New Zealand Literature

Kataraina is a sequel to Becky Manawatu's Aue. Aue is centred on the story of Taukiri and his nine years younger cousin/brother, Arama, and Taukiri's mother, Jade. Taukiri's father, Toko, was murdered in a gang related crime in 2005 when Taukiri was four years old.
Kataraina changes the focus to Taukiri's aunt and her life story including her own early traumas and her battle for joy and redemption.

"We are what we remember." The vision of Pacific literature in this article is based on my research on the Cook Islands and the U.S.A. about the American writer Robert Dean Frisbie who lived and wrote in the South Pacific in the first half of the 20th century. The Pacific has a great diversity of cultures and languages and is rich in oral and written literature. People have been living in some parts of the region for at least 45,000 years. During that enormous span of time they explored the whole Pacific and settled most of it. The Pacific ancestors were able to sail for hundreds of miles in different directions, to safely return home before the next journey (cf. Pacific Writing in English 1). As soon as written languages were introduced into the Pacific in the nineteenth century, literacy spread rapidly, first through Polynesia, then through the rest of the region. Literacy was used primarily by missionaries to convert the people to Christianity and the first converts were used as missionaries to convert other Pacific countries. Literacy in the indigenous languages also allowed the people to correspond with one another and thereby start a written literature. Up till the 1960s, most of the written literature about Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia was by outsiders (explorers, missionaries and others). Only a few literary works by Pacific Islands writers had been published. In 1919 Frederick O'Brien's White Shadows in the South Seas was published. Encouraged by its enthusiastic reception, he quickly produced two other books about the beauties of the South Pacific. The three books won considerable contemporary eminence for their author and were instrumental in reviving a general interest in the South Pacific. This interest impelled other writers to conjure up visions of the paradise. Among them were W. Somerset Maugham with his work Moon and Sixpence (1919), and two other writers soon appeared, the two young American war veterans James Norman Hall (1887-1951) and Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1887-1947). At about the same time another American writer, Robert Dean Frisbie , a former journalist from California, arrived in Papeete with all sorts of plans -to start a plantation, to write periodical articles, to produce illustrations for O'Brien's forthcoming Atolls of the Sun. He materialized some of his plans and published six books between 1929 and his death in 1948. He

Neda Zdravkovic is a writer, traveller, and librarian based in New Zealand. Born into a Sephardic Spanish Jewish family exiled during the 15th-century Inquisition and later settled in Ottoman-era Sarajevo, she carries a deep sense of history and displacement in her work. In 1999, she immigrated to New Zealand, seeking refuge from the civil war and NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Neda writes across genres—fiction, essays, poetry, short stories, and travelogues. Her Serbian-language stories have appeared in several literary journals, including ProFemina (“Skrabotne,” 1998), Medjaj (“Poslednji zapisi,” 1992), Povelja (“Nemuste konstrukcije,” 2000), and Uzicka Nedelja (“Tisina,” 1994).
This is Neda's first book written in English language.

This research paper examines Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party" through biographical criticism, utilizing insights from Claire Tomalin's "Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life." It explores Mansfield's life events, social milieu, and personal struggles, uncovering how these aspects manifest in her literary work. Through meticulous analysis, the paper reveals parallels between Mansfield's experiences and the thematic and stylistic elements of "The Garden Party," including themes of privilege, class, mortality, feminism, and modernist aesthetics. By tracin these connections, it sheds light on Mansfield's creative process and motivations, offering a deeper understanding of her narrative choices. Through this investigation, the paper underscores the enduring relevance of Mansfield's work and its profound exploration of the human condition. It provides new insights into the complexities of Mansfield's literary legacy, highlighting the intricacies of her storytelling and the profound impact of her personal experiences on her artistry.

Katherine Mansfield and James Joyce are recognised, among other works, for writing series of short stories. Both considered as part of the modernist movement, their works represent the new issues of the society in the starting twentieth century. My chosen theme is 'family', while I consider it as the focus of my analysis, I also state that this theme is closely related to other themes, such as social class, gender difference, social convention, commodity culture, and sexuality. Therefore, I will also refer to these other themes, but always considering them under the main concept of family, which leads my analysis.

