Drug Addiction and Gender in Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting and Marabou Stork Nightmares

Abstract

This paper will focus upon two works by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting and Marabou Stork Nightmares, and will unpack how the modern ideologies of capitalism, patriarchy and colonialism both informed the production of the texts and how the texts themselves can be thought of as embodiments of these ideologies. A close focus will be paid to the concepts of drug addiction, modernity, gender, masculinity, misogyny, violence, and class. Some attention will also be paid to Scottish nationality, dialect and racism in relation to class and colonialism.
Political hegemony will also be explored in depth, and how the novels aim to highlight several forms of hegemony and the effects they have upon individual autonomy and morality. The historical context of the novels will also be outlined and will also help to inform an in depth analysis of the novels with reference to historical ideologies and political constructs. Theoretical texts will be explored alongside the novels to inform analysis of Welsh’s work, including texts by Pierre Bourdieu, Naomi Wolf, and Cairns Craig, as well as philosophical works by Jacques Derrida, Anna Alexander, Felix Guattari and Terry Eagleton.