This chapter discusses the effect of the deferred devolution on literature. It first looks at the basic questions devolution posed on the nature and history of Scotland, and then studies a state of despair that was captured in the most important literary work published in the aftermath of the Referendum. The next section examines the use of ‘deferral’ in Scottish writing after 1979, and the dynamism of a resistant cultural nationalism that led to an increase in Canadian writing. The chapter also discusses the implications of Jacques Derrida's work and its impact on British critical theory.

This chapter discusses the effect of the deferred devolution on literature. It first looks at the basic questions devolution posed on the nature and history of Scotland, and then studies a state of despair that was captured in the most important literary work published in the aftermath of the Referendum. The next section examines the use of ‘deferral’ in Scottish writing after 1979, and the dynamism of a resistant cultural nationalism that led to an increase in Canadian writing. The chapter also discusses the implications of Jacques Derrida's work and its impact on British critical theory.