'Ginger beer and earthquakes' –Stevenson and the terrors of contingency

Citation

Watson R (2011) 'Ginger beer and earthquakes' –Stevenson and the terrors of contingency. Journal of Stevenson Studies, 8, pp. 108-124. http://www.english.stir.ac.uk/research/profile/stevensonstudies.php

Abstract
The essay traces recurrent tropes of contingency, and even absurdity, in Stevenson's writing to argue for an existential or proto-existential element in his thought. It touches on the critical case made for aspects of modernism in his writing and it refers in particular to his essays 'Aes Triplex' and 'Pulvis et Umbra'.

Keywords
Stevenson and modernism; absurdity, contingency and existentialism; terror; disgust; brute energy; 'the dread foundation of life'; 'Aes Triplex'; 'Pulvis et Umbra'; 'Lay Morals'; 'The Merry Men'; The Ebb Tide; The Master of Ballantrae; The Wrecker; Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Journal
Journal of Stevenson Studies: Volume 8

• Watson.pdf