Madness and altered psychological states are prominent themes in Scottish literature and criticism. However, many forms of mental distress do not fit the national imaginary and are therefore under-researched. This article discusses two such health issues, anorexia and intergenerational or historical trauma, in Andrew O’Hagan’s novel Personality~(2003). Personality follows child star Maria Tambini (closely modelled on Lena Zavaroni) and her family’s traumatic experience as Scots-Italians during the Second World War. I~discuss the competing meanings of anorexia, the narrative gaps around therapeutics, intergenerational trauma and O’Hagan’s preference for symbolic recovery. I~argue that O’Hagan depicts a pathogenic celebrity culture and a Scottish culture that is psychopathogenic due to this unresolved historical trauma, rather than because of economic inequality, social disadvantage or Scottish national disempowerment, the more prominent themes in Scottish literature and culture. By looking at texts outside the national imaginary, Scottish studies can develop a medical humanities informed Scottish canon and fully unpack debates about the politics of health in Scottish culture.
Illness beyond the Scottish National Imaginary.
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