Twenty-First-Century Approaches - Editor's Introduction and Chapters on Jean Rhys

Sep 19, 2026

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Twenty-First-Century Approaches assembles contemporary scholarship on Jean Rhys, introduced by Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran. The volume is organized into modernist aesthetics, postcolonial analysis, and affective readings, examining Rhys’s aesthetics, material modernism, environmental language, Caribbean formations, and her use of dress and discourse. It also addresses themes of affect, chronic shame, humiliated rage, and a posthuman imaginary, supported by a bibliography and index.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages257

Reading Time6 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction: The Haunting of Jean Rhys

PART I Rhys and Modernist Aesthetics

1. Jean Rhys and Katherine Mansfield Writing the ‘sixth act’

2. Making a Scene: Rhys and the Aesthete at Mid-Century

3. On the Veranda: Jean Rhys’s Material Modernism

PART II Postcolonial Rhys

4. Jean Rhys’s Environmental Language

5. Caribbean Formations in the Rhysian Corpus

6. ‘From Black to Red’: Jean Rhys’s Use of Dress in Wide Sargasso Sea

7. The Discourses of Jean Rhys

PART III Affective Rhys

8. The Empire of Affect

9. ‘The feelings are always mine’

10. ‘Upholstered Ghosts’

Bibliography

Index

Jean Rhys 􀀖􀀕en􀀔y􀀓􀀒􀀑􀀐s􀀔􀀓􀀏en􀀔􀀎􀀐y 􀀍􀀌􀀌􀀐􀀋a􀀊hes 􀀐􀀏􀀘􀀎e􀀏 􀀚􀀌 􀀐􀀋􀀘􀀓􀀊 􀀉 . 􀀈􀀒􀀖􀀕􀀗􀀒􀀕 􀀊􀀕􀀏 􀀇􀀊􀀎􀀋􀀘􀀓􀀘􀀊 􀀆􀀒􀀋􀀊􀀕 Jean Rhys Twenty-First-Century Approaches Edited by Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran © editorial matter and organisation Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran, 2015 © the chapters their several authors, 2015 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road, 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ [www.euppublishing.com](www.euppublishing.com) Typeset in 10.5/13 Adobe Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 0219 4 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 0220 0 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 0456 3 (epub) The right of Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran to be identified as the editors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498) . Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: The Haunting of Jean Rhys Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran PART I Rhys and Modernist Aesthetics 1. Jean Rhys and Katherine Mansfield Writing the ‘sixth act’Sue Thomas 2. Making a Scene: Rhys and the Aesthete at Mid-Century Rishona Zimring 3. On the Veranda: Jean Rhys’s Material Modernism Mary Lou Emery PART II Postcolonial Rhys 4. Jean Rhys’s Environmental Language: Oppositions, Dialogues and Silences Elaine Savory 5. Caribbean Formations in the Rhysian Corpus Carine M. Mardorossian 6. ‘From Black to Red’: Jean Rhys’s Use of Dress in Wide Sargasso Sea Maroula Joannou 7. The Discourses of Jean Rhys: Resistance, Ambivalence and Creole Indeterminacy H. Adlai Murdoch v vi ix 1 21 40 59 85 107 123 146 iv Contents PART III Affective Rhys 8. The Empire of Affect: Reading Rhys after Postcolonial Theory 171 John J. Su 9. ‘The feelings are always mine’: Chronic Shame and Humiliated Rage in Jean Rhys’s Fiction 190 Patricia Moran 10. ‘Upholstered Ghosts’: Jean Rhys’s Posthuman Imaginary 209 Erica L. Johnson Bibliography 228 Index 238 List of Figures 3.1 New York production of Macbeth directed by Orson Welles, New Lafayette Theatre, 1936, The Library of Congress, American Memory Collections, Federal Theatre Project 74 3.2 The front of the Sans-Souci Palace in Milot, Haiti. Photograph by Rémi Kaupp, Wikimedia Commons 74 6.1 Christophine in Martinique style handkerchief 128 6.2 Antoinette in the dirty dress 130 6.3 Antoinette in her long white dream dress 134 6.4 Antoinette wearing the ‘tricorne hat, which became her’ 135 6.5 The red dress 139 9.1 Wenceslaus Hollar, The basilisk and the weasel, University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection 196 Acknowledgements This volume has been a great pleasure to edit and write thanks to Jean Rhys’s singular artistry, and the many scholars she has inspired. First, though, I thank Patricia Moran. She and I have spent countless hours talking about Rhys over the years, whether in the context of a graduate seminar, a conference panel, or in our many phone conversations and I count myself lucky to have her as a partner in study and a close friend. She continues to inspire me with her sharp insights and fearlessness. I am also grateful to all of the extraordinary Rhys scholars who contributed to this volume and appreciate our author’s ironic ability to create such community – one thing she never experienced in her own life. Thankyou: Mary Lou Emery, Carine Mardorossian, H. Adlai Murdoch, John J. Su, Elaine Savory, Mary Joannou, Rishona Zimring and Sue Thomas. Jackie Jones at Edinburgh University Press has been an extraordinary editor with whom to work; her vision and guidance from the beginning of this project has been invaluable. It has also been a pleasure to work with Dhara Patel, and I am g

FAQs

How is the book structured in relation to Jean Rhys research?

The introduction by Erica L. Johnson and Patricia Moran frames three parts: modernist aesthetics, postcolonial Rhys, and affective readings. Each part contains multiple chapters focusing on specific aspects of Rhys’s writing and themes.

What topics are covered in the section on postcolonial Rhys?

Postcolonial Rhys examines environmental language, Caribbean formations, dress in Wide Sargasso Sea, and the discourses of Jean Rhys, emphasizing resistance, ambivalence, and creole indeterminacy.

Which affect-related themes are analyzed in the final part?

The affective section focuses on reading Rhys after postcolonial theory, chronic shame and humiliated rage in her fiction, and a posthuman imaginary described through ‘upholstered ghosts’.

Sep 19, 2026

Upload by Noah