Abstract: Revealed as “the Author of Waverley” by his financial crash, Scott reworks his authorial identity, developing new personae even as he admits his authorship. In the Malachi Malagrowther letters, a persona foregrounding the grotesque body that Scotland has become in an English context, allows him to intervene more deliberately in the economics of politics: he successfully challenges British banking laws as they apply to Scotland. In Chronicles of the Canongate, the persona is a putative author in search of an audience to lend him authority. He learns that relevance depends on his audience's engagement — their disagreement rather than their quiet compliance. Scott constructs an activist relation between writer and reader.

Keywords: Author of Waverley, authority, persona, grotesque, body, economics, politics, audience,