"LETTERS FROM A PRISON OF THE SOUL" is a narrative in the epistolary form telling the story of a man being held prisoner in a "prison of the soul". He writes to his "Beloved" and slowly has a profoundly transformational experience, eventually liberating himself from his prison.

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The article sights to investigate the themes which are presented in Mansfield's practice, inspired by Woolf's modernism tendencies. The author`s works can be contended as unique in narrative form yet, from a broader view, both writers are preoccupied with the issues of human reality-the problem of human awareness, identity or feelings. It identifies as well three principal aspects of Mansfield's creativity which to some extent convey a resemblance to Woolf's imprint: Time and memory, gender and social space, and human relationship hold. For example, Mansfield take advantage of stream of consciousness while looking back to issues of time and memory, which deals with the historical aspect of character's identities. This obviously offers them new meanings in the modern context. The article also considers gender issues, where complexities arising from the society at the turn of the twentieth century. Mansfield perceived; exhausted insights were parallel to Woolf's plans on female liberation. Finally, it analyzes the theme of free will in different types of relationships in Mansfield`s fiction, showing that love, friendship and alienation of people appear as other existential concerns. Bearing in mind Woolf's influence on her works, Mansfield is celebrated for her most artistic expression. The writing also traces back the roots of modern literature and the era of female authors, and the principles of their integration by studying the modern feminist ideals.

The article sights to investigate the themes which are presented in Mansfield's practice, inspired by Woolf's modernism tendencies. The author`s works can be contended as unique in narrative form yet, from a broader view, both writers are preoccupied with the issues of human reality-the problem of human awareness, identity or feelings. It identifies as well three principal aspects of Mansfield's creativity which to some extent convey a resemblance to Woolf's imprint: time and memory, gender and social space, and human relationship hold.

With its emphasis on the transgression of "natural" boundaries, the Gothic has always been a powerful medium for ecological themes. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) focuses on a clash between civilised Europe and the wilderness on its fringes. Published at the height of Victorian techno-optimism, it shifts genres from Gothic horror to thriller as its protagonists apply modern science to determine the limits of the titular Count's supernatural powers. The novel ends with the victory of their scientific-rationalist mindset and the taming of the dangerous natural world represented through Dracula's uncanny hybridity. Stoker's Dracula has had an enormous impact on horror and thriller genres, but Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood (2023) presents a notable inversion of both its central conflict and its structure. In Birnam Wood, the wild fringes of rural New Zealand are threatened by the civilised centre, represented by American tech-mogul Robert Lemoine. The novel gradually shifts from thriller to the horror genre, as Lemoine's rationalistic mindset leads him into atrocity. His predations are enabled by his technological hybridity, through which he excerpts an almost supernatural influence over his environment. Birnam Wood provides an intriguing model for contemporary EcoGothic narratives, using the subversion of thriller and horror structures to foreground contemporary ecological anxieties.

This paper discusses the findings of a European Project DAPHNE III in the Cyprus context. Its twofold aim regards: a) the uncovering of the woman‟s attitude as a victim of violence in relation with her feelings and her conscience on the indirect impact of violence against her upon her children if exposed and b) the extracting of an elaborate understanding on the way gender gap is either extended or narrowed by the woman‟s attitude. What the research points out is that: a) violence against women mostly results in survivor behavior focused only on ensuring survival and not on leaving from the abusive relationship and b) the predetermined gendered roles for men and women contribute to the dynamic of violence against women and to the formation of their attitude as victims. The main methodology performed is based on the Project‟s initial phases: a) Data collection from women‟s written testimonies and b) Data Collection from semi-structured interviews with women; both cases concern women ...

