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Excerpt

Excerpt from Memories and Portraits, by Robert Louis Stevenson

CHAPTER I. THE FOREIGNER AT HOME

“This is no my ain house;<br />
I ken by the biggin’ o’t.”

Two recent books {1} one by Mr. Grant White on England, one on France by
the diabolically clever Mr. Hillebrand, may well have set people thinking
on the divisions of races and nations. Such thoughts should arise with
particular congruity and force to inhabitants of that United Kingdom,
peopled from so many different stocks, babbling so many different
dialects, and offering in its extent such singular contrasts, from the
busiest over-population to the unkindliest desert, from the Black Country
to the Moor of Rannoch. It is not only when we cross the seas that we go
abroad; there are foreign parts of England; and the race that has
conquered so wide an empire has not yet managed to assimilate the islands
whence she sprang. Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish mountains still
cling, in part, to their old Gaelic speech. It was but the other day
that English triumphed in Cornwall, and they still show in Mousehole, on
St. Michael’s Bay, the house of the last Cornish-speaking woman. English
itself, which will now frank the traveller through the most of North
America, through the greater South Sea Islands, in India, along much of
the coast of Africa, and in the ports of China and Japan, is still to be
heard, in its home country, in half a hundred varying stages of
transition. You may go all over the States, and—setting aside the actual
intrusion and influence of foreigners, negro, French, or Chinese—you
shall scarce meet with so marked a difference of accent as in the forty
miles between Edinburgh and Glasgow, or of dialect as in the hundred
miles between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Book English has gone round the
world, but at home we still preserve the racy idioms of our fathers, and
every county, in some parts every dale, has its own quality of speech,
vocal or verbal. In like manner, local custom and prejudice, even local
religion and local law, linger on into the latter end of the nineteenth
century—imperia in imperio, foreign things at home.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson**

Context of the Source

Memories and Portraits (1887) is a collection of essays by Robert Louis Stevenson, the renowned Scottish author of Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped. The book blends autobiography, travel writing, and cultural observation, reflecting Stevenson’s deep interest in identity, language, and the complexities of national and regional belonging.

The excerpt comes from "The Foreigner at Home," the opening chapter, where Stevenson explores the idea that foreignness is not just a matter of crossing borders—it can exist within one’s own country. The essay was written during a period of intense British imperial expansion, when questions of national identity, linguistic diversity, and cultural assimilation were particularly relevant.

Themes in the Excerpt

The Illusion of National Homogeneity
- Stevenson challenges the idea that a nation (particularly the United Kingdom) is a unified, homogeneous entity. Instead, he argues that it is a patchwork of diverse races, languages, and customs that resist full assimilation.
- The opening epigraph—“This is no my ain house; / I ken by the biggin’ o’t” (Scots for "This is not my own house; / I know by the building of it")—sets the tone: even within one’s own country, a person can feel like a foreigner due to cultural and linguistic differences.
Linguistic and Cultural Fragmentation
- Stevenson highlights the persistence of regional languages and dialects in the UK, despite English’s global dominance.
  - Gaelic survives in Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands.
  - Cornish (a Brythonic language) only recently died out (the last native speaker, Dolly Pentreath, died in 1777, but Stevenson notes the memory lingers).
  - Even English itself varies dramatically across short distances (e.g., Edinburgh vs. Glasgow vs. Aberdeen).
- He contrasts this with the standardized "Book English" that spreads globally through empire, suggesting that globalization erases differences abroad but preserves them at home.
Imperialism and Internal Colonialism
- The UK, despite its vast empire, has failed to fully assimilate its own constituent nations.
- Stevenson implies that England’s dominance over Wales, Scotland, and Ireland mirrors its colonial rule overseas—yet these regions retain their distinct identities.
- The phrase “imperia in imperio” (Latin for "empires within an empire") suggests that local laws, customs, and even religions persist as semi-autonomous entities, resisting complete absorption.
The Paradox of Global English
- English is a global lingua franca, used in trade and administration across the British Empire (America, India, Africa, the Pacific).
- Yet, in its homeland, it remains fragmented into regional dialects, proving that language is not just a tool of empire but also a marker of local identity.
The Strangeness of the Familiar
- Stevenson argues that traveling within the UK can feel as foreign as going abroad.
- The contrast between the industrial "Black Country" (a heavily polluted region in the English Midlands) and the desolate "Moor of Rannoch" (a remote Scottish highland) illustrates how geography and culture can make parts of one’s own country seem alien.

Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

Epigraph (Scots Proverb)
- The opening lines in Scots dialect immediately signal the essay’s theme: displacement within one’s own land.
- The rustic, folk wisdom of the proverb contrasts with the erudite, analytical tone of the essay, reinforcing the tension between local and global perspectives.
Juxtaposition & Contrast
- Stevenson frequently compares extremes to emphasize diversity:
  - "Busiest over-population" vs. "unkindliest desert"
  - "Black Country" (industrial England) vs. "Moor of Rannoch" (wild Scotland)
  - "Book English" (standardized) vs. regional dialects (idiosyncratic)
- These contrasts underscore the lack of uniformity in the UK.
Irony & Paradox
- The global reach of English vs. its local fragmentation is ironic.
- The empire that conquers the world cannot fully assimilate its own islands.
- The idea of being a "foreigner at home" is itself a paradox.
Historical & Geographical References
- Stevenson grounds his argument in specific places and histories:
  - Mousehole (Cornwall) – Last home of a Cornish speaker.
  - Edinburgh vs. Glasgow vs. Aberdeen – Dramatic dialect differences in Scotland.
  - The Black Country & Moor of Rannoch – Symbolizing industrial vs. wild Britain.
- These references make his argument concrete and vivid.
Metaphor & Imagery
- "Babbling so many different dialects" – Suggests a noisy, chaotic diversity rather than a unified nation.
- "Racy idioms of our fathers" – Implies that language carries heritage, resisting standardization.
- "Foreign parts of England" – The phrase itself is an oxymoron, reinforcing the essay’s central idea.
Allusion to Classical & Political Ideas
- “Imperia in imperio” – A legal and political term (used by Roman and medieval scholars) describing autonomous regions within a larger state.
- This reinforces the idea that local identities persist despite central authority.

Significance of the Excerpt

Challenging Nationalist Myths
- Stevenson critiques the idea of a monolithic British identity, which was (and still is) often promoted in imperial propaganda.
- His essay suggests that true cultural richness lies in diversity, not uniformity.
A Proto-Postcolonial Perspective
- Though written in the 19th century, Stevenson’s observations anticipate postcolonial theories about:
  - Internal colonialism (how dominant cultures suppress regional identities).
  - Hybridity (the coexistence of multiple cultural influences).
  - The persistence of indigenous languages despite colonial rule.
A Defense of Regional Identity
- Stevenson celebrates local dialects and customs, seeing them as resistant to globalization.
- His essay can be read as a early defense of cultural preservation in an era of rapid modernization.
Relevance to Stevenson’s Own Identity
- As a Scotsman writing in English, Stevenson himself embodied the tension between local and global identity.
- His use of Scots words and phrases in his works (e.g., Kidnapped) reflects his own dual allegiance to Scottish heritage and English-language literature.
A Commentary on Empire
- The essay subtly questions the stability of empire:
  - If the UK cannot fully assimilate its own regions, how can it govern a global empire?
  - The fragmentation at home mirrors the instability of colonial rule abroad.

Conclusion: The Foreigner at Home

Stevenson’s excerpt is a meditation on belonging, language, and the illusion of national unity. He argues that foreignness is not just a matter of geography—it exists within the borders of one’s own country. Through contrasts, paradoxes, and vivid examples, he reveals the UK as a mosaic of cultures, dialects, and landscapes, resistant to complete assimilation.

His essay remains relevant today, particularly in discussions about:

Brexit and Scottish/Welsh independence movements (the persistence of regional identities).
Globalization vs. local culture (how standardization erases differences).
Postcolonial studies (the legacy of internal colonialism).

