Brontë Studies. Volume 39. Issue 1

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 39, Issue 1, January 2014) is already available online. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Introduction: pp. iii-iv Author: Adams, Amber M.

Obituary: Robert (Bob) Barnard 1936–2013: An Appreciation
pp. 1–2   Author: Duckett, Bob

‘Re-Visioning the Brontës’: A Conference held at Leeds University on 29 January 2013

‘Re-Visioning the Brontës’: An Introduction
pp. 3–5     Author:  Cass, Nick & Stainforth, Elizabeth
Prefigurements and Afterlives: Bertha Mason’s Literary Histories
pp. 6–13   Author: Plasa, Carl
Abstract:
While the Bertha Mason of Jane Eyre is perhaps Charlotte Brontë’s most compelling creation, she does not appear ex nihilo, having her imaginative roots in Charlotte’s earlier writings, where she is adumbrated alike in the racially and ideologically opposed figures of Quashia Quamina and The Professor’s Juanna Trista — the only other white Creole to appear in the whole of Charlotte Brontë’s œuvre. Yet as well as looking back to these figures and providing us with an insight into the author’s procedures as a revisionist of her own work, Bertha also looks forward to her fin de siècle transatlantic rebirth in At Fault, haunting the sexual and racial melodramas of Kate Chopin’s critically neglected first novel just as surely as she haunts the upper chambers of Rochester’s Gothic mansion.

The Brontë Weather Project 2011–2012
pp. 14–31    Author:  Chesney, Rebecca
Abstract:
My aim was to look at the work of the Brontë sisters in relation to the weather and to develop and make new artworks. The project looked at how the Brontës used the weather to underline key points in their storylines; to foreshadow events to come; and as an outward expression of internal emotions.
While living in a time before tuberculosis was recognized as a contagious disease, and before any cure was developed, the Brontës revealed in letters that they were acutely aware of the devastating effects of consumption and how the weather influenced health.
The project also looked at the moorland surrounding Haworth: how it was originally formed by the weather and how climate change is threatening it.
Through contemporary art, the Brontë Weather Project revealed how the legacy of the Brontës’ work is still relevant today with its link to subjects ranging from health and illness to ecology and climate change.

The Brontës and Chekhov in Blake Morrison’s We Are Three Sisters (2011)
pp. 32–41       Author: Brown, Richard & Morrison, Blake
Abstract:
This is a discussion between Dr Richard Brown of the School of English at the University of Leeds and Professor Blake Morrison, author of the 2011 play We Are Three Sisters which takes the lives of the Brontë sisters as its theme. The discussion took place as part of the interdisciplinary Conference ‘Re-Visioning the Brontës’ which took place in the University of Leeds on 29 January 2013.

ARTICLES

Charlotte Brontë’s Busy Scissors Revising Villette
pp. 42–53   Author:  Marin, Ileana
Abstract:
The number of excisions in Charlotte Brontë’s manuscripts escalated from one in Jane Eyre to twenty-eight in Shirley and to seventy-one in Villette. The number of pages that contain other kinds of cancellations (crossing-out, x-es, rows of l-s) and emendations is also higher in Villette. The large number of cancellations and excisions, as well as the diversification of excision typology, indicate an increasing level of authorial control which might have been triggered by Charlotte Brontë’s effort to experiment with internal monologue, a rudimentary phase of stream of consciousness, and self-reflexivity.

Ellen Nussey and Mrs Gaskell’s Portrait
pp. 54–57    Author:  Hall, Audrey
Abstract:
This paper presents an argument for the identification of a sepia photograph, once owned by Ellen Nussey, as Elizabeth Gaskell.

The Power of the Spoken Word in Wuthering Heights
pp. 58-70  Author:  Tytler, Graeme
Abstract:
One of the most interesting aspects of Wuthering Heights is the prominent part played by the spoken word in the human relationships delineated therein. We notice, for example, the extent to which the characters reveal their moral strengths or weaknesses through their responses or reactions to what others say to them, whether it be in the form of one word or an entire narrative. That there is something ineluctably magical about the spoken word may explain why it is sometimes taken too seriously. This we see nowhere more pathetically illustrated than in Heathcliff’s relations with Catherine. Indeed, Heathcliff’s tragic fate can be understood as being closely bound up with his excessive sensitivity to language. It is partly through her presentation of Heathcliff that Emily demonstrates her generally skilful use of the spoken word not only for purposes of characterization and plot, but as a means of ensuring the cohesive structure of her masterpiece.

A Brontë Reading List: Part 6
pp. 71–80    Author:  Ogden, James & Pearson, Sara L.
Abstract:
This is part of an annotated bibliography of scholarly and critical essays. The earlier parts were published in Brontë Studies, 32.2 (July 2007), 33.3 (November 2008), 34.3 (November 2009), 36.4 (November 2011), and 37.3 (September 2012). The present part covers mainly work published in 2010–11.

Reviews
pp. 339-347(9)     Author: Duckett, Bob