Formation of Scottish Ethnic Identity through the Historical and Social Events

Tarasova Kira Eduardovna Postgraduate student, Higher School of Translation and Interpreting, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, building 51 tarasova.kira@gmail.com

The period from the middle of the XX century to the present is characterized by the promotion of the concept of identity in relation to the ethno-cultural characteristics of various social groups "in the conditions of increasing multiculturalism of modern society" ^{[3, p. 8]}. Such a process occurs through the strengthening of nationalist sentiments in the regions where historical ethno-cultural communities live, for example, in Scotland and Catalonia, which is accompanied by the formation of national movements for the preservation of the identity of their regions, political views, religious beliefs, lifestyle choices, methods and nature of communication ^{[3, p. 8]}. Interest in the problems of identity and the subject's awareness of belonging to a social group, as well as ethnic conflicts that are caused by the activity of nationalist organizations (structural approach) or propaganda of the ideology of nationalism by the cultural elite (psychocultural approach) ^{[7, p. 207]} in contrast to the policy of a centralized government, is determined by "numerous conflicts of cultural, religious, ethnic, national identity of different social groups" ^[6], which are explained by changes in social strata, the interaction of previously non-contacting groups and the desire for minority autonomy.

The word "identity" goes back to the Latin identitas "identity" ^[34]. In explanatory dictionaries of the English language, the identity lexeme has the values of the quality of difference: "the quality or condition of being a specified person or thing" ^{[39, p.740]}; "the qualities that make a person, organization, etc. different from others"^[20]; "the qualities that make someone or something that they are and different from other people" ^[30], and the state of existence of identity (the state of being the same): "the state of being the same in substance, nature, qualities" ^{[39, p.740]}; «the fact of being, or feeling that you are, a particular type of person, organization, etc.» ^[20]; «the fact of being exactly the same» ^[30]. In the Russian-speaking space, identity is understood as "a person's awareness of himself through a set of stable characteristics" ^[6],"the correlation of an individual with a social group or community with which he shares norms, values, group attitudes" ^{[15, p.114]}.

Identity is a broad concept that includes ideas about the interaction of individuals with each other and with social structures and forms a "rather complex socio–historical construct", for the description of which to conduct comprehensive research, "influenced the creation of the term in the form of etymological, socio-cultural, historical and discursive types of analysis, the construction of a frame and subframes, the comparison of these details in one language and then in two languages, especially in intercultural communication and sociolinguistic analysis" ^[8]. The main directions in the study of identity issues in the social sciences in the West in the twentieth century include I. Hoffman's social role theory of identity (identity = role performance) and G. Tashvel's theory of social identity (identity= membership in a social group). The theory of self-categorization by G. Tashvel and J. Turner suggests that social identity is based on the individual's need to increase self-esteem through comparisons and differentiation with others, while categorization is considered as a cognitive process. However, these theories do not consider the aspect of language as a component of identity.  It is worth noting poststructuralist approaches to the concept of identity, in which discourse acts as a formative factor, thanks to which identities are formed ^{[37, p. 2212]}. V.A. Lukov in his writings develops a "semiotic concept of identity, identifying it with the meanings and signs of various cultural thesauri" ^[6]. In Western studies of identity, several types of it are distinguished, based on ideas about the distinctive features of an individual, interpersonal relationships and collective knowledge of a social group. J. Turner refers to personal (distinctive characteristics of an individual from other members of an internal group: special character traits, achievements, talents, etc.) and social (similar characteristics shared by an individual with members certain social categories: gender, age, ethnicity, profession, etc.) of identity ^{[42, p. 3]}; ^{[3, p. 13]}. Br. Hall considers three levels of identity: personal identity (uniqueness of personality), identity of relationships (product of interpersonal relationships) and collective identity (similarity by gender, In his works, Assmann distinguishes personal (roles and competencies acquired by an individual in the process of socialization), individual (an image containing unique characteristics of an individual) and collective (representations of a social group about themselves based on collective memory and general knowledge) identity ^{[3, p. 14]}. The works of Russian researchers mainly consider social identity (identification of one's group with other social groups), ethnic identity (identification of a subject with an ethnic community), cultural identity (identification of a subject with a cultural tradition) ^{[12, pp. 110-114; 10, pp. 238-23; 3, p. 15]}. These types of identity are determined by the parameters on the basis of which the subject is identified with a social group: gender, age, regional, ethnic, national, cultural, confessional, etc. ^{[3, p. 15]}.

