Hugvísindasvið Casting a Long Shadow A Study of Masculinity and Hard Men in Twentieth-Century Scottish Fiction Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs Jóhann Axel Andersen Febrúar 2009 Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Enska Casting a Long Shadow A Study of Masculinity and Hard Men in Twentieth-Century Scottish Fiction Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs Jóhann Axel Andersen Kt.: 251079-4719 Leiðbeinandi: Julian Meldon D’Arcy Febrúar 2009 SUMMARY The aim of this essay is to study the portrayal of flawed and destructive masculinity in twentieth-century Scottish fiction. Its thesis is that patriarchal images of manhood and mythical representations of the Scottish hard man have been instrumental in creating a perception of failed masculinity and the resulting identity crisis of male protagonists. The development of Scottish male characters throughout the century is studied in eight primary novels written between 1901 and 1993. Various secondary novels, texts and articles pertaining to the study of Scottish literature and/or gender studies are also used to emphasise the points being made. The essay begins with a chapter on the overview of the history of Scotland, Scottish fiction, and the major thematic breakthroughs of men’s studies in the twentieth-century. The focus is then turned towards the eight novels: George Douglas Brown’s The House of the Green Shutters, John MacDougall Hay’s Gillespie, Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Grey Granite, James Kelman’s The Busconductor Hines, Jeff Torrington’s Swing Hammer Swing!, Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, Ron Butlin’s The Sound of My Voice and William McIlvanney’s Docherty. Finally, the possible future of the hard man in Scottish fiction is briefly discussed. The eight novels portray images of Scottish masculinity that have certainly developed and changed throughout the century. At first, the male protagonists are brutal small town patriarchs, but later they are succeeded by strong working-class figures. The post-war era brings about a significant change in society and culture and this is reflected in male characters in Scottish fiction becoming increasingly marginalised and alienated. It seems almost impossible for them to escape the flaws and failures of previous characters or to step out of their patriarchal shadow. CASTING A LONG SHADOW: A STUDY OF MASCULINITY AND HARD MEN IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SCOTTISH FICTION CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 1. SCOTTISHNESS AND HARD MANHOOD................................................................…3 Scottish History, 5; Scottish Literature Before the Twentieth Century, 14; Masculinity, 22; Men’s Studies, 25; The Essence of Scottish Masculinity, 30. 2. THE SHADOWCASTERS: THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS AND GILLESPIE ..........................................................................................................33 Out of the Kailyard, 34; Gourlay and Strang, 38; Domineering Men, 45; Failed Patriarchal Masculinity, 49; Marketplace Manhood, 55; The Influence on Future Generations, 59. 3. TO BE A WORKING-CLASS HERO: GREY GRANITE AND THE SCOTTISH RENAISSANCE ...................................................................................................60 The Scottish Renaissance, 61; The Working-Class Man, 63; Grassic Gibbon and A Scots Quair, 67; Ewan Tavendale, 70; Identity of the Hard Man, 74. 4. DESPONDENCY AND DEMOLITION: THE BUSCONDUCTOR HINES AND SWING HAMMER SWING! .................................................................................76 Post-War Fiction, 77; James Kelman, 80; Failed, Domesticated Masculinity, 84; Swing Hammer Swing!, 89; Post-War Masculinity, 95; The New “Hard” Man, 101. 5. JUNK AND DRUNK DILEMMAS: TRAINSPOTTING AND THE SOUND OF MY VOICE .............................................................................. .........................103 Further Marginalisation, 104; Irvine Welsh, 108; Trainspotting, 111; Butlin and The Voice, 120; Masculine Crisis, 126. 6. THE HARDER THEY COME: DOCHERTY AND THE AWESOME WEE MAN ......129 William McIlvanney, 130; Return of the Working-Class Hero, 133; The Three Brothers, 138; Strength and Violence, 142; The Archetypal Hard Man, 145. 7. THE HARD MAN’S FUTURE: TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SCOTTISH FICTION.147 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 153 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 155 1 CASTING A LONG SHADOW A Study of Masculinity and Hard Men in Twentieth-Century Scottish Fiction INTRODUCTION There is something about Scottish fiction, something that sets it apart, even from other British fiction, and makes it unique. