L’engagement paradoxal scottien, ou comment réconcilier l’irréconciliable

Abstract

Walter Scott is by nature a middle-way man; he is « by temperament a mediator » as David Daiches acknowledges in his article « Scott and Scotland » published in 1973. His conciliatory spirit, which stems from his natural character, but also his Calvinist education and the time in which he lived, shapes his whole literary creation. Is choosing not to choose a form of commitment? This article aims to understand Scott’s almost obsessive commitment to the middle way through a detailed analysis of its origins. It seeks to define a philosophy of the middle way that is specific to Scott, and which could thus be called Scottian, in order to study both its strengths and its limits. This midway position indeed proves very unstable and it can only bloom through an aesthetics of disengagement chosen by the author: in fact it consists in a strong commitment to plurality and tolerance.