StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

A Post Modernist Context of Scottish - Literature review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "A Post Modernist Context of Scottish Literature" states that Born Free written by Laura Hird has carefully crafted the story to deliver the realistic picture of Scottish society. The story tends to amuse the readers and at the same time leave them astonished regarding their environment…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.2% of users find it useful
A Post Modernist Context of Scottish Literature
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "A Post Modernist Context of Scottish"

Born Free: A Post Modernist Context of Scottish Literature of Born Free: A Post ModernistContext of Scottish Literature Introduction: The scope of the paper is to evaluate the postmodernism as a theory employed by Laura Hird in her novel Born Free. In order to study the literary usage of postmodern in the story, it is significant to evaluate the literary elements or devices of the Scottish after-modernist novel Born Free. It should be noted that the author has Among the chosen literary devices extracted and analyzed throughout the course of the story Born Free includes the narrative technique, thematic beautification, finest characterization and symbolism pursuing the goal of the author to tell the story keeping it diversified and not limited to the ramification of the post-modernism literature. Implied Postmodernism It will not be incorrect to state that the author Laura Hird has made use of different literary devices in order to convey the socio-cultural outlook of Scotland. It should be noted that Laura Hird is not the first one to contribute to the after-modernist literature with the application of literary devices such as narratives. The Scottish literature during the post modernism era has enabled people to look at the different dimensions of their society through the lens of stories. It is because of this reason that the authorship in the Born Free has taken postmodernism as a realism support (Williamson 2009). Narrative Element: It should be noted that one of the qualities of post-modernist era of Scottish literature is the breakdown of narratives. This is one literary device which has also been evaluated in the story Born Free. The author has taken the viewpoints of four different characters in order to provide the ideals to people to whom the readers can relate. This can be considered as a breakdown of narrative voice throughout the story. In addition, postmodernist literature is more likely to adhere to narratives which are nationalistic. By the usage of word nationalistic means that the readers can actually see themselves and people around them in the character narratives. Unlike modernism, post modernist literature is devoted to show realism rather than telling stories as a fairytale manner (Walsh 2009). The fact remains that the readers would consider Born Free as a fairy tale because there is more than one perspective being projected through the context of different characters. Firstly, its Angie who seems to take the stance of the leading character in the story also referred to as protagonist. The narratives through the account of Angie shows a woman who is correct on her point as she needed love and support the most. On the other hand, Angie’s offspring think that they do not belong to this family because they are not heard and not consoled for their loss of aspirations (MacNeil 2012). The author has however made use of humoristic touch in the story to enable the readers to laugh at the needs of an individual in this Scottish family living in Edinburgh. The daughter in the family setting seems to prove herself as a desperado. She wants to lose her virginity before the age of sixteen while her brother seems to be more childish and spent more time in masturbation. It should be noted that Jones, the son in the family readily believed that by doing so he was able to get away with his problems and emotional breakdown. This is evident from the following quote where Jones thought that his father has been quiet unfair to him by making him dance when he did not want to at the Christmas eves. ““Joni and me used to do our own stupid wee dance to it when bairns. Dad made us do it in front of the whole family, three Christmases in a row” (Hird 2007: 87). The fourth dimension of the narrative is head of the family Scott who is not able to understand his preference in life. He speaks of himself as a person who missed that was needed more in his life. This implies to his ex-girlfriend that he missed despite having Angie in his life (Leavis 2002). Thus, it can be said that the breakdown of narratives in the postmodernist literature manner seemingly worked out for the author. The story surely transferred the sense of understanding each narratives had with themselves. These characters tried to fight for their own personal interests leaving a mark for the readers to note that life is not treating them well. Characterization: Open Show of Shame in 21st Century: The characters as discussed above within the context of narrative breakdown reflecting the 21st century postmodernist realism are surely and purposely settled in the story by Laura. The author has housed each member of the Scott family in such a manner that they are representatives of shame spreading in the society (MacNeil 2005). The highlands of the cultural trend in Scotland due to amalgamation of relationships and chaos in a family system have been well inferred in the story through the four main narrative characters. At every point, the instance to be noted in the story allows the readers to find realism. Considering Jones thinking of women in particular or the female members of his family as so low that he wishes them to get lost, shows precisely the cultural values in Scotland or the poor regard that family have recently taken in the 21st century in Scotland. This is easily prominent from the narration of Jones as follows, “Huge meringue of shite…hope mum of Joni stands in it, or that Mrs Anderson, the moany old Catholid wifie opposite…slips in it and dies” (Hird 2007: 52). Character by character, the author has enabled a view of the postmodernist view of family. There seems to be no fairy tale where a perfect family comes to a happy ending. The author has stated her postmodernist view about the Scott family (Kay 2013). It shows clear signs that at the end of the story, each character has to die their life-fewer destinies because they could not understand the need of being together and prioritize. The readers hereby get much more attracted towards the way the author has written the story. It is probable for most of the readers to find it a hard reality. It is the shame that a girl is desperate enough to lose her virginity. The author wanted to show this aspect quiet brutally. Despite the usage of humor in the prose, the author continues to tell the hated reality (Metz 2009). In the context Joni, the hatred becomes enraged in the minds of readers when they get to know that Joni has lost her virginity to a total stranger. This shows that one of the most important things a woman can have in her life has become nothing but a lust for the women in the 21st century. In this way, it is evident that the author has enabled a postmodernist view society in the literature contributing to the modern prose (Prono 2010). Conclusion: Overall, through the analysis of above postmodernist lens of story telling and evaluation of different literary devices, it can be well stated that Born Free written by Laura Hird has carefully crafted the story to deliver the realistic picture of Scottish society. One way or the other, the story tends to amuse the readers and at the same time leave them astonished regarding their environment. It is because of this reason that Born Free can be considered as a finest written piece of Scottish Literature which serves the complete purpose and definition of post modernism. The characterization and breakdown of narrative stylistics within the context of post modernism is comprehensively done making it a delightful read. List of References Hird, L., 2007. Born Free. Edinburgh: Rebel Inc. Leavis, L. R., 2002. Current Literature 2000. English Studies, 83(5), pp. 431-441. MacNeil, K., 2005. Laura Hird - Born Free (1999). [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. MacNeil, K., 2012. Born Free - Review. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. Metz, K., 2009. Shame as Narrative Strategy — Prose by Scottish Writers Laura Hird, Jackie Kay, A.L. Kennedy and Ali Smith. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. Prono, L., 2010. Laura Hird. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. Walsh, S., 2006. Born Free. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. Williamson, K., 2009. Language and culture in a rediscovered Scotland. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 January 2013]. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Scottish Literature: Laura Hird Born Free Literature review, n.d.)
Scottish Literature: Laura Hird Born Free Literature review. https://studentshare.org/literature/1612319-scottish-literature-laura-hird-born-free
(Scottish Literature: Laura Hird Born Free Literature Review)
Scottish Literature: Laura Hird Born Free Literature Review. https://studentshare.org/literature/1612319-scottish-literature-laura-hird-born-free.
“Scottish Literature: Laura Hird Born Free Literature Review”. https://studentshare.org/literature/1612319-scottish-literature-laura-hird-born-free.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF A Post Modernist Context of Scottish Literature

