In After Scotland: Irvine Welsh and the Ethic of Emergence, the authors objective is to mirror what he argues is the Scottish writer Irvine Welshs objective: to chart out a future Scotland guided by a generative life ethic. In order to achieve this objective, the author lays open and reengages Scotlands past, discovers and commits to neglected or submerged materials and energies in its past, demonstrates how Welshs work is faithful to those and newly produced materials and energies, and suggests that Welshs use of those materials and energies enables readers to envision a new Scotland that will be integral to an alternative postmodern world that countervails one ruled by late capital.
Each chapter builds toward a Marxist ethic of emergence, which is composed of four virtues uncovered in Scotlands historical-material fabric: congregation, integration, emergence, and forgiveness. To bring these virtues to the surface, the author historically grounds Welshs novels and short storiesTrainspotting, Glue, Porno, Filth, The Granton Star Cause, The Two Philosophers, and Marabou Stork Nightmares. Through this historiographical process, each virtue is uncovered and analyzed in the context of a particular historical period: medieval, Reformation, Enlightenment, and postmodern. Each context presents a unique set of materials and energies; each also presents an epistemological and ethical focus. The author brings the first three contexts and virtues together to formulate the ethic of emergence within the postmodern context. Throughout, the author stresses how this ethic and each of its virtues are embedded in Welshs work and in Scotlands historical-material fabric. The author then suggests what he and Welsh hope will emerge from that fabric according to such an ethic.
Because Welsh is a contemporary writer who has gained relatively little attention from literary scholars, another aim of this study is to situate Welshs work by connecting it with literature produced inside and outside of the Scottish and postmodern contexts: e.g. Gaelic prehistorical and epic literature, Chaucer, morality plays, Robert Burns, and the modern mystery genre.
The author concludes the study with an afterword, relating his project to recent events that have occurred in Scottish politics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-10202005-154721 |
| Date | 27 October 2005 |
| Creators | Lanier-Nabors, Benjamin George |
| Contributors | Carl Freedman, Patrick McGee, Keith A. Sandiford, Michael Hegarty, Husain F. Sarkar |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10202005-154721/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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