The Glass Half Full: Moving Beyond Scottish Miserablism

In The Glass Half Full, filmmaker Eleanor Yule and academic David Manderson identify cultural miserablism as an important aspect of Scottish life.

Yule and Manderson explore where this bleak take on Scottish life came from, its literary and cultural expressions, and in particular, identify this phenomenon in film and how it has risen to the level of a genre, which audiences domestic and international see as a recognisable story of modern Scotland.

In so doing, they itemise the cost of this distorted view of Scottish culture, the caricatures it presents and identify ways in which this is being challenged and has to change for Scotland to mature and have a more accurate, relevant view of itself.