O que há em um nome? Ressonâncias entre Ana Cristina Cesar e James Joyce / What’s in a name? Resonances between Ana Cristina Cesar and James Joyce

Resumo: Ana Cristina Cesar, em Luvas de Pelica (1980)1, mostra-nos um tipo singular de dicção íntima em que a finalidade do segredo é desativada, e uma mistura de diário de viagem, cartas e anotações pessoais é transformada em um espaço de deriva poética, no qual a posição do sujeito torna-se matéria de literatura. Há neste texto uma outra possibilidade de entendimento do que poderíamos chamar de “âmbito íntimo”, já que aqui, a intimidade acaba ganhando um estatuto diferente daquele da clausura, característico de décadas anteriores. Sabemos que nesta obra, Katherine Mansfield e Virginia Woolf são referenciadas, mas, em que medida a obra de um outro autor moderno, James Joyce, poderia dar uma nova luz à escritura de Ana Cristina? Joyce abordou de maneira intensa a temática da intimidade em seu livro Ulysses (1922), não somente através de cartas, mas também de um fluxo de consciência, em que a matéria corporal corre “junto” ao que nos é apresentado textualmente. Levando em conta o trabalho de problematização da instância íntima realizado por Ana C., haveria em Luvas de Pelica uma espécie de tonalidade joyceana refletida em seu corpus textual? Este trabalho pretende desbravar este tema, apontando para possíveis relações entre as estratégias de escrita de Ulysses e de Luvas de Pelica, a fim de descobrir pontos em comum que possam iluminar ainda mais a poética da escritora carioca.Palavras-chave: Ana Cristina Cesar; James Joyce; Intimidade; Feminino.Abstract: Ana Cristina Cesar, in Luvas de Pelica (1980), shows us a singular type of intimate diction in which the purpose of the secret is deactivated, and a mixture of travel diary, letters and personal notes is transformed into a space of poetic drift, in which the subject’s position becomes a matter of literature. There is in this text another possibility of understanding what we could call “intimate sphere”, since here, intimacy ends up gaining a different status from that of enclosure, characteristic of previous decades. We know that in this work Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf are referenced, but to what extent could the work of another modern author, James Joyce, shed new light on Ana Cristina’s writing? Joyce intensely addressed the theme of intimacy in his book Ulysses (2012), not only through letters, but also through a stream of consciousness, in which the body matter of the character runs “along” with what is presented to us textually. Taking into account Ana C.’s problematization of the intimate instance, would there be in Luvas de Pelica a kind of Joycean tone reflected in her textual corpus? This paper intends to explore this theme, pointing to possible relationships between the writing strategies of Ulysses and Luvas de Pelica, in order to discover common points that can further illuminate the poetics of the writer from Rio de Janeiro.Keywords: Ana Cristina Cesar; James Joyce; Intimacy; Feminine.

O CONTO DE FORMAÇÃO COMO SUBGÊNERO AUTOFICCIONAL EM KATHERINE MANSFIELD E CLARICE LISPECTOR

O presente estudo focaliza a possibilidade do conto de formação como subgênero, tomando como paradigmas os contos “A casa de bonecas”, de Katherine Mansfield, e “Felicidade clandestina”, de Clarice Lispector. Esses contos são observados como obras autoficcionais, por se inserirem em um gênero ficcional, mas evidenciarem sua natureza autobiográfica. A noção de Bildung aparece neles e, de modo geral, no subgênero como crise que resulta em aprendizado. Teóricos como Lejeune, Searle, Doubrovsky, Alberca, Klinger e Puga servem como base para os conceitos que evidenciam a natureza formadora e autoficcional desses contos.

The performative Katherine Mansfield

<p>This thesis looks at the role of performance in Katherine Mansfield’s life and its influence on her writing technique. It argues that there is a consistent thread of active engagement with performance throughout Mansfield’s life which profoundly influenced the content, construction and technique of her writing. It is divided into three chapters. The first examines Mansfield’s early years and the cultural context of colonial, Victorian Wellington and its performance culture as well as the familial and educational influences that surrounded her. The second chapter explores her later cultural context in London in the first decade after the turn of the century. The importance of popular culture such as music hall is examined, and Mansfield’s professional and personal performance experience is defined. The third chapter involves a close reading and analysis of Mansfield’s dramatic techniques through the examination of the stories as well as her use of theatrical imagery, motifs, allusions and plot details.</p>

