Fathers and Phantoms: Revealing the Unconscious Residues in Raymond Williams's Border Country. (April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Davies, Clare
• Is Part Of: International journal of Welsh writing in English. Volume 4:Number 1(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-04
• Subjects: English literature -- Welsh authors -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Welsh literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; English literature -- Welsh authors; Criticism, interpretation, etc; Periodicals; 820.809429
• DOI: 10.16995/ijwwe.4.2
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2053-1915

Abstract

Abstract : This article explores Raymond Williams's first novel, Border Country, by tracing its origins back to earlier, unpublished versions of the work that are housed in the Richard Burton Archives. Adopting Williams's concept of the 'residual', this article suggests that Border Country is haunted by textual residues left over from those unpublished drafts. Focusing on the key theme of fatherhood, the article argues that an anxiety over uncertain paternity is the textual unconscious of Border Country. Combining close readings of the novel and its earlier drafts with a psychoanalytic approach (using Nicholas Abraham and Maria Torok's idea of the phantom), this article demonstrates that the theme of uncertain paternity which troubles the novel's representation of the father-son relationship had its inception in the earlier drafts. By taking this psychoanalytic approach, the article seeks to broaden the interpretative framework through which we can read Williams's still under-appreciated novels. It also begins to re-evaluate Williams's work through an engagement with his extensive archival material.