Heroin / Heroine: Addiction as Narrative and Transgression in Junky and Trainspotting

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to conduct a comparative analysis of two novels representing transgressive fiction and literature of addiction. These two novels, Junky (1977) (first published as Junkie in 1953) by William Burroughs and Trainspotting (1993) by Irvine Welsh, deal with drug addicts and their transgressive behaviour. They describe the choices the main characters make when they try to break free from the confines of society and their search for identity. The protagonists of both texts try to escape from the rules and expectations society imposes on them, they cross the boundaries of law, morals, and ethics; they transgress. The origins of the term "transgressive fiction" are explained and transgressive techniques and transgressive features in both texts are analysed. The transgressive potential of the subtitle of the first edition of Junkie is explained and moments of undermining middle- class identity and mocking American lifestyle are discussed. In Trainspotting, the transgressive elements involve, among others, the psychological effect of humour in grave and/or graphic transgressive situations and the manipulation of others using intellectual superiority. In both texts, channelling of transgression through violence plays an important part. Violence is seen as the only avenue for..