The paper entitled, “Quest for Identity in Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune” is an attempt to critique the male
chauvinistic world and to bring out the freedom of women from the shackles of patriarchy. Isabel Allende ridicules
the folly or vices in a corrupt society and picturizes the particular society as it is to show corruption prevailing in the
world. Through the narration of the life of the protagonist, the reader witnesses the corrupt society filled with
avarice, jealousy, cruelty and villainous intrigue. Virtue and Vice play a predominant role in this novel. Some people
give more importance to virtue and condemn vices. But in reality, they do not follow the virtues preached by them.
They do not act according to their principles. Selfishness, hypocrisy and class distinction control their mind than
humanity. In this novel, Eliza rebels against the male-dominated society. She wants to enjoy complete freedom.
Jeremy Sommer and Agustine del Valle represent patriarchy. Besides Eliza, Rose Sommer and Paulina del Valle also
rebel against the conventional norms of the society. They represent the rebellious women against the male
chauvinistic society. Search for identity and struggle for survival in the world of hypocrisy is seen throughout this
novel. Experience teaches more to the protagonist rather than education itself. This paper analyses these features in
the novel and illumines the profundity of thought and ideology. 
Keywords: Feminism-Patriarchy- innocence- suffering- travel- search for identity, transformation- freedom

The Pilgrim by P.R.Kaikini as a poem has been excerpted from his book named This Civilization published in 1937. P.R.Kaikini trudges his way in an uncommon way as has striven to see what the others have failed to discern. Michael Roberts in his substitute for a preface has made us understand how his poetry is different in tone and tenor and what should it be the encompassing traits of Indian poetry apart from religion and spirituality. We need it the scientific brain too.

The Journal of Black Mountain College Studies is a digital publication, intended to be experienced and referenced online. PDFs are made available for offline reading, but may have changes in layout or lack multimedia content (such as audio or video) as compared to the online article.

This extract is from the beginning of a short story by Katherine Mansfield. It is the early 1900s and Rosabel, a lower class girl who works in a hat shop, is on her way home. At the corner of Oxford Circus, Rosabel bought a bunch of violets,and that was practically the reason why she had so little tea-for a scone and a boiled egg and a cup of cocoa are not sufficient after a hard day's work in a hat shop.As she swung onto the step of the bus, grabbed her skirt with one hand and clung to the railing with the other,Rosabel thought she would have sacrificed her soul for a good dinner,something hot and strong and filling.

My essay “THE GREATNEST OF SOVIET LITERUATE” is an observation of the complexities of Soviet writer’s lives and their works within the relationship to the political and social aspirations of the former Soviet Union. The essay begins with the subjective or personal relationship of the narrator’ interest to Soviet literature to a more objective attempt to
the understanding of Soviet literature and it’s place in the pantheon of world literature.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina, Salina, Kansas, United States of America

This chapter explores future orientations for gender and sexuality in anthropology. After a brief incursion into anthropological engagements with future-making, modernity and the straightness of settler time, the chapter turns to queer and feminist science and technology studies work on the projection of anthropocentric understanding of gender and sexuality onto natural worlds. Despite the exuberance of nonhuman sexualities, sexual reproduction is still seen as the apex of evolution and the social sciences still struggle to fully think gender and sexuality outside of (biological) reproduction. The chapter then turns to a discussion of Haraway and Clarke’s call for a multispecies reproductive justice that takes on the vexed question of over-population. This call, while important in its quest to free kinship from chrono-hetero-normative reproductive imperatives leverages apocalyptic futurisms and overlooks the myriad ways Indigenous and Black communities have long been in relation with human and more-than-human kin. It concludes with reflections on the importance of resisting grand explicative gestures characteristic of patriarchal logics and technological solutions, positing liveable future as the capacity to thrive and regenerate through the heinous violence that continues to mark the world. It invites anthropologists to ponder what futures the work they do perpetuate or make possible.

