A Study Of Nation Identity And Class Consciousness In Robert Burns’ S Poems

Robert Burns held a unique position in Scottish literary history as a household cultural icon. Born in the 18 th century, this talented plowman was not only a popular indigenous poet but also a pioneer who led English romantic movement of poetry. As for Burns’ s poems, there exists a passionate eulogy of singing for his people as well as a pungent satire of the foreign oppression and domestic decay. Of his day, Scotland people had been struggling for the spiritual independence while British culture blew heavily on Scottish tradition. He has composed a wealth of poems which exert a significant effect on preserving and promoting the culture of Scotland.The Bard of Scotland was a major label for Robert Burns whose life was connected with collecting and reorganizing Scottish folk songs. He devoted himself to singing eulogy for his nation, his homeland, his people, and the sincere love between Scottish young ladies and young men. For instance, “A Red Red Rose” is one of the most popular love songs all over the world. “Auld Lang Syne” is warmly received as a worldwide lyric. What’s more, there are some other recognized works such as “Scots,Wha Hae”, “The Tree of Liberty” and “My Heart’s in the Highlands”, etc. In those poems, he expreyb ssed his deep sympathy for the miserable life of the people who struggled at the bottom of society. He was indignant that foreign oppression was so strong that he dreamed to undertake democratic reform and national liberation in Scotland. In 2014, Scottish referendum has won global concern. It turned out to be a failed attempt to secede from Britain. However, the trend of Scottish nationalism cannot be underestimated. Based on this heated political topic, this paper adopts the Marxist approach and sociological criticism to explore how race, milieu and times influenced literary works from social and historical perspective. Hence, analyzing the national identity and class consciousness in Robert Burns’ s poems calls for the interpretation on his poems as well as research on his national identity, historical environment and background.With regard to the national identity and class consciousness that are embodied in Burns’ s poems, this paper presents the analysis of language, characters and settings of his poems. To begin with, the usages of Scottish dialect in his poems reflected his loyalty towards local tradition with strong nationalism. Meanwhile, the poet showed his pursuit of independence facing the authority of British culture. Furthermore, Burns was adept at depicting decent ordinary people, who embodied his national pride. Finally, most of his poems were set in the Scottish landscape. Geographic settings such as highland, rivers, and rye were served as the backgrounds of his poems to reflect the poet’s patriotic emotion.In conclusion, this paper places Burns’ s poems in the society of his day from the perspective of the Marxist approach and sociological criticism. In light of the interwoven relationship between literature and society, individual and society, this paper analyzes the national identity and class consciousness expressed in Burns’ s poems so as to understand the independent desire of the current Scottish people.