Ultimately, Stevenson’s message is that home can be as strange as abroad, and true understanding requires recognizing—rather than erasing—difference.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s opening epigraph—“This is no my ain house; / I ken by the biggin’ o’t”—functions primarily to:

A. introduce a dialectical tension between the local and the universal that the essay will explore, framing the reader’s encounter with the text as an act of linguistic and cultural translation.
B. establish the author’s credibility as a Scotsman by deploying a folk proverb, thereby aligning his argument with traditional wisdom rather than contemporary political discourse.
C. provide a literal example of the linguistic diversity discussed later, serving as a microcosm of the broader theme of regional dialects within the United Kingdom.
D. undermine the authority of standardized English by juxtaposing it with a rustic, "uneducated" voice, thereby privileging oral tradition over written discourse.
E. foreshadow the essay’s conclusion that regional identities are doomed to extinction, as the epigraph’s archaic language mirrors the fading dialects described in the passage.

Question 2

The phrase “imperia in imperio” (line 18) is deployed to suggest that:

A. the British Empire’s global dominance is mirrored in its domestic ability to suppress regional autonomy through legal and linguistic standardization.
B. local customs and laws persist as relics of a pre-modern era, destined to be erased by the inexorable progress of industrialization and centralized governance.
C. the United Kingdom’s internal divisions are a strategic weakness that undermines its imperial ambitions, as disunity at home correlates with instability abroad.
D. Scotland, Wales, and Ireland operate as de facto independent nations within the UK, their sovereignty implicitly recognized by the Crown’s failure to enforce cultural assimilation.
E. the coexistence of local and imperial systems of authority creates a paradox wherein the nation-state is simultaneously unified and fragmented, a tension that defines its identity.

Question 3

Stevenson’s contrast between “Book English” and regional dialects serves to highlight:

A. the inferiority of oral traditions in an increasingly literate society, where standardized language is a prerequisite for economic and political participation.
B. the way globalization homogenizes communication abroad while ironically preserving linguistic diversity at the metropolitan center, where local identities resist erasure.
C. the hypocrisy of British imperialism, which imposes English on colonized peoples while denying its own citizens access to standardized education.
D. the inevitability of linguistic evolution, wherein regional dialects are doomed to extinction as global English becomes the dominant mode of expression.
E. the aesthetic superiority of regional idioms, which retain a poetic vitality absent in the sterile, utilitarian prose of standardized English.

Question 4

The passage’s structural movement from the epigraph to the discussion of global English and back to local dialects enacts a rhetorical strategy that:

A. mimics the colonial project itself, beginning with indigenous voices only to subordinate them to the dominant narrative of imperial expansion.
B. undermines the author’s credibility by oscillating between erudite analysis and folksy anecdotes, leaving the reader uncertain of his central argument.
C. reflects a nostalgic longing for a pre-industrial past, wherein the essay’s circular return to local dialects signals a rejection of modernity.
D. demonstrates the futility of preserving regional identity, as the passage’s global scope inevitably dilutes the significance of the local examples.
E. mirrors the thematic concern with foreignness at home, as the reader is repeatedly repositioned between familiar and alien perspectives within the same text.

Question 5

The most defensible inference about Stevenson’s attitude toward the persistence of regional dialects is that he views them as:

A. quaint but ultimately irrelevant anachronisms, whose disappearance is a necessary consequence of progress.
B. obstacles to national unity, whose eradication would strengthen the United Kingdom’s global standing.
C. evidence of the failure of the British education system to standardize language effectively across the empire.
D. vital markers of cultural resistance, whose survival complicates and enriches the narrative of national identity.
E. artificial constructs, deliberately preserved by regional elites to maintain political power in opposition to central authority.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: A

Why A is most correct: The epigraph introduces a dialectical tension—both in the literal sense (Scots vs. English) and the philosophical sense (local vs. universal). The reader, likely more familiar with standardized English, is immediately required to "translate" the Scots proverb, mirroring the essay’s broader exploration of how language and culture create barriers even within a shared national space. This sets up the essay’s central paradox: that one can be a foreigner at home. The epigraph is not merely illustrative (C) or nostalgic (E), but structurally generative, framing the act of reading as an exercise in negotiation between familiarity and alienation.