The thesis is comprised of a novel and a critical reflection. The novel component, entitled The Mathers’ Land, draws on traditions of magical realism, storytelling, memory and metafiction. The framing narrative of the novel follows Luanne Richardson, a librarian who has moved South with her new boyfriend, Kenneth Miers. As soon as they arrive in Peebles, North Carolina, Kenneth disappears. Luanne only knows that he last visited a particular house that belongs to the Mathers, the richest family in Peebles. Luanne forces an encounter with the head of the family, Walter Mathers. Despite her initially confrontational contact, Walter Mathers offers Luanne a job to construct a history of his family through interviews and records. He hopes the history will provide an answer to why his only son Eric has not produced an heir. Luanne’s research draws her into a claustrophobic society where no one seems to notice the frequent deaths of the wives of the Mathers family or their odd attachment to roses and a dogwood tree, as elements of magical realism occur in the frame story. The interviews Luanne conducts appear on the pages of the novel as fully developed stories, which draw on themes of tradition, loss and family attachment. These themes are explored through perceptions of memory and storytelling. The critical reflection component considers both what methods and writings made it to the thesis as well as what methods and writings did not. It explores the modes of construction, from the use of Oulipian and metafictional techniques to the use of magical realism. The major influences from specific writers are addressed in terms of structure, magical realism and Southerness, specifically Harry Mathews, Joseph McElroy, Mischa Berlinksi, Sharyn McCrumb, Randall Kenan, Steven Sherrill, and particularly Doris Betts. The reflection concludes by addressing what it means to be an expatriate ‘Southern’ writer.

Matthew Lewis's 1796 novel The Monk continues to attract critical attention, but the accusation that it was blasphemous has overshadowed the rest of his writing career. He was also a playwright, M.P. and slave-owner. This thesis considers the need to reassess the presentation of social power, primarily that of a conservative paternalism, in Lewis's dramas and the impact of biographical issues upon this. As Lewis's critical reputation is currently built upon knowledge of him as a writer of „Gothic' works, this thesis considers a range of his „Gothic' plays. The Introduction explores the current academic understanding of Lewis and provides a rationale for the plays chosen. Chapter One explores how The Monk prefigures Lewis's dramas through its theatrical elements and Lewis's reaction to violence on the continent in the 1790s. The remainder of the thesis examines Lewis's deployment of three conventions of Gothic drama in order to explore social power. Chapter Two discusses the presentation of the Gothic villain as one who usurps and abuses power through a focus on The Castle Spectre. Chapter Three considers Lewis's Gothic heroes in Adelmorn, the Outlaw; Rugantino, or, the Bravo of Venice and Venoni; or, the Novice of St. Mark's against his actions in Parliament and the trial by Court-Martial of his uncle General Whitelocke. Lewis uses these plays to advocate the qualities of mercy, benevolence and courage in those with jurisdiction over others. Chapter Four considers Lewis's use of Gothic spectacle in two 1811 plays, One O' Clock! or, the Knight and the Wood Daemon and Timour the Tartar, which return to a focus on usurpation. Factors considered include the use of Renaissance influences and Lewis's rift with his father. Finally, the Coda examines Lewis's attempts to put his theory of paternal power into practice when he inherited two Jamaican estates.

'Ecopoetry' has been identified as a subset of nature poetry that proposes alternative modes of human inhabitation on the earth, often by focusing on what it means to be at 'at home' in nature. This is linked to the ecocritical interest in place-making, as an alternative to the homogenized spaces of capitalism. And yet the idea of place as 'home' or shelter has been criticised for its conservatism, and for the ways it ignores the dynamic simultaneity of the planet. This has urged some critics to focus instead on poetic evocation of space. Here I argue that Thomas's and Frost's poetry of home and 'extra-vagance' between 1912 and 1917 suggests the dialectical connections between our homes and other spaces, places and times. At the same time, these concepts convey both the necessity and limits of language to suggest these experiences. This version of home is constantly seeking its antithesis, forming what Éduard Glissant called 'rooted errantry'. While this idea is apparent prior to the poets' meeting, it becomes most prominent both during and after Thomas and Frosts' meeting, particularly in those poems that address the impact of nature on the human mind in 'wayfaring'. In addition to my development of ecocriticism and ecopoetry, the study furthers Thomas and Frost scholarship by emphasising the philosophical, as well as poetic, influence of both poets on each other. This influence been underplayed by national affiliations in British criticism and, where it is explained, attributed to Frost's theory of the 'sound of sense' rather than to his philosophical interests. Further, national interests have undervalued the importance of Frost's stay in England to his mature poetic theorising: his learning from T.E. Hulme and his experiences of 'extra-vagance' and walks with Thomas, and have subsequently undervalued the importance of these encounters for Frost's poems written during and after this period. This alignment between Thomas and Frost highlights, at the same time, Thomas's critical difference from the Georgians. Thomas and Frost's physical and poetic extra-vagance prefigures Timothy Ingold's writing about 'wayfaring' (Ingold 2011). In addition, I argue that Thomas's and Frost's poetry of référance, dialogue and birdsong shows how the poets are concerned with representing the processes of experience, rather than presenting static ideas. After their likely contact with the philosophy of Henri Bergson, both poets seem to demonstrate that the processional and dynamic aspects of non-human nature resemble the forces that they observe in their own minds. Thomas and Frost illustrate how being at home, either in non-human nature or the mind, will always involve a process of negotiation with other conflicting impulses and 'otherness'. In doing so, they overcome the limitations of traditional pastoral poetry.

