Alasdair Gray and the postmodern.
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Date
03/2009Author
Rhind, Neil James
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Abstract
The prominence of the term ‘Postmodernism’ in critical responses to the work of
Alasdair Gray has often appeared at odds with Gray’s own writing, both in his
commitment to seemingly non-postmodernist concerns and his own repeatedly stated
rejection of the label. In order to better understand Gray’s relationship to
postmodernism, this thesis begins by outlining Gray’s reservations in this regard.
Principally, this is taken as the result of his concerns over the academic appropriation of
his work, and his suggestion that ‘postmodernism’ is an entity wholly constructed and
primarily active within critical theory, with a tendency to elide the political dimension of
literature under its own assumed apolitical solipsism. While acknowledging these
reservations, this thesis goes on to explore the extent to which theories elaborated under
the ‘postmodern’ heading possess utility as an approach to Gray’s work, primarily
focussing on the extent to which they necessarily stand at odds with his political
concerns. To this end, subsequent chapters go on to read Gray’s major works in parallel
with appropriate theoretical models drawn from the diverse configurations given
postmodernism. Comparison between Gray’s project in Lanark of providing
contemporary Glasgow with imaginative depiction and the cognitive mapping demanded
in Fredric Jameson’s account of the postmodern not only highlights their similarities, but
identifies this notion of the ‘epic map’ as a central aspect of the political dimension of Gray’s writing. The ‘epic map’ recurs in consideration of 1982, Janine, which explores
the potential political agenda in its narrators’ seemingly postmodern fabulism, and its
relationship to seemingly less ‘postmodern’ concerns of the novellas The Fall Of Kelvin
Walker, McGrotty and Ludmilla and Something Leather. Likewise, ‘mapping’ also plays
a part in approaching Poor Things in the context of postmodern historiography as
described by Jameson and Linda Hutcheon. The penultimate chapter explores A History
Maker as a complex negotiation with the very notion of postmodernism, installing,
rejecting and subverting tropes drawn from postmodern theories, principally those of
Fukuyama, Baudrillard and Jameson. In the concluding chapter, while no final
conclusion is reached regarding a fixed relationship between Gray and the postmodern –
a notion taken as impossible, given the heterogeneity of the values ascribed to the term –
a degree of utility, and certainly of relevance, in approaching even Gray’s political
concerns is thus established.