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes it so interesting or why one experiences it as distinctly Scottish, but there is an unexplicable essence to Scottish fiction, especially twentieth-century fiction, which defines it as a whole and no single novel seems to fully escape it. This essence must certainly be in some way influenced by the Scottish past and its vibrant literary history as well as the social and cultural context and the variegated presentation of the Scots language, but something about it will never be fully explained. When reading a number of the most celebrated twentieth- century Scottish novels and searching for collective elements that seem to shape this unexplained essence, one cannot ignore the prominence of rigorous struggles, an identity crisis, harsh reality and gloom within the novels, nor the overwhelmingly salient male characters. Masculinity, powerful male protagonists and hard men play a distinctive role in the essence of twentieth-century Scottish fiction and that is why they were chosen as a research topic for this essay. The term ‘masculinity’ is certainly equally difficult to define as ‘Scottishness’ and the aim is not to present any universally conclusive truths about either, but simply to study how they have been portrayed in eight twentieth-century novels: George Douglas Brown’s The House with the Green Shutters (1901), John MacDougall Hay’s Gillespie (1914), Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Grey Granite (1934), William McIlvanney’s Docherty (1975), James Kelman’s The Busconductor Hines (1984), Ron Butlin’s The Sound of My Voice (1987), Jeff Torrington’s Swing Hammer 2 Swing! (1992) and Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting (1993). There is a distinct pattern and evolvement of Scottish masculinity throughout the century which can be identified and expounded with these eight novels. During the first half of the century a hard but failed masculinity emerges and becomes almost like a burden that subsequent male characters cannot escape. Society, culture and gender roles undergo dramatic changes in the post-war era, but Scottish masculinity is left behind; the Scottish hard man becomes an anachronism and Scottish male characters experience dramatic identity crises. It is in fact the very nature of Scottish masculinity – the rigidity, pride and lack of emotion – that is to blame for its own downhill trajectory, but its prominence and value make its adoption for any twentieth-century character inevitable. Twentieth-century Scottish fiction portrays an image of flawed and destructive masculinity that is dominated by patriarchal images of manhood and mythical representations of the hard man, and which ultimately results in a masculine identity crisis. 3 Chapter 1 Scottishness and Hard Manhood When studying literature one must constantly stay alert and open-minded to new aspects of literary criticism, theory and interpretation, as well as taking in all possible elements of intertextuality and cross-references to other works, even outside the genre in question. However, one must also aspire to narrow the study down to within a manageable boundary, adhering to certain criteria, in order to maintain a coherent argument without straying too greatly off target. It is thus imperative, right from the onset, to explain various decisions regarding such criteria which had to be made before the bulk of this essay’s research was even started. Firstly, it must be established that a study of Scottish fiction over an entire century can only be done on a pars pro toto basis, and that the eight novels in question were selected because of their prominent male protagonists. The novels were not selected at random and thus it could be argued that the evident similarities between the characters are by no means arbitrary and that the eight novels were selected chiefly because of these similarities. This is, however, not the case. The main criteria for selecting the eight novels was to find strong, interesting and memorable male protagonists within the works of some of the most influential and important Scottish male novelists of the twentieth century. The Scottish literati have distinctly canonised some of these novels, and their creators have secured their place among Scotland’s greatest writers. Therefore, the selection of the eight novels should not be contested too greatly when it comes to claims of similarities and evident validations of the main thesis. It must also be stated that various other novels are referred to alongside the eight chosen to further emphasise the conclusions. 4 Another important aspect of this essay, i.e. the question of gender, could also raise questions in regards to the selection of the novels. For instance, why is there not a novel by a female novelist among them or a novel with a prominent female protagonist