Cognitive Ecology and the Idea of Nation in Late-Medieval Scotland: The Flyting of William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy

Abstract

In the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, poetic invective raises provocative questions about the nature of an authentic Scottish identity, pitting the lowland Dunbar and his heritage of ‘Inglis’ or English poetry against Kennedy and his association with the Gaelic-speaking region of Carrick. This chapter examines the poem in light of current extended mind theories, as part of a distributed cognitive system in which conceptions of national identity are constructed through ongoing processes of collaboration, circulation, and reception that make thinking nation part of everyday life. Rather than functioning divisively, the Flyting’s antagonistic presentation of a debate over cultural authenticity reflects the dynamic character of national culture, shaping the idea of a Scottish nation whose borders contain diverse voices and cultures.