Rewriting Mansfield: Writing, Editing and Translation

<p>This thesis explores the notion, the process and the ethical implications of rewriting, drawing on insights from literary and translation theories, psychoanalysis and trauma studies. It analyses three major forms of rewriting: the author’s, the editor’s and the translator’s. While writing, editing and translation have their own specific norms of production, methodologies, possibilities and limits, all these textual practices are implicitly concerned with the meaning-making process of rewriting. Chapter One presents the central case study of the project: John Middleton Murry’s editing of Katherine Mansfield’s notebooks, which resulted in the publication of Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1927). The chapter reviews relevant Mansfield scholarship and discusses textual, methodological and theoretical issues concerning the problem of rewriting. Chapter Two follows the ebb and flow of Mansfield’s own rewriting process by discussing the ways in which she ‘translated’ her notebook entries into her fiction. Chapter Three offers a re-reading of the Journal of Katherine Mansfield and sheds new light on Murry’s controversial editorial manipulation. Chapter Four examines the first Italian translation of the Journal – Diario di Katherine Mansfield, authored by Mara Fabietti in 1933 – and my own re-translation of ‘Life of Ma Parker’ – a 1921 Mansfield story that epitomizes the main themes and issues addressed in this study. This thesis demonstrates how deeply intertwined writing, editing and translating are, and presents an understanding of rewriting as a complex and fascinating process that simultaneously resists meaning and yearns for it.</p>

Rewriting Mansfield: Writing, Editing and Translation

<p>This thesis explores the notion, the process and the ethical implications of rewriting, drawing on insights from literary and translation theories, psychoanalysis and trauma studies. It analyses three major forms of rewriting: the author’s, the editor’s and the translator’s. While writing, editing and translation have their own specific norms of production, methodologies, possibilities and limits, all these textual practices are implicitly concerned with the meaning-making process of rewriting. Chapter One presents the central case study of the project: John Middleton Murry’s editing of Katherine Mansfield’s notebooks, which resulted in the publication of Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1927). The chapter reviews relevant Mansfield scholarship and discusses textual, methodological and theoretical issues concerning the problem of rewriting. Chapter Two follows the ebb and flow of Mansfield’s own rewriting process by discussing the ways in which she ‘translated’ her notebook entries into her fiction. Chapter Three offers a re-reading of the Journal of Katherine Mansfield and sheds new light on Murry’s controversial editorial manipulation. Chapter Four examines the first Italian translation of the Journal – Diario di Katherine Mansfield, authored by Mara Fabietti in 1933 – and my own re-translation of ‘Life of Ma Parker’ – a 1921 Mansfield story that epitomizes the main themes and issues addressed in this study. This thesis demonstrates how deeply intertwined writing, editing and translating are, and presents an understanding of rewriting as a complex and fascinating process that simultaneously resists meaning and yearns for it.</p>

The performative Katherine Mansfield

<p>This thesis looks at the role of performance in Katherine Mansfield’s life and its influence on her writing technique. It argues that there is a consistent thread of active engagement with performance throughout Mansfield’s life which profoundly influenced the content, construction and technique of her writing. It is divided into three chapters. The first examines Mansfield’s early years and the cultural context of colonial, Victorian Wellington and its performance culture as well as the familial and educational influences that surrounded her. The second chapter explores her later cultural context in London in the first decade after the turn of the century. The importance of popular culture such as music hall is examined, and Mansfield’s professional and personal performance experience is defined. The third chapter involves a close reading and analysis of Mansfield’s dramatic techniques through the examination of the stories as well as her use of theatrical imagery, motifs, allusions and plot details.</p>

We Belong to No Soil: Nation and Narration in the Work of Emily Perkins

<p>Emily Perkins' work exemplifies a shift in the way the nation is represented in New Zealand fiction. In place of the cultural nationalist acceptance that the writer should attend faithfully to the New Zealand referent and seek to define the nation we find doubt, uncertainty and resistance. This shift has been observed positively in some contemporary criticism, notably in Anna Jackson and Jane Stafford's Floating Worlds (2009). But other commentary, such as Patrick Evans' 2003 'Spectacular Babies' essay, is highly negative. There is a surprisingly small amount of critical attention dedicated to contemporary New Zealand writing. This thesis will offer some reasons for this lack of commentary and propose a framework within which Perkins' work can be analysed. It will also identify the ways in which Perkins' work refers to the nation and how this differs from the way in which the cultural nationalists referred to the nation. I argue that new critical modes are required to approach contemporary New Zealand writers like Perkins that reach behind the cultural nationalist influence. Accordingly, I position Perkins' way of representing New Zealandness alongside that of early writers Benjamin Farjeon and Katherine Mansfield, to show that a non-essentialised identity can be expressed in the text. The contemporary approach to this endeavour can be compared to what I call "pre-nationalist" writing, although early avoidances of the New Zealand referent were not as deliberate as they now are. I argue that like Katherine Mansfield, Perkins' textual relationship with New Zealand is metonymic rather than referential. Her writing conjures up New Zealand without generalising it or essentialising it. In this thesis, I address three of the primary ways that Perkins achieves this in her writing. Firstly, she addresses the meaning of place and its significance in the formation of subjectivity. Secondly, she deliberately avoids taking an overt political stance and use of the Māori referent. The absences in her work contrast with detailed attention to what is there, and so appear as a presence. In this sense her work depends largely on how the reader is able to interpret the absences and provide what is unsaid. Thirdly, her attention to New Zealandisms, linguistic idiosyncrasies and her use of taboo language refer to New Zealandness but simultaneously reveal self-consciousness. I argue that the diagnosis of New Zealand identity as 'floating', while useful, is problematic because it tends to have a silencing effect on discussions of contemporary literature. Characterising New Zealand identity as 'floating' appears to signal the end of the conversation and to assume that because the literature cannot be categorised, it cannot be discussed either. This thesis will suggest alternative ways of addressing New Zealandness which open up, rather than close, new possible perspectives on contemporary New Zealand literature.</p>