While teaching Nineteenth Century Women English Writers Professor Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar found a connection in the theme,plot and story of their writing though the writers were distanced from various aspects.To study these writers and their 'shared' experience Gilbert and Gubar authored the book The Mad Woman in the Attic.There the discussed about the Angel Monster trope found in the writings of Male writers.Which they talked elaborately through the tale of Snow White.In the following article I tried to show a possible way of putting an end to the this dichotomy of Angel and Monster through another Disney movie 'Moana'.]

This landmark publication is the first single-volume, multi-genre anthology of major New Zealand writing, spanning more than 200 years of New Zealand history and incorporating the work of some 200 individual authors. The anthology is structured chronologically and informed by 'neohistoricist' principles: the editors 'believe that literature is seen at its most interesting' when illuminated by 'a sense of historical and cultural context'. 1 To this end, the volume is divided into 11 sections, each of which is prefaced by a brief introductory essay offering salient details about the literary/cultural context informing the period in focus, but each section also includes thematic subheadings grouping particular authors and excerpts together on the basis of shared preoccupations. These allow the reader to trace, for example, the treatment of war, or the environment, or sexualities, across a broad sweep of New Zealand history. Most excerpted material is literary, but travel accounts, essays, public documents and letters are included in the service of the volume's intended status as 'a knife through time' (1). 2 This mixing of genres is particularly evident in the first two sections (focused around the 'contact' era beginning with Cook's landfall in 1769, and the 'colonial' period of the 1820s-1860s), which feature travel accounts, journal entries, letters, and treaty documents alongside poetry and fiction excerpts. The editors include extracts from well-known 'canonical' works (such as F.E. Maning's Old New Zealand (1863)) alongside texts (such as H. Butler Stoney's Taranaki: A Tale of the War 1861) that have until relatively recently suffered from a 'critical eclipse' largely because they preceded the nationalist era of New Zealand writing, during and after which much nineteenth-century New Zealand literature was dismissed on the basis of its putative outmoded adherence to British literary/cultural models (3). The third section of the volume, 'Maoriland', traces the first steps towards this literary nationalism, documenting works (published mainly between 1890 and 1914) in which the indigenous culture of New Zealand, which was subjected to an ethnographic gaze in the earlier colonial phase, became 'absorbed and aestheticised' by writers attempting to 'fashion a writing that was distinctly of this place' (100). Many of the authors in this section (such as

Patricia Grace, one of New Zealand's most prolific and influential Maori writers, was bom in Wellington (New Zealand) in 1937, of Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Toa and Te Ati Awa tribal descent. Grace began to write while working as a primary school teacher, and her first collection of short stories, Waiariki, was published in 1975, making her the first Maori woman creative writer to publish a book in English. Her first novel, Mutuwhenua, was published in 1978, followed by a second collection of short stories. The Dream Sleepers, in 1980. Other publications include four short story collections: The Electric City and Other Stories (1987), Selected Stories (1991), Collected Stories {1994) and The Sky People (1994); three novels: Potiki(1986), Cousins (1992) md Baby No-Eyes (1998); and a variety of children's books. She has received several grants and awards for her writing, and has been involved in a number of workshops for Maori writers.

There are multiple levels of translation, from one language to another, from the present to the past and back again and from the private and personal to the public.  There are also translations from the written and spoken word to performance in theatre and mime and in psychoanalytic terms from trauma and unconscious experience into symptoms and dreams.  In this paper I explore the crossover not from one language to another but from the private to the public with particular emphasis on the process of empathy whereby this occurs.  I am interested in the ways in which information once held inside a person’s mind and body shifts and changes when it is cast outside the self, whether in the form of autobiography, biography or imaginative writing, whether self declared or through another’s perspective.  The task of all translation is ‘to bridge the gap between “them” and “us”.’  This takes empathy.

The aim of this essay is to discuss how The Doll’s House, a short story written by Katherine Mansfield, explores the issue of social hierarchy and class prejudices, focusing especially on the way the medium chosen by the author (a short story) can better convey this theme.

