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This book revisits Jean Rhys's ground-breaking 1966 novel to explore its cultural and artistic influence in the areas of not only literature and literary criticism, but fashion design, visual art, and the theatre as well. Building on symposia that were held in London and New York in 2016 in honour of the novel's half-century, this collection demonstrates just how timely Rhys's insights into colonial history, sexual relations, and aesthetics continue to be. The chapters include an extensive interview with novelist Caryl Phillips, who in 2018 published a novel about Rhys's life, an account of how Wide Sargasso Sea can be read through the lens of the #MeToo Movement, a clothing line inspired by the novel, and new critical directions. As both a celebration and scholarly evaluation, the collection shows how enduring Rhys's novel is in its continuing literary influence and social commentary.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. Interview with Caryl Phillips.- 3. Interview with Chrisila Maida.- 4. 'Infamous Daughters': A Capsule Collection Inspired by Wide Sargasso Sea.- 5. Wide Sargasso Sea Then and Now: Reading Jean Rhys á la mode.- 6. After Mrs. Rochester: On Portraying Jean Rhys on the Stage.- 7. Interview with Andrew Thackara.- 8. Who Writes for the Trees?: Wide Sargasso Sea, the Dominican Forest, and its Parrots.- 9.Jean Rhys Getting the 'Feel' of the West Indies in Wide Sargasso Sea.- 'Broken Parts': Wide Sargasso Sea and the Poetics of Caribbean Modernism.- 10. #MeToo in Wide Sargasso Sea.- 12. The Lineaments of Life and Death: Desire, Sexuality and Manhood in Wide Sargasso Sea.- 13. Vulnerability and Authenticity: The Wisdom of Wide Sargasso Sea.- 14. 'I so wanted to hand Emma a copy of Wide Sargasso Sea': Wide Sargasso Sea and Contemporary Re-workings of Jane Eyre.- 15. Encryption as Transmission: The Secret Gardens of Wide Sargasso Sea.- 16. Burning Down Her Master's House (Again): Marlon James Responds to Jean Rhys.
About the author
Elaine Savory is Associate Professor of Literary Studies at The New School in New York, USA. She is the author of
Jean Rhys (1999) and
The Cambridge Introduction to Jean Rhys (2009), and co-editor of
Out of the Kumbla: Caribbean Women and Literature (1990). A poet and literary critic, she has published extensively on Caribbean and African literature and is deeply involved in the fields of ecocriticism and environmental studies. She is also currently working on a memoir.
Erica L. Johnson is Professor and Chair of English at Pace University in New York, USA. She is the author of Cultural Memory, Memorials, and Reparative Writing (2018), Caribbean Ghostwriting (2009), and Home, Maison, Casa (2003). She is also the co-editor of Memory as Colonial Capital (2017), Jean Rhys: Twenty-First-Century Approaches (2015), and The Female Face of Shame (2013).
Report
"The enduring power and influence of Wide Sargasso Sea is admirably served by this collection of essays ... . The volume is the first to be devoted entirely to Rhys's most famous text and will become essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the enduring appeal of the novel. ... Overall, this is an impressive collection, thoughtfully assembled. It admirably testifies to the richness of Rhys's vision in Wide Sargasso Sea, her "right-handed" marriage to Jane Eyre." (Andrew Thacker, New West Indian Guide, Vol. 96 (3-4), September, 2022)