This article examines ethnic identity, which is usually considered as an integral part of social identity, and which is understood as "the result of a cognitive-emotional process" ^{[12, p.110]}, "awareness of one's belonging to an ethnic community"^{[11, p. 32-33]}. Ethnic identity includes three components: cognitive (ideas about an ethnic group), emotional (attachment to a group) and behavioral (stereotypical behavior: using the native language, following values and traditions, etc.) ^{[7, p. 206]}. Ethnic self-identification is the basis of ethnic identity, while "the origins of its origin are in the historical past", which is "objectified mainly in the cultural and linguistic sphere" ^{[11, pp. 32-33]}. Language plays an important role in the process of ethnic identification, as it is a repository of accumulated knowledge, traditions and customs of the ethnos, and "various elements of language ... are of great importance when identifying an individual with a certain social or territorial group"^{[10, pp. 72-73]}. Thus, language appears as an ethnosociocultural phenomenon, while "it exists, first of all, in the linguistic consciousness as a set of images of consciousness formed and internalized with the help of linguistic means" ^{[3, p. 24]}.

The community of origin, regionalism, language, religion, cultural characteristics and stereotypes that have developed in the representation of an ethnic community allow identifying belonging to a certain ethnic group and form ethnic self–consciousness - "a relatively stable system of objectively existing elements of ethnic reality reflected in consciousness" ^{[6, p. 138]}, which is formed and develops together with an ethnic group in as part of the unfolding of a number of historical events ^{[11, pp. 29-30]}. 

This study attempts to form an idea of the development of ethnic identity and a sense of patriotism in Scotland through the prism of historical and social events. The purpose of the article is to consider the origin and development of ethnic identity as an emotional and cognitive process of attributing a person to a certain ethno-cultural community, as a result of which a certain idea, concept is formed – "an operational unit of memory, mental lexicon, conceptual system and language of the brain, the whole picture of the world" ^{[5, pp. 90-92]}. Confirmation of the prevailing ideas about Scottish identity is considered on the material of articles by J. M. Mackenzie ^[29], M. Liinpaa ^[27], J. Bone ^[17] as members of an ethno-cultural community united by a common language, religion, culture and history ^{[19, p. 94]}, as well as on the basis of texts that relate to the important historical events that influenced the formation of ethnic identity.

The relevance of the research is due, on the one hand, to the interest in identity issues in the socio-humanities, and, on the other hand, to an attempt to consider the process of formation and to form an idea of ethnic identity among Scots. This study is also of interest in connection with the possibility of holding a second referendum on Scottish independence in 2023, which is due not only to political factors, but also to the growth of ethnic consciousness of Scots, which is caused by internal factors (devolution; the question of knowledge of the Anglo-Scottish language raised during the population census in Scotland in 2011; the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014, etc.) and external factors (globalization, immigration, the growth of nationalist sentiments in other countries), which led to the desire of Scots to remember their historical roots and revive their national language.

Before forming a holistic view of the Scottish ethnic identity, it seems necessary to consider the historical events presented in Figure 1 and influenced the process of formation and transformation of the ethnic identity of the Scots from regional to national.