L'image du paradis polynésien est une représentation solide et durable. Tahiti, abordée comme telle par les navigateurs français à la fin du XVIII e siècle, évoque encore aujourd'hui dans l'imaginaire occidental une douceur de vivre s'écoulant lentement sur fond de décor édénique. Or, cette vision mythique de la Polynésie française est tributaire de trois choses : d'abord, d'un malentendu culturel issu des premiers contacts entre Français, Anglais et Tahitiens (Tchekézoff; 2004), ensuite, d'un travail de réécriture intéressée des sources et enfin, d'une réinterprétation philosophique de ces mêmes sources. Le programme d'essais nucléaires de la France mené en Polynésie française entre 1966 et 1996 vient par ailleurs ébranler quelque temps cette image paradisiaque. En effet, peut-ont toujours parler de paradis avec cette bombe? Il s'avère que oui, avec plus de force et de véhémence du côté des Français, avec nostalgie du côté polynésien. La nouv...

This volume explores the possibilities and potentialities of “negative” affect in postcolonial literature and literary theory, featuring work on postcolonial studies, First Nations studies, cognitive cultural studies, cognitive historicism, reader response theory, postcolonial feminist studies, and trauma studies. The chapters of this work investigate negative affect in all its types and dimensions: analyses of the structures of feeling created by socio-political forces; assemblages and alliances produced by negative emotion; enactive interrelationships of emotion and environment; and the ethical implications of emotional response, to name a few. It seeks to rebrand “negative” emotions as productive forces which can paradoxically confer pleasure, agential power, and social progress through literary representation.

This chapter explores in detail David Malouf's acclaimed novel Remembering Babylon - including its mythologizing function in helping explain Australian culture and environment, the experience of nineteenth century northern Queensland, postcolonialism, the power of the imagination and centrality of language, and an ecological perspective, including the interdependence of the human and nature.

An Imaginary Life 4'l .,()me of the more abstract ideas important to a fullcr rrrrderstanding of the novel, I will explore connections between I\4alouf, Sartre and Heideggeq, and finally, parallels with the tilcnch contemporary novelist Michel Toumier. An lmaginar! / i/i, is a difficult novel for many readers, and its fable-like quality yit'lds a great variety of readings. I will not therefore attempt to provide a definitive "central" reading, but rather suggest 1ir r idelines to help the reader to develop his or her own readirrS. As mentioned in the Introduction, Malouf has spoken of the rrlcessity, as he sees it, for Australians to find an "authentic" r,'ltrtionship with their countrya "mythological" way to rr)nfl€ct "us and the lives we live here".Malouf's use of the tr,rm "mythological", and his description of his novels ashavin9 .r "mythologising" function, can only be explained adequatel/ l,y the anthropological use of the termone that rccognL6es tirt, universal function and structure of narrative.ln The Saail{e l\,1ind (7962), Levi-Strauss argues that myths are ai_ rntlispensable means for human communities to make sense ot tlrt'ir world through language. In doing so, narratives or stories l,r'omote social cohesion, because they offer symbolic resolutiort , ,l contradictions in our experience of the world. If we appreciate tlr,rt myths are one kind of narrative, as are novels, and that tlr(,y serve a similar or analogous function, then Malouf 's nodon ,,1 inventing "mythologies" or myths through fiction make? 1 ,r.rfect sense (it would be most precise to think of his hdiuidrat rrrrvels as "myths" which, collectively, comprise variotls 'r rrythologies"). Fiction can obviously transform or incorporate ,.risting cultural (or anthropological) myths as well 4s , ,,t,rblishing new ones. ln National Fictions (1986), Graeme Turner draws on Arrstralian texts to trace the connections between mytholo$Y, rv , r ys of seeing, and narrativeexplaining narrative as a product ,,1 its culture in a way that is analogous to myth's functiofi 1n , rrlltrre: 'I'lre work of the Russian Formalists and of the various structuraligts ,rrrtl structural anthropologists such as Claude Levi-Strauss provide r rs with ways of reading narrative that do not depend entirely t-rpon An Imaginary Life I Tl"" it first appeared,.An bnaginar! Lfe seemed to be a very different novel from lohnno. pioduied-"in defianc e of lohnio and its success",r set almost two thousand years ago in Europe, and written in a poetic, evocative style, it certainf made liitte concession to realist conventions of character and drama. Nonetheless the continuities between the two novers are strong. An lmaginary Lifebuirds on the motifs and themes initiated ir lohnn-o,especially thenarrator,s establishment of a sense of place and belonging.2 More specifically, it develops the polarities introduced rn lohnno: wholeness and incompleteneis; nature and culture; and change and stasis. It is true,'howeveq, that A, Imaginary Ltfe also breaks important new ground for Malouf, and. gives the agencies-of imagination and-language a central position._Indeed, together with the poetry writleni few years earlier, An Imaginary Ltfe crystalliied th" .or" themes and oppositions which have persisted in his writing since. It is easy to see why this novella has been recognised b! critics und th'e author alike as the "watershed work{ in his career. In this chapter, I will elaborate on An lmaginary Life,s mythologising function. In doing so,I win exprJre ttri motifs through which the narrative is composed and resolved. And 9r1-ce An Imaginary Life set the patlern for the novels that followed,I will outline the characteristic Malouf paradig* th;; emerges clearly for the first time in this novel. Ln expiaining An Imaginary Life 45

