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Writing Without Backstory: In statu nascendi
In statu nascendi is a Latin phrase and means “in a state of being born”. When a story begins in medias res (in the middle of things) and the character is given no backstory, we may say the character is presented to us in statu nascendi. Modernist writers started this trend. You’ll see it in Katherine Mansfield’s short stories. A…
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How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped” is a modernist short story by Katherine Mansfield, published 1912. At its heart, “Pearl Button” is a story about a clash of two cultures seen through a child’s eyes. This story plays out as a duality of restriction and freedom. The European settlers are restricted while the Māori people enjoy freedom. “Pearl Button” is the…
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See Saw by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“See Saw” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, published 1919. Before Katherine Mansfield (and similar writers e.g. Chekhov) came along, stories were all about storytelling. The whole point of telling a story: To immerse the reader in a fascinating event, to paint a picture of setting and character, and possibly to teach readers a life lesson without forcing them…
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Carnation by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Carnation” (1918) is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, included in her Something Childish collection. I like this one very much — a rare story of blossoming female friendship. SETTING OF “CARNATION” Mansfield often opens stories in medias res and grounds us in the setting: On those hot days The entire story takes place in a French classroom at a…
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Something Childish But Very Natural by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Something Childish But Very Natural” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, published 1913, 1924. The story is named after a poem Harry reads in the book-stall. The poem is by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This poem provides Mansfield’s re-visioning with a nutshell emotional arc:
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Pictures by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Pictures” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, published 1919. The London Evening Standard said of the story ‘it is stark realism from first word to last and yet it gives an impression of infinite understanding and pity’. The character Ada Moss was inspired by a woman Mansfield met three years earlier. They had sat in the same cinema. We…
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Je ne parle pas français by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Je ne parle pas français” (I don’t speak French) is a 1918 short story by Katherine Mansfield. Nothing much ‘happens’, but the character of Raoul Duquette is a comedic archetype seen in contemporary creations such as Dwight Schrute from The Office. Connection To Mansfield’s Own Life Hard to fathom today, but the obliquely gay subject matter of this story would…
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How To Write Like Katherine Mansfield
Mansfield borrowed from those who came before her and we may do the same. In fact, it’s inevitable. It pays to know our own influences… if only so we don’t mimic them too closely. Overall, Mansfield was a modernist writer. And of the modernist writers, she was at the highly aesthetic and visual end of the spectrum. She wasn’t big…
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The Woman At The Store by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Woman At The Store” (1912) is one of Mansfield’s earlier stories, written for the magazine Rhythm. The aesthetic goal of this magazine was pity, brutality and a carefully wrought plot with adequate foreshadowing. It is now thought that this story is far from Mansfield’s best work. This short story has been criticised for its foreshadowing, considered ‘telegraphing’ (foreshadowing which…
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At The Bay by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“At the Bay” (1921) is considered one of Mansfield’s best short stories, by a writer at the height of her powers. This is one of the three about the Burnell family, who also star in “Prelude” and “The Doll’s House“. “At The Bay” is an interesting case study for writers, for so many reasons. Notably: CHARACTERISATION The way Mansfield creates…
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Prelude by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Prelude” is the first in a trilogy of interlinked short stories. The other stories starring the Burnell family are “At the Bay” and “The Doll’s House”. Although Mansfield also populates “The Doll’s House” with the same characters.
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The Tiredness of Rosabel by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
Outside school magazines, “The Tiredness of Rosabel” was Katherine Mansfield’s first published story (1908, when Mansfield was 20 years old). Already we can see features the author became known for: The ability of a character to impersonate another Daydreams/fantasy used to reveal deeper desires Three time levels are used simultaneously (past, present, future) A central theme throughout Mansfield’s work: ‘fastidious…
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The Escape by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
It’s almost impossible to read Katherine Mansfield’s “The Escape” (1920) without linking back to the author’s own biography. But perhaps we shouldn’t look to Mansfield’s relationship with a man in order to understand where this story might have come from. Biographer Claire Tomalin has said this about Mansfield:
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New Dresses by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“New Dresses” (1912) is nowhere near as accomplished as Katherine Mansfield’s later short stories as it lacks focus and appears contrived. “New Dresses” is a different sort of story altogether from the Prelude trilogy, and we need a different yardstick. That said, The Carsfield family is said to be the prototype of the Burnells who we meet later in Prelude, At the…
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The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Doll’s House” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, set in New Zealand, written 1922. This is Mansfield’s most accessible story, and a good introduction to her work. Its main themes are seen across children’s literature as well. Unlike stories such as “The Garden Party” and “Bliss”, the reader is not required to fill in so many gaps by…
