University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 2016 Exquisite Clutter: Material Culture and the Scottish Reinvention of the Adventure Narrative Rebekah C. Greene University of Rhode Island,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Greene, Rebekah C., "Exquisite Clutter: Material Culture and the Scottish Reinvention of the Adventure Narrative" (2016). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 438. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/438 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. EXQUISITE CLUTTER: MATERIAL CULTURE AND THE SCOTTISH REINVENTION OF THE ADVENTURE NARRATIVE BY REBEKAH C. GREENE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2016 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION OF REBEKAH C. GREENE APPROVED: Dissertation Committee: Major Professor Carolyn Betensky Ryan Trimm William Krieger Nasser H. Zawia DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2016 ABSTRACT EXQUISITE CLUTTER: MATERIAL CULTURE AND THE SCOTTISH REINVENTION OF THE ADVENTURE NARRATIVE BY REBEKAH C. GREENE Exquisite Clutter examines the depiction of material culture in adventures written by Scottish authors Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and John Buchan. Throughout, these three authors use depictions of material culture in the adventure novel to begin formulating a critique about the danger of becoming overly comfortable in a culture where commodities are widely available. In these works, objects are a way to examine the complexities of character and to more closely scrutinize a host of personal anxieties about contact with others, changing societal roles, and one’s own place in the world.