Variations in the Nature of the Perceived Self in Some Twentieth Century Welsh Autobiographical Writing in English
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_________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses Variations in the nature of the perceived self in some twentieth century Welsh autobiographical writing in English. Prys-Williams, Barbara W How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Prys-Williams, Barbara W (2002) Variations in the nature of the perceived self in some twentieth century Welsh autobiographical writing in English.. thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42699 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. 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Prys-Williams A thesis submitted in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English, University of Wales Swansea April, 2002 ProQuest Number: 10807468 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10807468 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 <fcRS/7^> ^ c > LIBRARY s£sswt^ Abstract Analysis is undertaken of autobiographical works by seven authors who were wholly, partly or by adoption Welsh, and on whom the experience of Welshness impinged significantly. Without neglecting literary and directly investigative elements, various psychoanalytical theories have been employed to assist the purpose of literary enquiry. Since the function of this body of theory is strictly auxiliary to the dominant aim of literary criticism, the author has felt free to employ different appropriate bodies of theory for selected writers as seemed helpful. Specifically, the writers engaged with were Rhys Davies, Margiad Evans, B.L.Coombes, Ron Berry, Gwyn Thomas, Denise Levertov and Loma Sage. In the chapter on Davies’s Print of a Hare’s Foot and its drafts, the concept of narcissism is presented as being of great interpretative power. Evans’s The Wooden Doctor is explored in terms of a young woman’s attempt to resolve Oedipal blocks to adult development, while her Ray of Darkness demonstrates the erosion of meaningful selfhood after the onset of epilepsy. Coombes’s seemingly naive work about the mining experience, These Poor Hands, is shown to be much more knowingly crafted than has previously been realised. Berry’sHistory is What You Live, at once a celebration of the now vanished Rhondda coal-mining society and a bitter polemic, is discussed in psychological terms, without ignoring its overall elegiac purpose. Thomas’s widely-read A Few Selected Exits is shown to derive its baroque power partly from his highly disturbed process of attachment in childhood. Levertov, in some ways the most accomplished and mature of these authors, is seen to have drawn on her Welsh ancestral mythology and on understanding derived from her period of Jungian analysis in producing the autobiography, Tesserae. Sage’s cleverly crafted, postmodernist autobiography, Bad Blood, can be read in terms of dysfunctional object relations. Declaration and Statements DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree. Signed .. ...................^ ....................................... (Candidate) Date: A & ' tf* ' O 2. STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed ....................... ................. ^.............................. (Candidate) Date: 2^ ' 6 7 STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ..(Candidate) Contents Abstract......................................................................................................................... ii Declaration and Statements ..........................................................................................iii Contents....................................................................................................................... iv Table of Short Titles..................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................1 2. Rhys Davies (1901-78)............................................................................................ 11 3. Margiad Evans (1909-58)....................................................................................... 42 4. B. L. Coombes (1893-1974) and Ron Berry (1920-97)...........................................83 5. Gwyn Thomas (1913-81).......................................................................................132 6. Denise Levertov (1923-97)....................................................................................169 7. Loma Sage (1943-2001)....................................................................................... 203 8. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 235 Bibliography.............................................................................................................23 8 Table of Short Titles Reference is made in the text by the name of the author where this is unambiguous and does not impede the flow of discussion. Otherwise, short titles, in bold, are used as listed below. Address.Denise Levertov. "Address to the Commission on the Environment and Energy at the World Peace Parliament, Sofia, Bulgaria. September 24,1980." 1981. Admonition. Denise Levertov. "An Admonition." 1973. Arrayed.Gwyn Thomas. "Arrayed Like One of These." 1988. Artists.Gwyn Thomas. "Gwyn Thomas." 1971. Attach 1.John Bowlby. Attachment and Loss 1: Attachment. 1971. Attach2.John Bowlby. Attachment and Loss 2 : Separation: Anger and Anxiety. 1975. Attach3.John Bowlby. Attachment and Loss 3: Loss: Sadness and Depression. 1981. Au. Margiad Evans. Autobiography. 1943. Bad. Lorna Sage.Bad Blood. 2000. BCSDS. Dai Smith, interview, 2001. BCSGW. Gareth Williams, interview, 2001. BCSMT. Malcolm Thomas, interview, 2001. BCSPS. Peter Stead, interview, 2001. Beard.Simon Wilson. Beardsley. 1983. Beatrice.Denise Levertov. "Beatrice Levertoff." 1981. Bert. G. B. Evans. "Bert Coombes." Memoir. Bloodaxe.Denise Levertov. "Introductory essay." 1985. Boundary.Madeleine Davis, and David Wallbridge. Boundary and Space: An Introduction to the Work of D.W. Winnicott. 1990. Breathing. Denise Levertov. Breathing the Water. 1987. British. D. A. Callard. "Rhys Davies (1901-1978)." 1994. Candles.Denise Levertov. Candles in Babylon. 1982. Change.Gwyn Thomas. "Change Here for Strangeness." Punch 19 April 1961. Chekov.Denise Levertov. "On Ghekov." 1981. Common. Anon. Rev. of These Poor Hands. Common Cause: Official Organ of the Miners' Federation of Australia 26 August 1939. Critical. Dai Smith. "Gwyn Thomas: A Critical Reputation." 11 May, 1986. CS1. Rhys Davies. Collected Stories 1996.1. CS2. Rhys Davies. Collected Stories 1996.II. CS3. Rhys Davies. Collected Stories III.1998. Door/Evening.Denise Levertov. A Door In the Hivel Evening Train. 1993. Dying. Denise Levertov. "Dying and Living." 1981. Edward. Edward Thomas. The Works of Edward Thomas. 1994. Few. Gwyn Thomas. A Few Selected Exits. 1985. Few.Am. Gwyn Thomas. A Few Selected Exits: An Autobiography of Sorts. 1968. Few.Drafts.Gwyn Thomas. A Few Selected Exits draft, c 1966. Few.first.Gwyn Thomas. "A Few Selected Exits." Redrafted first chapter. Fictions.Paul John Eakin. Fictions in Autobiography: Studies in the Art of Self-Invention. 1985. Glyn. Glyn Jones. "Review of These Poor Hands'." Welsh Re vie wSeptember 1939. Golden. B. L. Coombes. "Then come the golden moments." Neath Guardian 1963. Gwyn. Dai Smith,