Reading Mansfield and Metaphors of Form

Taking an innovative approach to criticism, Reading Mansfield and Metaphors of Form demonstrates how Mansfield's stylistic practice both embodies and conveys her analysis of social and psychological trauma through a 'metaphoric' use of literary form. New argues that the stories are neither simple vehicles for conveying emotional states nor neutral representations of moments in time but carefully crafted models, or correlatives, of social and psychological conditions of understanding. He elucidates a number of formal strategies, such as sequence, reversal, negation, repetition, deferral, and reconstruction, and then applies them to a wide range of Mansfield's stories, including such favorites as 'Prelude,' 'The Voyage,' 'The Little Governess,' and 'Je ne parle pas francais.' Drawing on a range of writings in contemporary postcolonial, narratological, and gender theory, Reading Mansfield and Metaphors of Form leads to a new appreciation of the implications of Mansfield's formal craft. The book, written in a lively and readily accessible style, is at once an exemplary demonstration of the intricate process of critical reading and an intelligent and innovative reassessment of Mansfield's literary significance.