Fig.1 Formation of the ethnic identity of the Scots through the prism of historical events

Throughout history, the British Isles have attracted settlers, conquerors and immigrants to their lands, which led to the creation of a modern multinational community. Britain appears not as a single nation, but as a union of four historical ethnicities (English, Welsh, Scots and Irish). K. Fox in his book “Watching the English” refers not to the concept of Britishness, but to the concept of Englishness, not only because she considers the identity of the English, but also because, following K. Kumar, B.R. Crick says that the concept of Britain is more of a political construct that unites several nations, each with its own distinctive culture, while the concept of England can be understood as a nation (native Englishmen), i.e. this concept carries national characteristics and culture. Another point in favor of the use of Englishness, according to K. Fox, are the differences between the cultures of the four nations, which cannot be combined under one concept of Britishness ^[21]. It is also worth noting that the use of Britishness in the context of the issue of identity, especially ethnic, may be inappropriate based on the definitions of identity, which are given above. The population of Great Britain cannot be categorized on the basis of the quality of difference or the state of being the same, since Britishness consists of Englishness, Scottishness, Welshness and Irishness, each of which has its own origins of identity, its own language, cultural characteristics and its own history.

By analogy with the propositions put forward by K. Fox et al., speaking about one of the main four ethnic groups of Great Britain, it seems possible to speak separately about Englishness, Scottishness, Welshness and Irishness instead of Britishness. Thus, it can be assumed that in this article the ideas of Scottish identity and a sense of patriotism are built around the concept of Scottishness, which is proved by considering the development of ethnic identity through the prism of historical and social events.

The process of the origin of ethnic identity among Scots was influenced by regionalism and the formation of their own national language: the formation of settlements by Scots migrating from Ireland to the Scottish Highlands and western islands in 200-400 AD; the formation of Scottish Gaelic as the national and government language from 900 to the beginning of the XII century; the settlement of the southern lowland part of Scotland in the V v. Anglo-Saxons; the gradual formation of the Anglo-Scottish language from the Northumbrian dialect of the Angles, which at that time still differed little from the English language, formed under the influence of the dialects of the Saxons. By the 12th century, the Anglo-Scottish language was spreading throughout Scotland, displacing the Gaelic language and acquiring the status of the language of the Scottish population ^{[36, p. 219]}.Thus, we can speak, at least, about the linguistic and regional conflict situation that developed between the Scots of the Scottish Highlands and the Anglo-Saxons of the southern lowland part of Scotland, which affected the formation of the Scots' ideas not as a single nation, but from the point of view of historical and geographical settlement: S cots themselves thought regionally rather nationally.

The events that took place during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296-1328, 1332-1357) influenced the formation of Scottish identity and the unity of the inhabitants of the highlands and lowlands of Scotland. It is worth noting the significance of the Arbort Declaration of 1320, which is the main document in the wars for Scottish independence and the manifesto of Scottish nationalism (from the declaration: the realm of Scotland; own nation; the Scots) ^[38], the formation of the first Scottish Parliament in 1326 and the signing of the Northampton Peace Treaty in 1328, which marked the end of the war and recognition of Scotland's independence (from the treaty: “... Kings of England have endeavored to establish rights of rule ... over the realm of Scotland”; “separate in all things from the Kingdom of England”; “without any kind of subjection”) ^[40], – all this contributed to the formation of the idea of a single, an independent, Christian kingdom and the steadfastness of the Scottish spirit ^{[33, p.xiv-xviii]}; ^{[31, p.22-24]}; ^[38]; ^{[33, p. 41]}, which can be expressed by a line from the Arbort Declaration: “never will we on any conditions be subjected to t he lordship of the English” ^[38], where inversion reinforces the desire of the Scots to defend their freedom as a separate people.