We Belong to No Soil: Nation and Narration in the Work of Emily Perkins

<p>Emily Perkins' work exemplifies a shift in the way the nation is represented in New Zealand fiction. In place of the cultural nationalist acceptance that the writer should attend faithfully to the New Zealand referent and seek to define the nation we find doubt, uncertainty and resistance. This shift has been observed positively in some contemporary criticism, notably in Anna Jackson and Jane Stafford's Floating Worlds (2009). But other commentary, such as Patrick Evans' 2003 'Spectacular Babies' essay, is highly negative. There is a surprisingly small amount of critical attention dedicated to contemporary New Zealand writing. This thesis will offer some reasons for this lack of commentary and propose a framework within which Perkins' work can be analysed. It will also identify the ways in which Perkins' work refers to the nation and how this differs from the way in which the cultural nationalists referred to the nation. I argue that new critical modes are required to approach contemporary New Zealand writers like Perkins that reach behind the cultural nationalist influence. Accordingly, I position Perkins' way of representing New Zealandness alongside that of early writers Benjamin Farjeon and Katherine Mansfield, to show that a non-essentialised identity can be expressed in the text. The contemporary approach to this endeavour can be compared to what I call "pre-nationalist" writing, although early avoidances of the New Zealand referent were not as deliberate as they now are. I argue that like Katherine Mansfield, Perkins' textual relationship with New Zealand is metonymic rather than referential. Her writing conjures up New Zealand without generalising it or essentialising it. In this thesis, I address three of the primary ways that Perkins achieves this in her writing. Firstly, she addresses the meaning of place and its significance in the formation of subjectivity. Secondly, she deliberately avoids taking an overt political stance and use of the Māori referent. The absences in her work contrast with detailed attention to what is there, and so appear as a presence. In this sense her work depends largely on how the reader is able to interpret the absences and provide what is unsaid. Thirdly, her attention to New Zealandisms, linguistic idiosyncrasies and her use of taboo language refer to New Zealandness but simultaneously reveal self-consciousness. I argue that the diagnosis of New Zealand identity as 'floating', while useful, is problematic because it tends to have a silencing effect on discussions of contemporary literature. Characterising New Zealand identity as 'floating' appears to signal the end of the conversation and to assume that because the literature cannot be categorised, it cannot be discussed either. This thesis will suggest alternative ways of addressing New Zealandness which open up, rather than close, new possible perspectives on contemporary New Zealand literature.</p>

"Beautiful External Life to Watch and Ponder": Katherine Mansfield Confronting the Material

<p>Throughout her famously short, disrupted career, Katherine Mansfield chased the idea of "warm, eager living life,"attempting to translate this vivid experience of being in the world into fiction. This passage, written in late 1922, shows the author focusing on her fascination with vivid, personal interaction with the material world. Mansfield convinces herself that the pursuit of "warm, eager living life" and the experience of submerging herself in it - "to be rooted in life" - is what she must strive for once she regains her health. Unfortunately, Mansfield's health declined steadily after this passage was written, and she died at the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau on the 9th of January, 1923. In addition to various personal possessions, Mansfield left behind a host of written material: personal letters, journal entries and jottings, drafts of stories and poems, and published volumes, which document her attempts at submerging herself in a vividly experienced life. Her stories full of characters self-consciously attempting to anchor their vague and variable identities in the material world, graphic sensory detail, and ambiguous imagery register Mansfield's determination to describe exquisite, sensible life. Throughout the writing, she displays a keen interest in and fixation on the material world. Mansfield's colonial childhood, her preference for luxury, her feelings of disunity and dividedness, and the fleetingness of her life made more poignant by various levels and types of consumption inform her piercing awareness of the material world. Critical attention to the materiality of Mansfield's writing highlights that this writer, so determined to be "rooted in life," documents everywhere the frail but persistent efforts of characters to find substance in the ephemeral and attach changeable selves to things.</p>