Irvine Welsh's the bedroom secrets of the master chefs: The Caledonian antisyzygy?

All countries under the British Empire struggled to produce their own literature throughout history and to prove themselves within history. Even though some of these countries share the same language and/or same religion, they have different identity issues. Scotland, as a neighbour of the British Empire, has made compelling efforts to claim its unique identity reflected in the literary field. Since the 1960s and the emergence of postmodernism, Scotland has sought to embrace its old problems, aiming to create new literature. Irvine Welsh, influenced by postmodernism, has achieved the fusion of the old with the new. The author sheds light on Scotland's identity problem by mixing past issues with contemporary characters in his novels. He establishes Scotland's new identity construction by referring to an old problem, the superiority of England over Scotland. Relatedly, in this thesis, the historical relationship between Scotland and England will be discussed to understand the main topic of this thesis Caledonian Antisyzygy by highlighting the literary reflection of the identity problem experienced by the Scots. According to the term Caledonian Antisyzygy, Scotland lost its identity, language, and culture because of the pressure of the British Empire, and this loss is reflected in definite ways in literature. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis to analyse Irvine Welsh's novel The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by dealing with the reasons for the characters' identity loss throughout the novel and by connecting it with the theme of Caledonian Antisyzygy. Key Words: Irvine Welsh, Caledonian Antisyzygy, duality, duplicity, identity