Scotland remained independent until 1603, when England and Scotland were united by James I of England. A turning point in history is the unification of England, Wales and Scotland in 1707 into a single state with the abolition of the Scottish Parliament and the formation of a centralized government in England. There is a process of Anglicization of Scotland: English becomes the official language of the Scottish population, while the Anglo-Scottish language is identified with cultural backwardness and lack of education, which leads to its decline ^{[22, p.219]}.  The process of Anglicization is particularly evident in the field of education: teaching English grammar in schools (“it is necessary for any other Scots school to be appointed for teaching the young...to read English” [cit. on 23]), teaching grammar of the English language and English literature in higher educational institutions ^[23]. There is a creation of a common, collective idea of unity, designated by the concept of Britishness, identified with centralized state institutions such as the monarchy, parliament, law, Protestant churches and their values ^{[33, p. 51]}. Thus, there is, on the one hand, assimilation and integration of "a person with the values and norms of another culture" ^{[14, p. 31]} with the preservation of the old culture or rejection of it, and, on the other hand, separation, i.e., "denial of "someone else's culture" and the preservation of their national, ethnic characteristics" ^{[14, p. 32]}. At this time, ideas about their cultural and historical identity are being formed in the minds of Scots: cultural values, myths, constructions of the past, inventions of tradition. The Scottish writer G. Mackenzie notes that, despite the fact that books in Scotland are written in English, excluding Anglo-Scottish from written use, it remains only in the oral tradition ("our conversation is in SCOTCH"; "His own native original language, which he hears spoken around him, he does not make use of ” [cit. by 24]).

Another key moment not only in the history of Britain, but also in the formation of the Scottish sense of patriotism, was played by the industrial revolutions of the XVIII-XIX centuries ^{[33, p.43]}. At this time, the industrialization of Scotland is actively taking place: the Scots promote their culture both in Scotland and in the British colonies, which is expressed through the phrases Burns societies, Highland games, Caledonian and St. An drews organizations, combined in the expression cunningly contrive d amalgam of Highland and Lowland elements. At this time, it is no longer the concept of Britishness that comes to the fore, but the uniqueness of each ethnic community of the British Empire, as it was before 1707: re-emerging nationalities of the Celtic periphery; reconciliation of Scottish ethnic nationalism, re-invented Highland culture. Romanticized ideas about Scotland (Scottish scenic and historical heritage, romantic and sublime landscape) are created in the works of J. Fergusson, J. Ritson, Sir W. Scott, and there is also a revival of the Anglo-Scottish language, which contributes to the formation of the idea of Scottish identity and uniqueness. At the beginning of the XIX century. The Scottish lexicographer J. Jamison compiles the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, the first published dictionary of the English-Scottish language ^[25]. Despite the interest in the English-Scottish language, until the mid-twentieth century. it is strongly influenced by the English language and is perceived as an artificial dialect invented by writers of the XVIII-XIX centuries, rather than an independent language ^{[36, p. 219]}, which affects the Scots' awareness of their ethnic identity through language.

Until the mid-20th century, ethnic identity was largely determined by the cultural characteristics of the people, but from the 60s-70s, the political side of nationalism began to strengthen: in 1934, the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) was founded, calling for the independence of Scotland (reinforcing the nationalist cause), and in 1999-2000 devolution took place. During this period, one can observe the transition from ethnic nationalism to civil ^{[28, p. 96]}. Scots increasingly define themselves in terms of their individual nationality, rather than as British ^{[33, p.52]}. Nationalism "transforms existing ethnic ... identities and gives new meaning to the cultural heritage used" ^{[2, p. 88]}. In 2001, the UK government recognized Anglo-Scottish as a minority language, 8 years after the Council of Europe undertook to protect this national language of Scotland. The document “Literature and English: Principles and Practice” (2009) stipulates the importance of the Anglo-Scottish language and literature of Scotland for the study of Scottish culture, identity and language by children in schools: Scotland's vibrant literary and linguistic heritage; indigenous languages and dialects ^[35], which helps to form ethnic identity.