This thesis demonstrates how selected texts by J.G. Ballard—Crash (1973), Concrete Island (1974) and High‐Rise 1975)—and Kurt Vonnegut—Player Piano (1952), Slaughterhouse‐Five(1969) and Galápagos (1985)—can be considered in terms of theoretical stances derived from posthumanism. By analysing representations of the ‘human’ in relation to both the ‘machine’ and the ‘evolutionary human animal’, this thesis illustrates the emergence of the posthuman subject. In addition, by recognising the intersection between posthumanism and evolutionary theory, a wider project of this thesis involves demonstrating how the use of various theoretical approaches, from the ‘humanities’ and the ‘sciences’, contributes to the formation of a ‘posthumanities’ approach to literature. J.G. Ballard and Kurt Vonnegut consistently present fictional scenarios in which the lines between ‘human’, ‘machine’ and ‘evolutionary animal’ are disrupted and blurred. Depictions assume various triangulations and configurations: from the protagonist Ballard’s auto‐eroticism, to the characters of High‐Rise conflating boundaries between the ‘human’ and the evolutionary animal that is conveyed as a constituent of human identity, as well as between the machinic environment and the human inhabitant. Further,comparable configurations characterise Vonnegut’s texts: Player Piano’s Paul Proteus’ war against the machine is superimposed by human affiliation with the machine, and the castaway characters of Galápagos are stranded by evolutionary forces that displace human authority and control to the uttermost limit. Each of these instances contributes to the effective intervention of posthumanist thinking when reading the texts. In addition, the utilisation of evolutionary concepts derived from contemporaneous publications circulating in the cultural and scientific sphere highlights the usefulness of acknowledging sources from beyond the remit of traditional literary studies’ methodologies when reading texts. The triangulation between literature, posthumanism and evolutionary theory results in a reconfigured methodological approach to fictional texts: the posthumanities.

Over and above applying Sartrean literary philosophy to Banks and Kelman this thesis therefore also offers a model of literary criticism that can be applied to a number of other contemporary Scottish authors. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that Sartre’s theories of literature can assist in the attempt to better understand the value of the writer in society, and of Kelman and Banks in particular. The comparison and contrast between Banks and Kelman makes clear the importance of contextualising the individual writer not only with the work of their contemporaries, but with the time, place and position in which they are writing. The intention of the thesis is to discover how Sartre’s ideas of existentialism and literature can be applied to writers and their work in a way that allows ‘the critic’ to analyse both the novelist’s fictional technique and to gauge the value of their role in society – in other words, how Sartre’s theories allow us to better understand the individual writer in a social, political and moral context, both nationally and internationally.

In this thesis I examine the ways in which feminist and human geographies intersect with contemporary women-centred fantasy fiction. In particular, I consider space and place to be significant to female characters in their role as a physical presence as well as an intangible location. Thus I explore the forest, the body and the mind as territories occupied by the supernatural women. These various spatial themes, I suggest, outline distinctive locations for supernatural female characters and enable them to engage in a position of resistance from patriarchal ideologies. Through a spatial analysis of selected fiction, I reflect on challenges to notions that construct identity, gender and sexuality as well as conflict among women. I argue that the supernatural woman in fiction has been frozen in one-dimensional representation within traditional male-centred texts. This one-dimensionally, I suggest, hinges on the juxtaposition of the overly simplistic good/bad binary that has often illustrated female characters within fantasy fiction. As fantasy is a genre typically more concerned with worlds than characters, the women-centred fantasy text is unique in its exploration and pursuit of the literary character. Given the contemporary and interdisciplinary nature of this thesis, I have drawn upon filmic adaptations of texts at times to illustrate a further level of cultural awareness. The main emphasis is, however, on literary texts and, thus, reference to film is meant to supplement my textual analysis.

