Addicted to Violence: a Network of Extreme Masculinity in Irvine Welsh’S Francis Begbie
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Huddersfield Repository Addicted to Violence: A Network of Extreme Masculinity in Irvine Welsh’s Francis Begbie Sarah Smith A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Research University of Huddersfield June 2018 Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Meeting Francis Begbie 11 The Role of Violent Masculinities 13 Hyper-masculinity versus Psycho-masculinity 19 The ‘Macho’ Man and his Inheritance of Myth 27 Psychopathic Masculinity and Nationhood 38 Masculinity in Leith Central Station 43 The Blade Artist’s Revenge 64 Conclusion: Psycho-masculine Centralised Network 75 References 79 1 Abstract Welsh is “infamous for his representations of men and masculinity, most notoriously his ‘hard men’” (Jones, 2010; p.54), who “effectively highlight[s] and problematise[s] our own contemporary anxieties regarding unstable gender roles in transition” (p.54). Masculine anxiety is a broad term which perhaps, in one way or another, can be applied to the thematic content of the majority of Welsh’s fiction, but begins to undermine the complexity of Welsh’s characters and the temporal and physical landscape in which they are situated. These generalisations inspire questions rather than reliable conclusions. Are the issues of failing national identity an integral counterpart of the postmodern fragmentation of masculinity and its hegemonic forms, and as such are they causal instigators of deviant psychologies and violence within Welsh’s ‘hard men’, or, as this thesis suspects, is there a more complicated relationship between place, heritage and psychology? Borrowing from (without strictly following) Actor Network Theory’s methodology in which a network of actors is explored in relation to their connections and influences upon one another, the understanding of masculine violence can explored in detail, providing a thorough insight into Begbie’s psychological identity which has been previously lacking from critical literature in the dismissal of his character as a “proto-typical hard man” (McGuire, 2010; p.9), unworthy of further study beyond this limited observation of violent masculinity in operation. Given Begbie’s revival within The Blade Artist, and the recent release of T2 Trainspotting, it becomes ever more pertinent to give consideration to the complexity of his character beyond the “often comical cartoon figure of the film [Trainspotting]” (Morace, 2007; p.127) and the standard ticket of ‘Scottishness’ adhered to his specific breed of psychopathic intensity. Considering masculinity’s hegemonic associations which physiological gender, to its complicated relationship with sociocultural structures and national identity, alongside the pervasive possibility for a mental predisposition for depravity that falls within the classification of legitimate psychopathy, this body of work will use Francis Begbie as a conduit through which to explore the creation of a hyperbolic cocktail of violent masculine identity. This thesis will dismantle the general understanding of male violence in accordance with broad homogenous structures of masculinity within Welsh’s fiction, specifically in its depiction of the network topography of Francis Begbie’s masculine identity, the function of violence within his character, and his subsequent expression of potentially psychopathic behaviour. 2 Introduction Since Trainspotting, published in 1993, Irvine Welsh’s fiction has become a cult sensation, his works having inspired numerous stage and filmic adaptations, most notably in the infamous 1996 translation to screen of Trainspotting by Danny Boyle, and the recent release of its narrative sequel Porno, under the title T2 Trainspotting. His work is immediately identifiable, and treasured by both popular and academic readerships, largely in part due to a unique authorial voice, and an honest confrontation of taboo, such as drug use, violence and crime, all framed within an articulate representation of urban Scotland. Welsh’s explicit narratives and written denotation of the Scottish dialect has changed the literary presentation of ‘Scottishness’ in a way from which the genre has “never quite recovered” (Innes, 2007; p.301). Welsh’s presentation of the Scottish identity is a thread which runs through and around the entirety of his literary work, serving to create an overall portrait of the underbelly of Scottish culture, which often casts a somewhat unflattering reflection of the Scottish national identity as a whole. Welsh’s notoriety and popularity amongst a global readership gives his authorial voice a volume which was unprecedented within Scottish ‘Cult’ literature of the 1990’s, and as such