The Paihia mission settlement was a site of revolutionary change as Māori and missionaries forged a new culture at the intersection of British and indigenous worlds. This essay, the Selwyn Lecture of 2022, focusses on the "life-ways" of this mixed settlement, "thickly describing" how English missionaries, Māori rangatira, commoners and slaves, lived out a daily and weekly rhythm of worship, work and rest. Rather than emphasising doctrine, or debates over Māori conversion, "fatal impact," or colonialism, the essay reflects on the intermingling of gospel and culture, English nonconformity and evangelical piety, along with their impact on conceptions of class and race.

Biographies of Katherine Mansfield have not always been kind to her first husband, George Bowden (1877-1975). In some, he is almost portrayed as a figure of ridicule, and his admittedly brief-walk-on part in her life is seen as more of a dull footnote to her otherwise fascinating life. And yet the emerging truth is somewhat different as recently disclosed documents show.

Biographies of Katherine Mansfield have not always been kind to her first husband, George Bowden (1877-1975). In some, he is almost portrayed as a figure of ridicule, and his admittedly brief-walk-on part in her life is seen as more of a dull footnote to her otherwise fascinating life. And yet the emerging truth is somewhat different as recently disclosed documents show. An affidavit embargoed for 100 years and recently uncovered by John Wood and Gerri Kimber reveals astonishing details about claims made by Bowden against Mansfield and her character.

As a foundation of national identity, a cultural landscape can be perceived sensually or spiritually. Associating a country with art, memory, and identity opens up the possibility of a new perception of a particular place as a cultural landscape. The theoretical and methodological basis of the text encompasses Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Pecníková’s [2020] typology of the country as a cultural landscape presented as 1) a real landscape; 2) a fantastic landscape; 3) an ideal landscape. The aim, therefore, is to test the applicability of Pecníková’s typology to a case country – New Zealand, commonly referred to as a Pacific country.

Bells for William Wordsworth by Dom Moraes is the oft-quoted poem we talk about and discuss it as the poem has been written in the memory of the great Nature poet as the title reflects and the tribute paid to him in person, but as a poem it does not surpass the biographical, tributary poems written by Arnold, Browning, Auden, Yeats and some others. The magic and music he has failed to discern as it haunts him most. The spell can never be broken. Illusion can never be if the make-believe syndrome grips it the mind's plane.

