Reviews

Cairns CRAIG, Out of histor

Getting it All in the Right Order: the Love Plot, Trauma and Ethical Uncertainty in Rachel Seiffert’s Afterwards

This article analyzes Seiffert’s Afterwards (2007), which, in marked contrast to her debut publication, The Dark Room (2001), has received scarce critical attention. Set in anodyne suburbia, Afterwards narrates the fate of two unglamorous ex-combatants and their trauma. Seiffert’s complex narrative binds together romance and PTSD in a double plot that intertwines the fate of a “squaddy” involved in a shooting incident in the Northern Ireland Troubles with that of a former RAF officer stationed in colonial Kenya. This article argues that beyond subjective issues of judgment, Seiffert shows an awareness that modern romance cannot combine with trauma, as the idea of healing is nonsensical in a world ruled by ethical uncertainty. Furthermore, Seiffert’s examination of trauma indicates that in fiction –as in life– author and reader have to confront questions of guilt, responsibility and the absence of forgiveness. Seiffert, drawing on ideas similar to Primo Levi’s, concludes the novel with the tragic irony that the more humane the perpetrator, the more distant closure becomes, leaving her main character locked in trauma and the reader ensnared in uncertainty

Strange, Stranger and Estrangement

Much Romantic-era fiction is based on the trope of strangeness and familiarity. The Waverley-like wanderer is thrown into confusion when he encounters the exotic flora and fauna that thrive on the periphery of his united kingdom. However, less well-known – but deserving equal attention – is the strategy of other writers of the period who adopt and reverse the trope in a remarkable way. Not only do they explore the nature of northern Britain, but also process the narrator’s reactions in order ..

Strange, Stranger and Estrangement

Much Romantic-era fiction is based on the trope of strangeness and familiarity. The Waverley-like wanderer is thrown into confusion when he encounters the exotic flora and fauna that thrive on the periphery of his united kingdom. However, less well-known – but deserving equal attention – is the strategy of other writers of the period who adopt and reverse the trope in a remarkable way. Not only do they explore the nature of northern Britain, but also process the narrator’s reactions in order ..

Changing Places with What Goes Before: The Po¬ etry of Kathleen Jamie

Jon Coreli’s essay “From Scotland to Suburbia: A Landscape of Current British Poetry,” published in Chapman (1997) concluded that “today’s best British Poetry [...] is associated with Scotland [...] The work of these Scottish poets exemplifies many of the qualities which I personally find most appealing in poetry: a diction which is both naturally colloquial and deliberately poetic, the ability to express intense emotion with unapologetic directness [...]” is well justified by the work of Kathleen Jamie, who will be the centre of attention of this article. My starting point will be her evocative poem “Mr and Mrs Scotland are Dead,” an obituary-cum-requiem for a real but simultaneously representative couple, identifiable as working-class Scots, with a clear sense of values as concerns their class, gender role and national identity. Because modernity has erased or partially obscured these parameters, much contemporary poetry either looks backward to when Mr and Mrs Scotland were alive, or tries to come to terms with a new set of defining concepts. I will also lean heavily on Kathleen Jamie’s travel writing, and in particular The Golden Peak: Travels in Northern Pakistan (1992)

Evaluation of the iHEART mental health education programme on resilience and wellbeing of UK secondary school adolescents

This is an accepted manuscript of an article due to be published by Emerald in Journal of Public Mental Health on 11/01/2021, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-03-2020-0019 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose There is abundant evidence of impaired mental well-being in adolescents and young adults. We present the findings of a preliminary study based on a novel structured mental health education programme – Innate Health Education and Resilience Training (iHEART) – in a cohort of secondary school adolescents in the UK. Methodology A curriculum-based 10-week programme was delivered by trained facilitators. 205 students enrolled in the study. An additional 64 participants were within an age-matched non-intervention control group. A non-randomised control mixed methodology approach was used. All students, pre- and post-programme, completed a quantitative questionnaire – the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Survey. Qualitative measures were used to assess participants’ perceptions of changes in their resilience and mental well-being. Findings Those who received the intervention showed a small improvement in mental well-being relative to those who did not; with a similar change in resilience. Qualitative findings regarding impulse control and emotional resilience provided positive findings. Originality/Value iHEART may be a promising new intervention offering a step change in mental health education for improving resilience, mental well-being and the ability for participants to navigate psychological challenges