Landscapes of Eden and Hell in the Modern Scottish Novel

Rankin, Leah N (2002) Landscapes of Eden and Hell in the Modern Scottish Novel. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The following thesis examines the portrayal in a number of modern Scottish novels of Edenic and hellish landscapes, these depictions being primarily connected with the effect of Calvinism on the Scottish mentality. The novels are linked by their focus on landscape, on the discrepancies between public and private lives, mythology (specifically relating to notions of Eden and hell) and in their in-depth examination of the Scottish psyche. It will be argued that the chosen novelists implicitly argue that the Calvinist inheritance in Scotland creates a type of hell (incorporating sometimes false paradises) in respect to the detrimental aspects of the religion resulting in an unamenable environment and even sometimes a dystopia. Initial note of the 'kailyard' mode of writing is taken in an attempt to compare and contrast the Edenic facade of this writing with the later, more modern novels in question, which deal more realistically and in greater depth with the Scottish cast of mind and with Scotland overall. The later novelists produce what I would call truer versions of artifice compared with the 'kailyard' sketches and it will be argued that in the former, the incorporation of the themes of evil as well as good produce harder hitting representations of Scotland, highlighting a new, more philosophically and religiously engaged direction for Scottish fiction during the twentieth century.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: Gerry Carruthers
• Keywords: British & Irish literature
• Date of Award: 2002
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2002-76032
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 17:06
• Last Modified: 19 Nov 2019 17:06
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/76032