The Reception of Robert Burns in Europe

Book excerpt: Robert Burns (1759 –1796), Scotland's national poet and pioneer of the Romantic Movement, has been hugely influential across Europe and indeed throughout the world. Burns has been translated seven times as often as Byron, with 21 Norwegian translations alone recorded since 1990; he was translated into German before the end of his short life, and was of key importance in the vernacular politics of central and Eastern Europe in the nineteenth century. This collection of essays by leading international scholars and translators traces the cultural impact of Burns' work across Europe and includes bibliographies of major translations of his work in each country covered, as well as a publication history and timeline of his reception on the continent.