seleccionada de Burns, e The Bard (2009), a ampla biografía do profesor Robert Crawford sobre Robert Burns, servirá como punto de partida para comprender a complexidade do poeta arado e da súa época.