Borderline experience: madness, mimicry and Scottish gothic

Brewster, S 2005, 'Borderline experience: madness, mimicry and Scottish gothic' , Gothic Studies, 7 (1) , pp. 79-86.

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Abstract

This essay draws on Julia Kristeva's concept of 'borderline' experience, a feature of psychotic discourse, to examine the representation of madness, split personality and sociopathic behaviour in James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and the contemporary, muted Gothic of John Burnside's The Locust Room (2001). The main characteristics of borderline experience - a concern with authenticity and the proper name, with uncertain boundaries between inside and outside, truth and delusion - are central concerns in Hogg and Burnside, and the essay assesses the value of borderline discourse for a critical reading of madness in Gothic.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) Memory, Text and Place
Schools:	Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences
Journal or Publication Title:	Gothic Studies
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1362-7937
Depositing User:	H Kenna
Date Deposited:	23 Jan 2009 16:53
Last Modified:	09 Aug 2017 03:52
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/1306

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