his representation of “a certain community in a certain part of Edinburgh” threatens to “become standardised as the authentic Scottish Voice” (Innes, 2007: p.301). The accreditation of ‘Scottishness’ to Welsh’s work is a useful term, but the assumption that one “literary hallmarked” (p.303), minority voice is one which is nationally universal not only distorts the perception of a representative Scottish national voice but also “render[s] inaudible the language . and experience of other underprivileged groups” (p.303). That is to say that the emergence of Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud as stereotypes of ‘Scottishness’ serves to undermine the literary validation of other Scottish demographics, massive or marginal, when a set of characters with a recognisably ‘Scottish’ accent and a “cutting edge” (Welsh, in Innes, 2007 p.301) lifestyle become emblematic of Scottishness in its entirety. This understanding of Scottishness within Welsh’s fiction, in which specific identities, behaviours 3 and attitudes are packed and sealed into one, often inadequately labelled, box of nationality has frequently become the common denominator of interpretation between depictions of psychological depravity and violent action. Indeed, “the spectacle of Edinburgh with its knickers off” (Bathurst, 2012) found within Trainspotting sets the tone for much of Welsh’s fiction to come, focusing on the subculture of Leith, the afflictions of drug addiction, the prevalence of violence and misogyny and the varying distortions of personality within a demographic of socially and culturally disenfranchised individuals. Welsh is “infamous for his representations of men and masculinity, most notoriously his ‘hard men’” (Jones, 2010; p.54), who “effectively highlight[s] and problematise[s] our own contemporary anxieties regarding unstable gender roles in transition” (p.54). Masculine anxiety as part of the ‘postmodern condition’ is a broad term which perhaps, in one way or another, can be applied to the thematic content of the majority of Welsh’s fiction. The application of postmodernism within this context is neither classically Lyotardian nor Jamesonian, as whist the role of “capitalism’s alienation effect” (Lucy, 2015; p.87) and its disruption of faith in the metanarratives of masculinity are imperative to this understanding of postmodern ‘fragmentation’, they do not exhaust its potential application. Postmodernism within this thesis embarks upon a more sociological exploration in which the fragmentation and anxiety surrounding failing, uncertain identities inspires a “rethinking of the very nature of the basic categories through which the social whole is . constituted” (Nicholson and Seidman, 2008; p.24). The ambiguity of plurality and its root within capitalist culture drives an understanding of postmodernity which can be transposed onto a map of an individual’s experience, psychology and identity, but which does not sufficiently accommodate the psychological ramifications of a “continuous dismantlement and reconstruction” (Schoene, 2004; p.122) of masculine behaviour and identity. The standardisation of ‘fragmentation’ begins to undermine the complexity of Welsh’s characters and the temporal and physical landscape in which they are situated, ensuring the generalisation of a postmodern crisis of masculinity comes to inspire further questions rather than provide reliable conclusions. Are the issues of failing national identity within Welsh’s fiction an integral counterpart of the postmodern fragmentation of masculinity and 4 its hegemonic forms, and as such are they causal instigators of deviant psychologies and violence within Welsh’s ‘hard men’, or is there a more complicated relationship between place, heritage and psychology? One which suspects national identity and the postmodern anxieties which surround it, serve more as efficient vehicles and catalysts for the depiction and exploration of a set of underprivileged, minority and psychologically disturbed characters, rather than the pivotal structures from which their behaviours springs. Specifically, within Welsh’s most unhinged and volatile creation from the Trainspotting universe, Francis Begbie, there is a question of psychopathy and a mental predilection towards violence that appears to exist beyond the implication of outwards spheres of influence and conditioning. In order to unpack and sufficiently organise this understanding of violent masculinity within the works of Irvine Welsh, there must be a revaluation of these relationships, and their significance in the networks of identity formulation. Actor-network Theory (ANT), otherwise known as the “sociology of translation” (Law, 2011; p.380), is a sociological methodology developed by Bruno Latour and Michael Callon,