Thomas Hardy is a popular writer and a masterful reporter of rural life. As a skilled creator of a host of interesting characters, he presents a pessimistic view of the universe. His 'Wessex' is a reflection of Dorset, south west coast of England, where he was born and reared. Hardy's Wessex is partly real and partly a dream country. As a regional writer his genius lies in imparting it a universal appeal and giving it a realistic spirit. This paper explores Hardy's engagement with nineteenth century ideas and will look into the contemporary debate about 'sustainability'. Hardy's belief of 'interconnectedness' that binds human beings and ecology finds full expression in his novels. He is suspicious of the advancement of modern civilization. As far as Wessex is unaffected by modernistic ideas, the natives are happy in their backwardness, poverty and simplistic living. But as the sophisticated people bring technology and machines in the town they disturb the even tenor of simple life. This disrupts the harmony between his characters and the landscape, leading to tragic ends. His belief of 'one-great network' recognizes the interdependency of life and ecology. The paper will explore how his imaginative realization represents this 'collectivity' in his novels.

This paper looks into the intricate realm of feminist analyses concerning the state and parliamentary contexts, drawing insights from two seminal works: Nicola Armstrong's exploration of state power through a feminist lens and Karen Ross's examination of gender dynamics within parliamentary spaces. Armstrong elucidates the pervasive influence of patriarchal and capitalist interests in shaping the male-dominated structure of the state, offering a comprehensive analysis that spans liberal, radical, and Marxist feminist perspectives. Through Armstrong's work, the paper unveils the complex web of social struggles faced by women and indigenous communities, underscoring the imperative for feminist interventions within the state apparatus. In parallel, Ross scrutinizes the gendered dimensions of parliamentary environments, highlighting the systemic barriers that hinder women's participation and influence. By elucidating the subtle forms of marginalization experienced by female parliamentarians, Ross underscores the urgency of achieving gender parity in political representation. Both Armstrong and Ross advocate for transformative actions aimed at dismantling patriarchal norms and fostering inclusive political spaces conducive to women's empowerment. Through their respective lenses, they offer compelling insights into the multifaceted challenges and opportunities entwined with feminist activism in contemporary governance structures.

In 1933, T.S. Eliot delivered a series of lectures at the University of Virginia, published the next year as After Strange Gods, in which he argued that Katherine Mansfield's 'Bliss,' along with short stories by D.H. Lawrence ('The Shadow in the Rose Garden') and James Joyce ('The Dead'), was heretical. This was as unexpected a charge then as it would be today. Nonetheless, just because of its untimeliness, it provides us with a useful entry point into thinking about Mansfield's fiction's qualities and importance. It does so, let me suggest, when we ask whether there's a sense in which Eliot was right? Or if he were indeed wrong, might have he been so in still helpful ways? Eliot's lectures marked a switch from literary criticism into cultural critique. Eliot was here concerned less with questions of literary form and style than with literature's moral and cultural intent and effect. As such, the Virginia lectures signal a moment at which modern literature judgment explicitly turned to social critique, not yet, of course, by pointing out where texts are marred by sexism or racism, but by accusing them of betraying the traditions of Latin Christendom.

The present study intends to look at the ways in which humour enacts modes of knowledge and self-expression in Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" (1921). The story revolves around two spinsterly sisters who have spent most of their lives tending to their tyrannical father and now find themselves at a loss when they are finally free of him. The narrative is both sympathetic and merciless towards the sisters' fumbling attempts at independence, but the women are often in on the joke; humour is both a "black dressing-gown" which envelops the sisters and renders them objects of ridicule, but it is also a way out, offering a subversive counterpoint to the voice of the Father, as the sisters imagine the patriarch in very comical and undignified positions, while perceiving themselves as outsiders, "creeping off…like black cats". Though the short story has often been read in terms of hopelessness and despair by Rhoda B. Nathan and Gerri Kimber, this paper wishes to show how humour modulates and moderates this hopelessness, allowing for the two single women to assert their personality within the stifling society of their time. The ridiculous, in this case, does not need to be a death sentence, but rather a form of knowledge and resistance: the spinsters are aware of the absurdity of their condition and the futility of their place in the modern world and choose comedy over tragedy.