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This is a Creative Writing thesis, which incorporates both critical writing and my own novel, Cold City. The thesis explores ‘myth-revision’ in selected works of Fantasy fiction. Myth-revision is defined as the retelling of traditional legends, folk-tales and other familiar stories in such as way as to change the story’s implied ideology. (For example, Angela Carter’s ‘The Company of Wolves’ revises ‘Red Riding Hood’ into a feminist tale of female sexuality and empowerment.) Myth-revision, the thesis argues, has become a significant trend in Fantasy fiction in the last three decades, and is notable in the works of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman. Despite its incorporation of supernatural elements, myth-revision is an agnostic or even atheistic phenomenon, which takes power from deities and gives it to moral humans instead. As such it represents a rebellion against the ‘Founding Fathers’ of Fantasy, writers such as Tolkien or CS Lewis, whose works stress the rightful superiority of divine figures. The thesis pays particular attention to how the myths surrounding the Winter Solstice are revised in this kind of fiction. Part One consists of my novel Cold City, with appropriate annotations. In Part Two, Chapter One compares and contrasts Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials with CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. It argues that Pullman’s sequence of children’s novels is an anti-Narnia, which revises CS Lewis’s conservative Christian allegory into one supporting Pullman’s secular humanist viewpoint. Chapter Two explores myth-revision in Elizabeth Hand’s novel of adult Fantasy Winterlong. It examines how Hand ‘revises’ the Hellenic myth of the god Dionysos, especially as it is related to Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae. Chapter Three examines the use of ‘Ragnarok’ – the ancient Norse myth of the end of the world – in Cold City.

This thesis argues that the drama of George Chapman (1559-1634) can be read in light of his deep ambivalence towards the political elite of the Jacobean court. It suggests that Chapman’s lack of success in securing courtly patronage, and his constant battle with indebtedness (which resulted in several court appearances and two imprisonments) left him divided in attitude towards the system of courtly reward – he resented his lack of success but continued to struggle to fit in and gain the approval of the powerful figures of the era. I argue that this gave him a critical perspective on many of the important issues of the time. My work examines the configuration of English national identity in his plays, positing an idea of Englishness which is separate from, and often critical of, the monarchy, and which relies on a structural parallel with the French court in order to imagine English identity. It then considers the ways in which money and debt are dealt with in several plays, arguing that Chapman felt deeply concerned by the perennial indebtedness of Jacobean culture but was also aware of the necessity of maintaining his own credibility and supply of credit. It further examines the representation of patronage, suggesting that Chapman saw the soliciting of aristocratic patronage in distinctly sexual terms, almost as a form of artistic prostitution. It then considers the many situations in the plays where royal patronage towards a favourite breaks down, and argues that this often results in allegations of treason which Chapman shows to originate in the paranoia or suspicions of the monarch. Finally, it looks at the concept of virtue in the plays, arguing that Chapman viewed virtue as fundamentally unsustainable in a corrupt court setting, but that he saw some form of engagement in public life as being a moral obligation on the virtuous man. Throughout I argue that Chapman was deeply radical in his social outlook, critical of inherited privilege and government by personal or absolutist rule. The social tensions and political struggles presented in his plays were to find their full expression in the violence of the Civil War and in the trial and execution of Charles I.

This dissertation systematically evaluates the historicity of the epic poem The Bruce, written towards the end of the fourteenth century and attributed to Archdeacon John Barbour of Aberdeen. For the purposes of analysis, the poem has been divided into 119 discrete episodes, which cover 95 percent of the text. Ninety-one of these appear in other historical sources. A rigorous evaluative methodology establishes a satisfactory level of historicity of these 91 episodes, significantly higher than has been allowed by many critics of the poem. The 28 episodes that do not appear in other sources are assessed by a parallel methodology. The analyses of these two types of episode provide an original rationale for judiciously using The Bruce as a sole source. Using the battle of Bannockburn as a case study, the value of The Bruce as a source is clearly demonstrated. By implication, it may also be regarded as an indispensable source for the 1306-1329 period as a whole. However, a textual analysis of the poem indicates that at least four, and perhaps as many as six, hands were at work in the writing of The Bruce. It is suggested that John Barbour may have been the lead author and editor. The dissertation concludes that The Bruce was written as a historically accurate (insofar as the term was understood in the fourteenth century) account of the part Robert I and his lieutenants played in the War of Independence. It is nationalistic in tone. Its core ideologies are chivalry and freedom of the Scots from English domination. It uses literary devices to make the content accessible, persuasive and memorable. Thus, it may also be regarded as a fundamentally important contribution to Scottish literature.

