{"id":1714,"date":"2020-03-06T08:29:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T08:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2020-03-06T08:29:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T08:29:44","slug":"the-scots-and-esperanto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/2020\/03\/06\/the-scots-and-esperanto\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scots and Esperanto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From\nthe early colonisers and traders going out into the world, to leading\nintellectuals of the Enlightenment, we can recognise many Scots as significant\nexamples of Transnational and Global actors. So, should we really be surprised by\nthe involvement of Scots in the Esperanto movement, right from the movement\u2019s\norigins? Perhaps not. In 1911, 100 Scots travelled to Antwerp in order to\nattend the 7th<\/sup> World Esperanto Congress. This is where this study\nshall take its starting point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nAntwerp Congress 1911 was the largest World Esperanto Congress to have been\nheld since the first in 1905, with a recorded 1,800 attendees. Esperanto\nitself, is a constructed language, intended to bring together people and\nnations, creating a transnational network through language and the communication\nof likeminded individuals and groups. In creating this network, a route for\ncommunication and connectiveness, it provides a clear example of a\nTransnational environment and interaction, through which we can investigate the\ninteraction and experience of Scottish individuals within the Esperanto\nmovement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the\nregister of attendees \u2013 where the 100 Scottish attendants are recorded \u2013 we can\nbegin to pose questions to drive and direct further study into the level and\ncharacter of Scottish interaction with the Esperanto movement. To do this there\nwill be an initial analysis of the data using comparative methods. By\nsystematically comparing this data with other sets it will become clear as to\nthe extent of the abnormality, or normality, of this level of Scottish\nparticipation in the Esperanto movement. Comparison is a good analytical method\nto be applied and viewed through a transnational lens as it can show\nrelationship Scotland had with the movement and other nations. Firstly, we can\ncompare the number of Scottish attendants with the number of attendants from countries\nof a similar population. Initial observation indicates suggests a higher\ninvolvement from Scots than comparable nations such as Denmark.[1]<\/a> From here there will be\nfurther comparison made between Scottish attendance numbers at the 1911\nCongress and at former and subsequent Congresses in the pre-war period. These\ncomparisons will indicate the consistency and character of Scottish\nparticipation within the Esperanto movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ndoing this we will be able to see whether there were any significant increases\nor decreases in Scottish attendance and when. If we see an increase in Scottish\nattendance at this congress, whether sudden or gradual, we can begin to pose\nother questions that can gradually become increasingly detailed in aim and\nscope. If we see an increase the next driving question becomes why? More\nspecifically, why Antwerp? \u2013 Was it easier to travel to; was this a response to\na growing movement in Scotland or the work and influence of key individuals; was\nthere an underlying social sentiment among the Scottish that they want more\ninternational interaction, possibly distinguished from the influence of\nEngland?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthis point, initial ideas indicate that there was an increase in the\nparticipation of Scots in the Esperanto movement at home, and so increased\nparticipation in the Congress makes sense. If this is the case, then the next\nstep would be to question, once again, why? Was this increase the work of clubs\nand Esperanto organisations, or that of key individuals? Furthermore, increased\nparticipation begs the question of who within Scottish society this may include\n\u2013 was there a specific profession, or a preference of gender within the\nScottish Esperanto movement. The register indicates the professions of many of\nthe participants. Also, a collection of Scottish Esperantist, John Beveridge,\nare available. Analysis of these should point to some of the answers to these\ndriving questions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nsome of the specifics of what made up the Scottish Esperanto movement are\nestablished, it may be prudent to question why Scottish attendance was so high\nwhen compared with other countries of similar population size. In doing this we\nshould be able to identify some of the ways in which social and intellectual\ncultures in Scotland and other European countries converge, diverge and\ninteract. Mostly, it should point to key factors that influenced Scottish\ninvolvement with the Esperanto movement.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Scottish\npopulation 1911 \u2013 4,761,000*; Scottish attendance \u2013 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Danish\npopulation 1911 \u2013 2,747,000*; Danish attendance \u2013 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Austrian\npopulation \u2013 6,669,000*; Austrian attendance \u2013 37<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  *rounded to\nthe nearest thousand.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the early colonisers and traders going out into the world, to leading intellectuals of the Enlightenment, we can recognise many Scots as significant examples of Transnational and Global actors. So, should we really be surprised by the involvement of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5wNtZ-rE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions\/1715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}