The Glass Half Full: Moving Beyond Scottish Miserablism

Open Scotland #3

by Eleanor Yule, David Manderson

In The Glass Half Full, filmmaker Eleanor Yule and academic David Manderson identify cultural miserablism as an important aspect of Scottish life. Yule and Manderson explore where this bleak take on Scottish life came from, its literary and cultural expressions, and in particular, identify this phenomenon in film and how it has risen to the level of a genre, which audiences domestic and international see as a recognisable story of modern Scotland. In so doing, they itemise the cost of this distorted view of Scottish culture, the caricatures it presents and identify ways in which this is being challenged and has to change for Scotland to mature and have a more accurate, relevant view of itself.

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2014

About the author

Eleanor Yule is a Scottish writer, film director and screenwriting lecturer. She is best known for her feature film Blinded and her arts documentaries for the BBC with Michael Palin. She lives in the West End of Glasgow with a large ginger cat.