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This thesis examines the implications for text and subject of the digital technology of hypertext. Focussing on the printed texts of Alasdair Gray, it explores the complex relationship between humans and technology depicted in his fictions. Gray’s fictional examples provide the basis for a wider discussion regarding the impact of technology upon the lives of the subjects who engage with it and in particular who engages with the technologies of writing. It aims to illustrate how digital technologies of writing can be considered in light of some of the textual concerns raised by fiction and criticism in the late age of print, notably issues of narrative theory and the cultural function of linear stories and histories. Straining in many respects against the limitations of the printed form, Gray’s boundary-pushing texts, whilst remaining firmly rooted in the aesthetic tradition of the book as object, perhaps anticipate a more flexible textual form. The digital space of hypertext can be seen to offer a new arena for the textual debate, but does it live up to the claims of some of its critics, particularly in terms of its rapport with aspects of contemporary theory? And what may be the consequences of text dematerialised in the digital medium? As well as considering the textual possibilities of hypertext, the thesis also looks at the ways in which subjects relate to technology as well as those by which technology – and particularly writing technology – relates to them. Given the ambiguous role of technology in the life of the subject – employed on the one hand as part of a project and promise of rational enlightenment through science and on the other as a military and ideological means of repression – the consequences of technological development and of the digital revolution for the written word must be closely considered. Finally, the thesis questions the types of texts that may be constructed through an engagement with the digital technology of hypertext and what types of subjects these in turn might construct.

The physical appearances and specific behaviour of the characters in Tiriel , even the subtly ironical choice of names, suggest Blake's persistent opposition to the prevalent materialist-determinist philosophy of his day and to any form of dogmatism. This opposition accounts for the imaginative assimilation of originally unrelated literary material within a new symbolic context. Human misery does not originate from innate limitations or from a primordial fall from Divine Grace. It is caused by the immanent phenomenon of legalism in thought, ethics and aesthetics. Physical, intellectual and emotional oppression deformation and corruption begin in childhood and are primarily perpetrated and perpetuated by repressive methods of education. Har and Tiriel are self-centred promulgators and, together with the other members of their family, warped products of Natural Law and Natural Religion. Tiriel's quest demonstrates that an increase in empirical knowledge is not necessarily accompanied by spiritual progress, nor does it improve the human condition. The complex vagueness of aspects of the poem contributes toward a more definite shaping of Blake's thought and symbolism in his later 'prophecies.' Portions of The Book of Urizen may be read as satire directed against the philosophic premises of seventeenth and eighteenth-century rationalism in general, and of Locke's theory of knowledge, in particular, Theme, structure and symbolism of the poem reflect this opposition and implicitly affirm Blake's own idealist metaphysics of reality. Abstracted from Eternity, Urizen's monolithic world has no extrinsic cause. It is a projection of his limited self-awareness. However, his solipsism fails to resolve the persistent contradiction between ideality and reality, thought and thing, subject and object. Los imposes temporal order and physical form on Urizen's disorganised thoughts. The limited anthropomorphic universe, produced by this intervention is a prison for mind and body, thought and desire. Henceforth, sensation and reflection determine the will to act. Man has rendered himself dependent on the fictitious 'substance' of matter, and on an equally mysterious remote deity. Both are only known by their 'accidents.' Natural science and Natural Religion are their respective rationalised form of worship. Both the pursuits of knowledge and of happiness require the suspension of desire. In The Song of Los Blake adopts a supra-historical perspective. Representative personages from biblical history, the history of religions generally, philosophy and science are associated by their common failure to sustain their visionary powers. Blake incorporates into his poetic typology of decline, structural elements derived from biblical, classical and modern conceptions of history without adopting their respective philosophical backgrounds. The notion of scientific progress and the advance of civilisation, concurrent with linear historical process, are dismissed. The achievements of empirical science, organised religion and autocratic government--synonymous with intellectual and physical oppression--kindle Orcls "thought creating fires." Despite its apocalyptic connotations, his violent outburst is of a highly ambivalent nature. The Four Zoas adumbrates the spiritual history of mankind. The poem is also a complex epic phenomenology of the human mind. Eden is an aspect of ideal reality where natural and human organisms are identified, and where life is sustained by loving self-sacrifice. After the Han's Fall elemental uproar reflects the mind's regression to the level of a perturbed oceanic consciousness which can no longer integrate the dissociated phenomena of the generative world into a living human form, thriving on love and understanding. Nature is transformed into a self-engendering monster. The human mind is englobed by the illusion of reality conceived as external and material, and by a fatalistic view of temporal process. Nevertheless, both misconceptions impose a degree of stability and order on the anarchic forces released by the cosmic catastrophe. Man's Fall is due to the dissociation of reason and affection. "Mental forms" are externalised and idolised. Eventually, under Urizen's control, imaginative energy in forced into rigid geometric form and regular motion. The beautiful illusion of the pseudo-Platonic "Mundane Shell" reflects the essential structure of Urizen's intelligence. however, it does not provide a lasting solution to the human dilemma. after the Fall. After the collapse of his creation, Urizen explores his alien environment by empirical means. he is a prisoner of his own restricted conception of reality. Unexpectedly, in Night VII(a), the Spectre of Urthona and Los are transformed into labourers of the Apocalypse. Regenoration starts with the annihilation of 'self.' Aware of his responsibilities, Los builds Golgonoozat the city of art. Emulating Christ's self-sacrifice, visionary activity is a form of self-denial. Time becomes a function of imaginative creativity. The imaginative world created by Los incorporates visionary time and space. Natural existence is realised as being endowed with regenerative qualities. Los no longer rejects Orc but sublimates his energies. Orc's destructive powers become an integral aspect Of the Last Judgment. Throughout Night VIII the providential and redemptive character of mortal life is stressed. Plunging into "the river of space" is a baptismal, if painful, experience. Although guided by Divine Providence, individual man has to work for his own salvation. In Night IX prophetic and apocalyptic views are fused as Los acts in a temporal context when tearing down the material, social and metaphysical barriers to vision erected by Urizen. The symbolism of Revelation is employed to adumbrate the artist's ultimate task in history. History is not beyond human control. Submission to the "Divine Vision" is an active ethical achievement capable of generating a powerful social dynamic, rather than tentatively removing it. Tyranny is overthrown because once the visionary poet has revealed its deceptions, mankind follows his example and removes it physically. This optimistic vision of the Last Judgment is an affirmation of the poet's absolute faith in the power of inspired vision to regenerate and humanize all aspects of life in this world.

