Sunset Song is a 1932 novel by Lewis Gibbon conveying a realistic portrayal of life in rural Scotland, It is regarded as one of the most important Scottish novels of 20thCentury. But is the message behind the novel still relevant to us today?
Gibbon uses different narratives styles to convey multiple sides of the Argument about the merits of female education. This provides the reader with a seemingly more balanced view but still clearly leads to the conclusions supported by him. As well as these set piece debates, Sunset Song offers an insight into a wide range of other issues, such as the impact of a patriarchal society on women, because Gibbon created a realistic portrayal of life.
Gibbon believed that those on the left denigrated works of literature that they disagreed with, irrespective of the actual merits of the work. Whilst he shared their political views, he felt that it was important to maintain literary standards so that literature combined instrumental and aesthetic approaches. He understood that the message is damaged if the quality of writing is poor. For the socialist message to succeed it needed a writers union that would ‘Consist only of those who have done work of definite and recognized literary value … Exclude that horde of paragraphists, minor reviewers, ghastly poetasters and all the like amateurs who clog up the machinery of the left wing literary movement’
When the people of Kinraddie discuss female education, Gibbon starts with the statement that ‘The kitchen’s more her style than the College’ which is met with general approval before he introduces the argument that education only gives children ideas above their station. By including this, he gives Chae Strachan and Long Rob something to argue against and their ultimate victory in the debate is greater because they change the opinion of the wider group. This makes their views much stronger and believable than if they had stated them in isolation or countered the arguments of one or two individuals.
Gibbon uses the character of Chris to act as the conscience of the debate as she reacts to the initial statements by expressing negative opinions of the wider group before they change their views and her faith in them is restored. This reinforces the impression that the group have come to the right conclusion. This also avoids one of the main failings of most propaganda, defined as ‘information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view’ by appearing to present both sides of the argument. It hides the more obvious bias that would appeal strongly to those who already agreed but would not persuade others to change their minds. As such, the right message alone may reinforce support but it will be more effective in broadening support if it is less explicit.
Another facet of propaganda, as opposed to literature, is that it is often one dimensional, focusing on a single issue. In Sunset Song, Gibbon produced a novel that covered issues such as religion and war. The benefit of covering a range of issues can be seen in the way that Gibbon is able to strengthen the case for female education by associating the two sides of the argument with other issues; the arguments against are connected to patriarchy and religion, which are portrayed negatively throughout the book, whilst the arguments for are connected to more positive ideas such as improving life for the poor.
Rather than focusing exclusively on a single issue, Gibbon focused on a realistic representation of life in rural Scotland during a period of significant change.
As a result, his novel covered a number of themes and characters who represented a multitude of views. Depending on the lens through which people choose to see the novel, they can interpret it differently and conclude that it supports their own cause as there is a character that they can associate with. By creating a complex story the novel is also able to reflect more modern issues.
The relevance of a message can diminish over time as society changes. Sunset Song remains a powerful story that connects with readers even though issues such as Socialism are no longer as relevant to society. This longevity is down to a combination of the aesthetic quality of the writing and the complexity of the novel.
Click HERE to read about Sunset Song the movie.
