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Authorship and Authority in the Novels of Alasdair Gray

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Authorship and Authority in the Novels of Alasdair Gray Authorship and authority in the novels of Alasdair Gray Submitted by Claire Blomeley BA (Hons) A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Philosophy School of Arts Faculty of Education and Arts Australian Catholic University Graduate Research Office Level 5, 250 Victoria Parade East Melbourne VIC 3000 31st August 2017 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES This thesis contains no material that has been extracted in whole or in part from a thesis that I have submitted towards the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the main text of the thesis. All research procedures reported in the thesis received the approval of the relevant Ethics/Safety Committees (where required). Some material from this thesis has been published in the journal, Limina in the article, "Rethinking author construction: the intrusive author in Alasdair Gray's Lanark and 1982, Janine". (21.2 2016) All material was produced during my candidature at ACU. Footnotes have been used throughout the thesis to indicated where material from the thesis was used in the article. Claire Blomeley Signed: Date: / / ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr Matthew Ryan and co-supervisor, Dr Maggie Nolan. Your guidance, encouragement, critical eyes, and investment in my work has shaped it from an idea to a thesis. Matthew, there is no amount of gratitude I can express for how supportive you have been in this process. Your faith in my ability has often exceeded my own. You have been more than just my supervisor, you have been a true mentor. (I’m sorry it’s not Flann O’Brien, maybe next time.) To my family, who have accepted my status as perpetual student with a sense of pride. Thank you to my parents, who despite distance, are always there for me. To my brothers, as is often the way, I am at a loss in how to thank you. To my friend and housemate, Hannah Peake, who has borne the daily effects of this thesis. Thank you for the bad day dinners, the piling of all the papers and books, and providing a home environment that does not allow wallowing. To my friends, who have managed to find the right balance of support and distraction. Thank you for accepting “yep” as a response to most questions. To my literature friend, Emma Van Wees, thank you for the beer, wine, coffee, cake and late night book shopping. You are possibly one of few people who know what this thesis is about, and having someone to bounce ideas off and vent too has been invaluable. To Joseph Downie, with whom I should never utter the words “just a few”. To Erica and Dan Murrihy, Cassie Downie and Renee Jelowyi, who have all feigned interesting in the thesis, not because they care about the work, but because they care about me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES .......................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. II TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... III TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... V ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ VI INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL APPROACH .............................................................. 12 Metafiction .......................................................................................................................... 14 Author and Author-function ................................................................................................ 19 The Implied author .............................................................................................................. 24 The Polyphonic Novel ......................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER TWO: COMPARTMENTALISED SELVES .................................................. 34 Intrusive author .................................................................................................................... 35 The Artist ............................................................................................................................. 43 The Critic ............................................................................................................................. 52 iv The Editor ............................................................................................................................ 59 Alternative authors .............................................................................................................. 65 CHAPTER THREE: GENRE AND POLITICS ................................................................. 72 Realism and Fantasy ............................................................................................................ 74 Politics ................................................................................................................................. 79 Forms of Authority: Established v New .............................................................................. 89 CHAPTER FOUR: TRANSFORMATIONS ...................................................................... 98 The Self and Nation ........................................................................................................... 100 Suicide ............................................................................................................................... 104 Rape ................................................................................................................................... 110 New Selves and Hopeful Futures ...................................................................................... 117 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 123 APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 128 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................ 139 v TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Example of "Goodbye" from Old Men in Love ................................................... 32 Figure 2. Example from “The Ministry of Voices” from 1982, Janine .............................. 41 Figure 3. Bella Caledonia from Poor Things ...................................................................... 48 Figure 4. Book One bookplate from Lanark ....................................................................... 50 Figure 5. Book Four bookplate from Lanark ...................................................................... 51 Figure 6. “The Diary 2006” typograph from Old Men in Love ........................................... 63 vi ABSTRACT Alasdair Gray’s novels highlight the construction of the author to frame a discussion around authority and the political implications of destabilising and reconstructing power structures. In this thesis I engage with both the postmodern and political nature of Gray’s work, using a metafictional approach that accommodates these two often conflicting aspects of Gray’s novels. This metafictional discussion will centre on the author and how Gray, in his novels, exposes and manipulates the authority held by the author figure to form a political dialogue. Gray uses polyphony to present a range of authorial figures that act to destabilise traditional textual authority held by the author. I discuss the role of the novel form in developing ideas of the nation, presenting Gray’s destabilisation of the author as a political statement. This discussion of the author, ‘Alasdair Gray’, allows for a broader discussion of the self, reflecting Gray’s political position as one not limited to Scotland but encouraging of all nations to consider postcolonial futures. 1 INTRODUCTION Alasdair Gray’s novels highlight the construction of the author to frame a discussion around authority and the political implications of destabilising and reconstructing power structures. In this thesis I engage with both the postmodern and political nature of Gray’s work, using a metafictional approach that accommodates these two often conflicting aspects of Gray’s novels. Metafiction can be defined as writing that is self-conscious; writing that displays its constructed nature. This metafictional discussion will centre on the author and how Gray, in his novels, exposes and manipulates the authority held by the author figure to form a political dialogue. Gray uses polyphony to present a range of authorial figures that act to destabilise traditional textual authority held by the author. I discuss the role of the novel form in developing ideas of the nation, presenting Gray’s destabilisation of the author as a political statement. This discussion of the author, ‘Alasdair Gray’, allows for a broader discussion of the self, reflecting Gray’s political position as one not limited to Scotland but encouraging of all nations to consider postcolonial futures. Alasdair Gray, born in Glasgow in 1934, is a high-profile public figure in Scotland, celebrated for both his writing and
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