A Post Modernist Context of Scottish - Literature review Example

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