The Use of Technology and Social Media in Preaching

This literature review "The Use of Technology and Social Media in Preaching" focuses on the concerted engagement of an individual's faculties of mind, body and spirit.... Social media plays a pivotal role in expanding God's kingdom.... There are inbound limitations on these technologies....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

The Most Consequential Features of New Media

This literature review "The Most Consequential Features of New Media" presents the ease at which present-day media has made access to novel information simple for users.... In essence, through new media, users are able to get content everywhere, any time using digital devices.... hellip; This paper aims at recognizing the various features of new media and analyzing the sociological concepts that can be derived from the affirmed features....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Personal Biblical Philosophy of Leadership

In this context, it would be imperative to quote the work of Ford (1991) since he reached out to his audience by directly pointing out towards the leadership aspects of the life and struggles of Jesus.... The text of his book can clearly be judged for its value on the subject of leadership since it talks about all aspects of the life of Jesus in context to leadership by concluding that by far, Jesus if the greatest leader ever born....
9 Pages (2250 words) Literature review

Polygamy in Islamic Law

This paper ''Polygamy in Islamic Law'' discusses that polygamy has been a controversial issue in the Islamic community.... From the Orthodox, Ulama argues that Polygamy is part of the Islamic Shari'ah.... He gives men the authority to take more than four wives if one wants.... hellip; According to them, a man does not practice polygamy on the ground likes of other woman or enamored by beauty....
7 Pages (1750 words) Literature review

Post Operative Care after Cholecystectomy

This literature review "Post Operative Care after Cholecystectomy" presents cholecystectomy as the surgical removal of the gall bladder.... Cholecystectomy is now the first choice management option for the inflammation of the gall bladder and symptomatic gall stones.... hellip; The care will mainly comprise of the checking of the vital signs, the control of the pain, fluid management, and the care of the tube....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Use of Inquiry Learning in the Context of Integrated Programming

… The paper “Use of Inquiry Learning in the context of Integrated Programming” is an well-turned  variant of literature review on education.... The paper “Use of Inquiry Learning in the context of Integrated Programming” is an well-turned  variant of literature review on education.... Inquiry learning gives an opportunity to learners to demonstrate and clearly show what they have learnt by applying the knowledge gained and the values and skills in the context of their fields of study....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Mobile Technology in the Context of Learning Language

This literature review "Mobile Technology in the context of Learning Language" presents the extensibility and flexibility of mobile devices such as iPhones and iPods that can greatly benefit language learners in the Language Literacy and Numeracy Program.... Mobile technology thus plays an important role in the context of language learning.... Although mobile technologies are important in learning a language in an authentic context, language teachers and learners have to make the best use of mobile technologies....
10 Pages (2500 words) Literature review

The Politics of Palestinian Olive Oil, Food Sovereignty and the Contemporary Food Crisis

… The paper “The Politics of Palestinian Olive Oil, Food Sovereignty and the Contemporary Food Crisis” is an exciting example of a literature review on social science....   The paper “The Politics of Palestinian Olive Oil, Food Sovereignty and the Contemporary Food Crisis” is an exciting example of a literature review on social science....
7 Pages (1750 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us