THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY ANKARA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ‘EVERENDUM’: NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTTISH DRAMA PhD Dissertation Seçil VARAL Ankara-2019 THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY ANKARA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ‘EVERENDUM’: NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTTISH DRAMA PhD Dissertation Seçil VARAL Supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sıla ŞENLEN GÜVENÇ Ankara-2019 THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY ANKARA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ‘EVERENDUM’: NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTTISH DRAMA PhD Dissertation Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sıla ŞENLEN GÜVENÇ Members of the PhD Committee Name and Surname Signature Prof. Dr. Nazan TUTAŞ ........................................ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sıla ŞENLEN GÜVENÇ ........................................ Assist. Prof. Dr. Patrick HART ........................................ Assist. Prof. Dr. Taner CAN ........................................ Assist. Prof. Dr. Nisa Harika Güzel Köşker ........................................ Date ................................. TO THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY ANKARA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. (……/……/20…) Student’s Name and Signature Seçil VARAL İmzası ……………………………………… ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The process of writing my dissertation intertwined with being a new mother has enriched my academic as well as personal life. So, I would like to begin by thanking my parents Arife and İbrahim Karana for taking care of Metehan so I could complete my dissertation, my husband Mehmet Varal for his great patience and support during this ‘rocky’ period and my sisters Selin Karana Şenol and Tuğçe Karana for their great encouragement. I would like to express my indebtedness to my advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sıla Şenlen Güvenç, for it would have been impossible to complete this study without her supervision and deep knowledge of contemporary Scottish drama. I am also grateful to Prof Dr. Nazan Tutaş, Prof. Dr. Deniz Bozer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Evrim Doğan Adanur, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Taner Can for their helpful suggestions. Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my friends and colleagues both at Ankara University and Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University for their support. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... ii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE ................. 7 1.1. National Identity in Theory .......................................................................................................... 7 1.2. A Historical Survey of National Identity and the Idea of Scottish Independence from Medieval Scotland to the Present ...................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 2. THE 1979 DEVOLUTION REFERENDUM AND SCOTTISH DRAMA .................................................................................................................................................. 68 2.1. On the Road to the 1979 Devolution Referendum: John McGrath’s The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black Black Oil (1973) ............................................................................................................... 68 2.2. The Aftermath of the 1979 Devolution Referendum: Liz Lochhead’s Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped off (1987) ........................................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER 3. AFTER HOLYROOD: POST-DEVOLUTION SCOTTISH DRAMA 3.1. The Re-Establishment of Scottish Parliament: Tim Barrow’s Union (2014) ........................... 124 CHAPTER 4. THE 2014 SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM AND SCOTTISH DRAMA ........................................................................................................... 150 4.1. The Referendum in Scottish Fairyland: Alan Bissett’s The Pure, The Dead and The Brilliant (2014) .............................................................................................................................................. 167 4.2. Theatre Uncut’s Scottish Referendum Plays ............................................................................ 184 4.2.1. Lewis Hetherington’s The White Lightning and the Black Stag (2013) ............................ 190 4.2.2. Davey Anderson’s Don’t Know, Don’t Care and Fear and Self Loathing in West Lothian (2014) .......................................................................................................................................... 196 4.3. Two Sides of the Referendum: David Greig’s The Yes/No Plays (2013-2017) ....................... 205 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 223 ÖZET ..................................................................................................................................... 244 ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 247 ii INTRODUCTION National identity and independence have long been on the agenda of the Scottish people, but these concepts have acquired new meaning and importance in recent years. This was, notably, due to the independence referendum held on September 18th, 2014 concerning whether Scotland should be free from the United Kingdom, and the Brexit Referendum held on 23 June 2016 that has no doubt inaugurated a new era for Scottish independence. Although independence debates faded for a while after the failure of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the Brexit Referendum has revived new discussion about the Anglo-Scottish Union following the UK’s vote for withdrawal from the EU irrespective of the 62 per cent of the Scottish votes against it. The Scottish National Party (SNP) signalled a second Scottish Independence Referendum – also referred to as “indyref2”- since Scotland overtly indicated its wish to remain as an EU member contrary to England and Wales. In this sense, the Brexit Referendum shows Scotland’s wish to act as an independent political unit, a distinct nation with its own political policies. However, Holyrood’s demand for holding a plebiscite on Scotland’s independence either in Autumn 2018 or Spring 2019 was declined by Westminster. Theresa May argued that it was not a convenient time for holding a referendum since the UK would have to act as a united kingdom throughout the Brexit process.1 Independence debates in Scotland apparently waned due to Theresa May’s refusal of indyref 2 and the Scottish people’s reluctance to go through another independence referendum.2 However, the failure of the negotiation process between the UK and the EU, the 1 See May, Theresa. “'Now is not the time': May on second Scottish referendum”. The Guardian, 16 Mar 2017. www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/mar/16/theresa-may-second-scottish-referendum-now-is-not-the- time-video. Accessed 20 Oct 2019. 2 According to a poll conducted in March 2017 at the time when Theresa May expressed that it was not the time for a second Scottish independence referendum 37 per cent of Scots were in favour of independence while 48 per cent were against it. See “How would you vote in a Scottish independence referendum if held now? (asked after the EU referendum)”. What Scotland Thinks. whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/how-would-you-vote-in-the-in-a- scottish-independence-referendum-if-held-now-ask#table. Accessed 20 Mar. 2018. 1 postponement of Brexit to 31 October 2019 at the request of the UK, and discussions on ‘no- deal Brexit’ or ‘hard Brexit’ led to a re-awakening of the desire for Scottish independence. Besides, May’s failure to manage the process successfully and deliver Brexit in 2018 resulted in her resignation on 7 June 2019, and the victory of Boris Johnson as the new Conservative Prime Minister of the UK. Boris Johnson’s harsh political discourse concerning Brexit and his insistence on no-deal Brexit regardless of Scotland’s objections has increased the support for Scottish independence. According to a poll published on August 5, 2019, 46 per cent of Scots indicated that they would support Scottish independence in a second referendum while 43 per cent stated otherwise.3 The result shows that “Yes” votes are in the lead for the first time since the Brexit Referendum. In this respect, matters concerning national identity and Scottish independence are at the top of the Scottish agenda. Thus, seeking independence through a second independence