Another important development is the raising of the issue of the English-Scottish language in the 2011 census of Scotland, according to which 38 percent of the population of Scotland can speak, read, write or understand the English-Scottish language. The census results also showed that 62 percent of the population of Scotland identify themselves as Scottish (who felt Scottish only; identified themselves as Scots speakers), 18 percent identify themselves as both Scottish and British (who felt both Scottish and British), and only 8 percent of the population identify themselves as British (who felt British only) ^[18]. The referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 is not so much an attempt to defend its identity as an ethnic community with its own history, culture and language, as an attempt to escape from the power of Britain, strengthening its position as a political community ^{[25, p. 73, 85-90]}. As a result, you can pay attention to the following phrases in English: aimed at releasing Scotland from the yoke of a succession of Westminster government; re-lived and re-politicized national identity. In 2015, a document on the language policy in relation to the English-Scottish language (Scots language policy) was published on the official website of the Scottish government. It talks about the importance of the English-Scottish language as a valuable heritage (essential element of the culture; heritage of Scotland; impact on Scottish society) and measures for its implementation in all spheres of life of Scots (ensure its preservation; encourage its respect; use of Scots in speech and writing) ^[35].

It is also worth noting the population census of Scotland in 2022, the results of which will be published in 2023, and the possible holding of a second referendum on Scottish independence in October 2023 (“Should Scotland be an independent country?” ^[32]), which will be useful in compiling a modern idea of Scottish identity and a sense of patriotism formed around concepts of Scottishness.

On the one hand, the Scots appear to be a reborn original ethnos (resurgent nation), glorifying their history in a romantic and idealistic way, and here we can talk about a historically established ethnic identity. On the other hand, nationalism appears to be a key element in the political struggle for independence: the Scots are already seen as a political community (political tribe), and there is a formation of national identity through unification on the basis of political community.

Based on the definition analysis of the concept of identity, event (event history analysis) analysis and contextual analysis of texts that influenced the formation of the identity of the Scots, it seems possible to describe the conceptual sphere of SCOTTISH IDENTITY, in which the concept of identity is mainly actualized in the language using the words identity, self, identification, nation, Scottishness, the Scots, to feel Scottish. In the conceptual sphere of SCOTTISH IDENTITY, the following basic concepts can be distinguished: LANGUAGE (Scots, native original language, indigenous language, Scottish Gaelic), TERRITORY (the kinrik of Scotland, the realm of Scotland, Scotland, Highlands, Lowlands), CULTURE (cultural values, historical heritage), NATIONALISM (ethnic nationalism), HISTORY (The Declaration of Arbroath).

Thus, in the conceptual picture of the world of the Scots, two trends towards the formation of identity can be observed: ethnic identity associated with identification at the level of common history, language, culture and religion, which Scots began to realize in the XVII-XVIII centuries and formed within the framework of ethnic nationalism; national identity associated with identification at the levels of political community, which begins to form from the end of the twentieth century. within the framework of civil nationalism. Both types of nationalism are based on the stereotypical and idealized ideas of the Scots about the sense of patriotism. The process of forming the identity of the Scots, first from regional to ethnic, and then from ethnic to national, during which there was assimilation with Britishness, and separation from this idea, and a return to S with ottishness, confirms the emergence in the understanding of identity, based on the fact that each individual is constantly developing his idea of who he or she appears in relation to others ^{[37, p. 2210-2211]}, while changing identities due to changed living conditions. I would like to note that the understanding of the identity of the Scots is due to the ethnic conflicts between Scotland and England, which have manifested themselves throughout the history of their existence on the basis of cultural, linguistic and political contradictions, from which Scottish ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism arise. The interethnic conflict is closely connected with the language conflict, the basis of which "is the struggle for the distribution of spheres of functioning between" English and Anglo-Scottish languages ^{[9, p. 116]}. The study of historical events and texts related to the formation of ethnic identity as an emotional and cognitive process of attributing a person to a certain ethno-cultural community allows us to form an idea of Scottish identity, which contributes to the understanding of a certain ethno-cultural community at different stages of its development.