Wide Sargasso Sea at 50 - Paperback

by Elaine Savory (Editor), Erica L. Johnson (Editor)

This book revisits Jean Rhys's ground-breaking 1966 novel to explore its cultural and artistic influence in the areas of not only literature and literary criticism, but fashion design, visual art, and the theatre as well. Building on symposia that were held in London and New York in 2016 in honour of the novel's half-century, this collection demonstrates just how timely Rhys's insights into colonial history, sexual relations, and aesthetics continue to be. The chapters include an extensive interview with novelist Caryl Phillips, who in 2018 published a novel about Rhys's life, an account of how Wide Sargasso Sea can be read through the lens of the #MeToo Movement, a clothing line inspired by the novel, and new critical directions. As both a celebration and scholarly evaluation, the collection shows how enduring Rhys's novel is in its continuing literary influence and social commentary.

Back Jacket

This book revisits Jean Rhys's ground-breaking 1966 novel to explore its cultural and artistic influence in the areas of not only literature and literary criticism, but fashion design, visual art, and the theatre as well. Building on symposia that were held in London and New York in 2016 in honour of the novel's half-century, this collection demonstrates just how timely Rhys's insights into colonial history, sexual relations, and aesthetics continue to be. The chapters include an extensive interview with novelist Caryl Phillips, who in 2018 published a novel about Rhys's life, an account of how Wide Sargasso Sea can be read through the lens of the #MeToo Movement, a clothing line inspired by the novel, and new critical directions. As both a celebration and scholarly evaluation, the collection shows how enduring Rhys's novel is in its continuing literary influence and social commentary.

Author Biography

Elaine Savory is Associate Professor of Literary Studies at The New School in New York, USA. She is the author of Jean Rhys (1999) and The Cambridge Introduction to Jean Rhys (2009), and co-editor of Out of the Kumbla: Caribbean Women and Literature (1990). A poet and literary critic, she has published extensively on Caribbean and African literature and is deeply involved in the fields of ecocriticism and environmental studies. She is also currently working on a memoir.
Erica L. Johnson is Professor and Chair of English at Pace University in New York, USA. She is the author of Cultural Memory, Memorials, and Reparative Writing (2018), Caribbean Ghostwriting (2009), and Home, Maison, Casa (2003). She is also the co-editor of Memory as Colonial Capital (2017), Jean Rhys: Twenty-First-Century Approaches (2015), and The Female Face of Shame (2013).