Mae’r traethawd hwn yn archwilio’r portread o amlddiwylliannedd yn ne Cymru a geir mewn ffuglen Gymraeg a Saesneg er 1990. Trwy ddefnyddio cysyniad theoretig yr ‘arall’ a damcaniaethau ôl-drefedigaethol cysylltiedig, mae’r astudiaeth hon yn ceisio osgoi pegynu rhwng cymunedau Cymraeg a Saesneg eu hiaith Cymru, fel y mae astudiaethau eraill ar amlddiwylliannedd Cymreig wedi’i wneud. Eir ati, yn hytrach, i drafod sut y mae’n bosib i gymeriadau o unrhyw gefndir ethnig, hiliol, crefyddol neu ieithyddol brofi aralledd oherwydd safbwyntiau goddrychol gwahanol, ac oherwydd y cyfuniad o wahanol elfennau sy’n creu hunaniaeth yr unigolyn. Trwy ystyried yr hybridedd hwn a berthyn i’r cymeriadau a’r nofelau fel ei gilydd, cynigir ffordd newydd o feddwl am amlddiwylliannedd yng Nghymru. Gesyd fframwaith theoretig trwy olrhain datblygiad cysyniadau aralledd a hybridedd yng ngwaith Hegel, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Said a Bhabha, gan fanylu ar berthnasedd eu damcaniaethau i ddadleuon am amlddiwylliannedd yng Nghymru. Ceir wedyn bedair pennod o ddadansoddi testunol. Mae’r cyntaf yn tynnu ar waith Bakhtin i drafod sut y mae awduron yn defnyddio nofelau hybrid, aml-leisiol fel gofod hybrid lle y gall cymeriadau archwilio’u haralledd. Defnyddia’r ail bennod ddamcaniaethau Bhabha am yr ystrydeb drefedigaethol a phegynau deuaidd i ystyried sut y mae aralledd a hybridedd cymeriadau’r nofelau yn herio delweddau ystrydebol a phegynol o Gymreictod. Mae’r drydedd bennod yn troi at ystrydebau am y siaradwyr Cymraeg a Saesneg a thrafodir sut y mae’r cymeriadau yn defnyddio lleoliad y dafarn er mwyn eu herio. Ystyria’r bedwaredd pennod effaith mudo a mewnfudo ar aralledd y mudwyr yng ngoleuni theorïau Said am alltudiaeth. Daw’r traethawd i gasgliad ar berthynas y portread llenyddol hwn ag amlddiwylliannedd yn y byd go iawn, gan awgrymu bod darllen testunau Cymraeg a Saesneg ochr yn ochr â’i gilydd yn gallu’n annog i ddatblygu’n genedl fwy cynhwysol.

Kilroy F****n Jones is a PhD thesis of two parts: a novel, and an evaluative critical commentary based around elements explored in Kilroy F****n Jones. The novel itself is about a young man still grieving for what he sees as his abandonment by both parents. Denied a stable family home, he has set out on a path of hedonism and reactionary thinking which can only inevitably lead to tragedy. The critical commentary, consisting of five chapters, explores the themes of identity, masculinity, the underclass, the Welsh novel, and the two primary dialects of south east Wales: Cardiff English and Wenglish. These chapters demonstrate the critical decisions I made during the creative process, which in turn substantiate the significance of such elements as Kilroy's point of view and character. Taken as a whole, they explain the Welsh - and indeed Cymraeg - nature of the story itself.

This thesis employs multiple methodologies in order to explore Hungarian fiction in contemporary English translation as a distinct body of literature. It comprises three interrelated contributions: a bibliography, three case studies, and a translation. A bibliography of English translations of Hungarian novels published between 2000 and 2016 is presented in Appendix A, and Chapter 1 contains an overview of contemporary Hungarian-to-English fiction translation based on the bibliographic data, including a description of the assembly process. Chapters 2-4 focus more closely on a selection of these texts, tracing publication histories as well as target culture reception and interpreting translation shifts. Chapter 2 considers the language of Seiobo There Below by László Krasznahorkai (2013, tr. Ottilie Mulzet) in relation to the author’s vernacular oeuvre, and offers meta-artistic commentary on the target text. Chapter 3 investigates the concept of corporeal writing in Parallel Stories by Péter Nádas (2011, tr. Imre Goldstein), arguing that the organising principle of the source text is compromised in translation, which produces a fragmented work. Chapter 4 uncovers and categorises translation shifts in Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb (2002, tr. Len Rix) as an example of a recently translated Hungarian classic. Chapter 5 connects the analytical section of the thesis with the creative component that follows it. It departs from traditional academic discourse and uses a more reflective, lyrical mode of writing to explore the subjectivity of the translator and introduce the new text to its English-language readership. Finally, my English translation of the 1967 Hungarian novel Győzelmes Gábriel by György Méhes is presented under the title Gabriel the Victorious.

The connection between Sigmund Freud and modernism is firmly established and there is an increasing (though still limited) body of scholarship that adopts methods of literary analysis in approaching Freud's texts. This thesis adds depth and specificity to a broad claim to literariness by arguing that Freud can be considered a practitioner of modern literary impressionism. The claim is substantiated through close textual analysis of key texts from James Strachey' s Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, alongside theory and fiction by significant impressionist authors Ford Madox Ford, Henry James, Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Richardson. The authors' respective approaches to various aspects of literary impressionism are considered, such as the methods of textual development, the instability of genre, and the stylised techniques utilised to convey the impression. This research illustrates that whilst each of the chosen novelists engages with literary impressionism differently, Freud's texts share common practice with each, facilitating the reassessment of the analyst as a specifically 'impressionist' author.