As this study is concerned with the noetic process of a pre-literate, oral tradition in eighteenth century Scotland, we are obliged to address that mental economy through residual artifacts which survive in translation as products of a print driven, literary culture. As such, those artifacts have already been engaged to a literary process and, if they are to be subjected here to a further breach of cultural integrity, it is a minimum requirement that we attempt to respect the intellectual and psychological priorities which energise the traditional word. The central aims of the study are: to establish useful parameters of literary understanding for these residues, to assess the manner of translation through which the original materials were subjected to a literary process and to elucidate the nature of the literary product that they became, as well as that of the literary creativity which they inspired. With this in mind, our attention is directed initially toward the way in which a traditional text generates meaning for a contemporary, literary audience. The application of oral theory to Scottish traditional poetry and song, in chapter one, aims to propose a literary model of a particular tradition at a critical stage in its development. This model seeks to recognise both the conceptual underpinning of that process and the accumulative feedback that occurs when literary styles and politics infuse and regenerate within the process of transmission and translation to become embedded in the 'oral' artifacts of a culture in transition. In chapter two we look, in the editorial conflict between creative and conservative mediators, to identify the aesthetic circumstances of that tradition in a transitional culture so as to elucidate the nature of those artifacts as literary products. As a measure of how these competing forces pressurise traditional sources, we engage with the dynamic of cultural negotiation surrounding the authentication of traditional 'texts'. This focuses our attention on the status of the traditional aesthetic within the existing literary critique and the implications that aesthetic conflict held for original, imaginative writing.

The present study investigates formulae – fixed phrases used by an oral poet in composing narrative verse – in the Older Scotts poem known as the Brus, composed (probably in writing) by John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, in the last quarter of the fourteenth century. This thesis examines the apparent discrepancy of an oral-derived technique used in a sophisticated poem composed in writing by an educated and literate author. Following the discussion of previous critical approaches to Barbour’s Brus, the present study offers a summary of theories of the formula and formulaic composition relevant to the discussion, before providing examples of three types of formulae found in the Brus: formulae whose primary function is to preserve rhyme and metre in the poem, and which have minimal dependence upon their narrative context (prosodic formulae or fillers); formulae which set-up or provide transition between scenes, and which depend slightly more upon their narrative context (discursive formulae); and formulae which narrate the action of the poem’s plot, and therefore depend greatly upon their narrative context (historic formulae). The thesis then examines recurring incidents such as scenes of individual combat and large-scale battles, identifying the formulaic phrases employed in their construction, as well as the cyclical arrangement of such incidents to impose a specific interpretation of the poem upon the reader or audience. Finally, the present study examines the influence of medieval rhetoric and Latin-derived ‘literate’ culture on Barbour’s poem, uncovering a mixture of ‘oral’ and ‘literate’ modes of discourse which cooperate and complement each other in Barbour’s highly purposeful work of historical fiction. More and more critics are aware of the mixture of ‘oral’ and ‘literate’ discourse in Middle English (see, for example, Coleman 1996); by contrast, this aspect of Older Scotts literature is an understudied topic in an already understudied field. Additionally, no scholar has to may knowledge undertaken a study of the formula in any Older Scotts text. The present thesis will hopefully make a valuable first step in both these areas.