Irvine Welsh

Issue 2.4 - Special Issue "Thatcher's Legacies" Previous Issues

The Allure of the 1980s

Christopher Vardy July 21, 2013 1 Comment 1980s 1984-85 miners' strike Anthony Cartwright Cathi Unsworth contemporary British history contemporary fiction David Peace Denise Mina dystopia End of History Gordon Burn Irvine Welsh literature Nineteen Eighty Three nostalgia post-industrial landscapes retro-memory Rubik's cubes Skagboys Thatcherism Trainspotting trauma

When we remember, represent or consume the recent past, we often do so through the alluring prism of nostalgia. In Ali Smith’s short story ‘astute, fiery, luxurious’…

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Issue 1.4 Previous Issues

Transgression and Contemporary Fiction

Martyn James Colebrook September 1, 2012 2 Comments Alasdair Gray Ali Smith Anthony Burgess Bill Drummond contemporary fiction David Britton Duncan McLean Ewan Morrison genre Gothic Iain Banks Irvine Welsh James Kelman James Robertson Johnny Glynn literature Marabou Stork Nightmares Mark Manning Michael Butterworth Niall Griffiths obscenity Patrick McCabe Peter Sotos Ron Butlin Scottish Gothic Toni Davidson transgression

One of the overt criticisms directed towards popular fiction is its requirement for a formulaic structure of characters, plot and narrative, which risks perpetuating the stereotype that all such fiction is repetitious, mass-produced and lacking in depth and originality.

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