Publisher's Synopsis
The present volume raises the question of what can constitute Scottishness in literature, and sets post-1945 fiction in the wider context of writing in, and about, Scotland. It comprises both general outlines and in-depth studies, with contributions covering ideas of Scotland in Scottish writing, identity issues in popular fiction, the cultural impact of North Sea oil, and form and ideology in contemporary fiction, as well as individual authors (Jenkins, Kesson, Spark, Margaret Laurence, McIlvanney, Gray, Kelman, Welsh, Mackay Brown). Taken together, the essays illustrate the fact that modern Scottish fiction can be described in terms of certain identifiable trends, but at the same time possesses a variety which defies circumscription.
