Be a Good Soldier : Children's Grief in English Modernist Novels

Peter Nesselroth introduced me to the writings of Jacques Derrida, and he also shared with me his own haunting childhood story; both of these gifts have shaped this book. Wendy O'Brien-Ewara, dear friend and brilliant scholar, has greatly infl uenced this study. Carola Kaplan's initial reaction to, and support of, the development of the Conrad chapter inspired me to continue pursuing this project. Claire Battersill commented helpfully on the Woolf chapter. Anne Fogarty's invitation to lecture at the James Joyce Summer School in Dublin provided opportunities to pursue my work on the Finnegans Wake chapter. Funding for that trip was generously provided by a professional development grant from

In the modern era, children experiencing grief were encouraged to dry their tears and ‘be good soldiers.’ How was this phenomenon interrogated and deconstructed in the period's literature? Be a Good Soldier initiates conversation on the figure of the child in modernist novels, investigating the demand for emotional suppression as manifested later in cruelty and aggression in adulthood.

Jennifer Margaret Fraser provides sophisticated close readings of key works by Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce, among others who share striking concerns about the concept of infantry — both as a collection of infants, and as foot soldiers of war. A phenomenon associated traditionally with Freud, Fraser instead uses a unique, Derridean theoretical prism to provide new ways of understanding modernist concerns with power dynamics, knowledge, and meaning. Be a Good Soldier establishes a pioneering, nuanced vocabulary for further historical and cultural inquiries into modernist childhood.

"In the modern era, children experiencing grief were encouraged to dry their tears and 'be good soldiers.' How was this phenomenon interrogated and deconstructed in the period's literature? Be a Good Soldier initiates conversation on the figure of the child in modernist novels, investigating the demand for emotional suppression as manifested later in cruelty and aggression in adulthood. Jennifer Margaret Fraser provides sophisticated close readings of key works by Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce, among others who share striking concerns about the concept of infantry - both as a collection of infants, and as foot soldiers of war. A phenomenon associated traditionally with Freud, Fraser instead uses a unique, Derridean theoretical prism to provide new ways of understanding modernist concerns with power dynamics, knowledge, and meaning. Be a Good Soldier establishes a pioneering, nuanced vocabulary for further historical and cultural inquiries into modernist childhood"--Publisher description. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction to Children’s Grief: The Return from Exile 11 1. Translating the Foreign Language of Childhood Grief: Joseph Conrad’s Under Western Eyes 36 2. Childhood Grief as Resident Alien in Jean Rhys’s Five Novellas 61 3. Grieving the Child of the Shell-Shocked Soldier: Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier 91 4. Childhood Grief on the Home Front: Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier and Parade’s End 122 5. Creating a Space for Childhood’s Sound Waves: Virginia Woolf ’s A Haunted House and The Waves 155 6. The ‘Laughtears’ of the Child Be Longing: James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake 186 Conclusion: Creating Fictional Space for the Grief of the Child 220 Notes 231 Bibliography 259 Index 275