The image system of Scotland’s industrial past in the second half of the 19th century in the mirror of literature

For the first time in Russian historiography, the problem of reflecting industrial ideas in the mirror of literature is being considered. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of literary sources of writers of the second half of the 19th century, dealing with the themes of industrial progress and urbanization. The article pays special attention to the works of famous Scottish writers A. Smith, J. Wilson, R. Stevenson, as well as the work of J. It is also true to his impressions of visiting Scotland. The article focuses on identifying the system of industrial images typical of the literary profession in the second half of the 19th century. The analysis of little-known publications allowed us to determine their inconsistency and ambiguity. Special attention is paid to such categories as city and village, nature and urbanism, old and new, as well as social conflict as an inevitable result of technological transformations. The author comes to the conclusion that the main feature of the system of images about industrialization is inconsistency. The identity of the socio-cultural context of the studied works allowed us to determine that the authors pay attention to the formation of a new urban social structure, highlighting representatives of the lower, working, middle and upper classes. Taking into account the historical context, the author concludes that constant learning of new scientific achievements was combined with the fear of the unknown and even the danger coming from technological advances.