Suffering and Narrative Consciousness in Jean Rhys: A Stylistic Exploration of the Postcolonial Experience

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Fictional narratives offer a rare opportunity to witness mental pain. Jean Rhys's writing is characterised by themes of suffering (Maslen 2009) and notable for focusing on 'the way the world is experienced bythe self through consciousness' (Earnshaw 2018). Rhys's ethnic identity and cultural experiences feature prominently in her work-alienation, oppression, and exploitation dominate her writing (Lopoukhine et al.2020). Rhys's distinctive style of expressing mental pain offers invaluable insight into her particular brand of suffering-suffering rooted in postcolonial experience and stemming from her gender positionand liminal racialisation. Her work, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to examine the contribution of colonialism to individuals' suffering. By employing postcolonial theory alongside stylistic analysis tostudy the articulation of pain, my research will expand the understanding of colonial experiences of trauma, which have otherwise been 'routinely ignored or dismissed' in literary scholarship (Craps andBuelens 2008).Recent scholarship on fictional consciousness has precisely delineated the stylistic modes of representation that express levels of consciousness, including reflective thought and perception (Sotirova2013; Rundquist 2014). However, there is currently no research discussing how mental pain is articulated through the techniques of consciousness representation. As Lodge (2002) suggests, literary fiction is,perhaps, the most comprehensive 'record of human consciousness' available for examination, yet health communication has largely neglected this record in the study of pain. Rhys's unique model ofconsciousness interweaves various modes of narrative technique, such as first-person interior monologue, stream of consciousness, and dialogicity-making her work a rich and complex example ofthe articulation of pain hitherto unexplored stylistically. This study will, therefore, contribute valuable insight into how suffering is processed by the mind, how it distorts perceptions, and the various levels ofconsciousness in which it takes place.This project will be the first stylistic analysis of postcolonial trauma-as expressed through Rhys's consciousness representation. Studying Rhys's work and bringing together these two disciplines offersthe opportunity to understand postcolonial suffering and 'future possibilities for dealing with, resisting and representing' it (Ward 2015).October-22-June-23(Chapter 1) Investigate:scholarship on consciousness representation;research on the linguistic articulation of suffering;discourse studies on pain communication(Chapter 2) Explore postcolonial narrative studiesJune-23-September-23Review literary criticism on RhysSeptember-23-November-23Research tripsStudy Rhys's manuscripts/diaries/letters as stylistic evidenceNovember-23-March-24(Chapter 3) Review:major thematic concerns identified by critics in Rhys's writing;Rhys's articulation of her aesthetic concerns as witnessed in her diaries/lettersMarch-24-March-25(Chapter 4-6) Stylistic analysis of consciousness representation in Rhys's texts, focusing on 'WideSargasso Sea' and 'Voyage in the Dark' and drawing on examples from her other texts e.g. 'Temps Perdi'.Chapters split by modes of consciousness representation used to articulate pain: 'Interior monologue','Free indirect style', 'The dialogic'.Authorial revisions will be incorporated as further evidence of stylistic claims (Sotirova 2016).March-25-October-26(Chapter 7) Reader response empirical study examining readers' empathy and degree of suffering as aresult of Rhys's stylistic techniques (Miall 2009) and whether Rhys's trajectory towards minimalism(Savory 2004) makes the texts more impactful.October-26-April-27Conclusion