Subjective experiences : representing the modern perspective in Joseph Conrad and Jean Rhys

Abstract

This thesis explores how philosophical developments in theories of epistemology at the turn of the twentieth century are reflected in modern literature. Through the close reading of three seminal works of literary Modernism it will illustrate how narrative form in the modern novel adapted to changing philosophical understandings of perception and knowledge; a movement that can be broadly conceptualised as a shift from a belief in objective, empirical, universal understandings of truth to an awareness of the subjectivity of perspective. Chapter one will explore the foundations of literary Modernism in relation to theories of literary Impressionism. By discussing the theoretical similarities between the two I will highlight the challenges that modern writers and artists faced as the forms of mimetic verisimilitude that characterised nineteenth-century art became insufficient in the twentieth century. These challenges culminated in what is identified as a new realism: a form of representation that considers the inescapability of individual perspective. Chapter two will show how these developing understandings of representation and knowledge began to filter into works of literature. Through an analysis of Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella, Heart of Darkness, I will argue that this new realism spoke to an inherent anxiety in Conrad about knowledge and truth: a conflict he expresses between a desire for universal truth combined with an awareness of the inescapability of individual perspective. As will be shown, the consequence of this anxiety was a shift away from traditional forms of narration. Chapter three will develop these ideas to show, through a close reading of Jean Rhys's Voyage in the Dark (1934), how developments in narrative acted to change colonial perceptions of race and challenged imperial notions of authority. By identifying Rhys's use of modern narrative form and technique I explore the complications and opportunities that result from her decision to employ a Creole narrative voice to represent modern England. Chapter four will consider how Rhys's 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea extends her narrative experimentation in an attempt to escape the limitations of race that are imposed by the colonial world it is set in. I will show how Rhys, by rejecting both colonial authority and objective understandings of experience, links the technical developments of Modernism with those of Postcolonialism. In conclusion, the thesis situates Modernism as a precedent to developments in postcolonial literature through its development of the technical means that allowed authors to deviate from the strict confines of nineteenth century realism and the associated normative standards of Imperialism.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English