War and the Mind: Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, Modernism, and Psychology

New critical essays illuminate Ford Madox Ford’s epic First World War modernist masterpiece, Parade’s End This is the first full-length critical study of Parade’s End to focus on the psychological effects of the war. Originally published in 4 volumes between 1924 and 1928, Parade’s End has been described as ‘the finest novel about the First World War’ (Anthony Burgess), ‘the greatest war novel ever written by an Englishman’ (Samuel Hynes), ‘a central Modernist novel of the 1920s, in which it is exemplary’ (Malcolm Bradbury), and ‘possibly the greatest 20th-century novel in English’ (John N. Gray). These 10 newly commissioned essays focus on the psychological effects of the war, both upon Ford himself and upon his novel: its characters, its themes and its form. The chapters explore: Ford’s pioneering analysis of war trauma, trauma theory, shell shock, memory and repression, insomnia, empathy, therapy, literary Impressionism and literary style. Writers discussed alongside Ford include Joseph Conrad, Siegfried Sassoon, May Sinclair, and Rebecca West, as well as theorists Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, William James, and W. H. R. Rivers. Key Features A long-overdue examination of Ford’s First World War modernist masterpiece Parade’s End Focuses on psychology and the effects of war on the minds of those who fought and those at home Adds to writing about First World War writers, war trauma and trauma theory, as well as modernism and literary Impressionism Contributes to the burgeoning field of medical humanities by reconsidering Parade’s End in terms of the various mental and psychological disorders represented within the novel Ashley Chantler is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Chester. Rob Hawkes is Senior Lecturer in English at Teesside University.

Table of Contents:
Introduction (Ashley Chantler and Rob Hawkes); 1. ‘Sex ferocity’ and ‘the sadic lusts of certain novelists’: Sexuality, Sadomasochism, and Suppression in Parade’s End (Max Saunders); 2. Freud Madox Ford: Impressionism, Psychoanalytic Trauma Theory, and Ford’s Wartime Writing(Karolyn Steffens); 3. Empathy, Trauma, and the Space of War in Parade’s End (Eve Sorum); 4. Fellow Feeling in Ford’s Last Post: Modernist Empathy and the Eighteenth-Century Man (Meghan Marie Hammond); 5. The Self-Analysis of Christopher Tietjens (Barbara Farnworth); 6. Composing the War and the Mind; Composing Parade’s End (Alexandra Becquet); 7. The Work of Sleep: Insomnia and Discipline in Ford and Sassoon (Sarah Kingston); 8. Representing Shell Shock: A Return to Ford and Rebecca West (Charlotte Jones); 9. ‘I hate soldiering’: Ford, May Sinclair, and War Heroism (Leslie de Bont); 10. Peace of Mind in Parade’s End (Gene M. Moore); Bibliography; Notes on Contributors

About the Author :
Dr Ashley Chantler is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Chester. He is the series editor of Character Studies (Continuum); author of ‘Heart of Darkness’: Character Studies (Continuum, 2008); co-editor of Translation Practices: Through Language to Culture (Rodopi, 2009), Studying English Literature (Continuum 2010), and Literature and Authenticity, 1780–1900 (Ashgate, 2011); and editor of the Ford Madox Ford Society Newsletter. He is currently editing, with Rob Hawkes, Ford Madox Ford: An Introduction (Ashgate). Dr Rob Hawkes is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Teesside University. He is the author of Ford Madox Ford and the Misfit Moderns: Edwardian Fiction and the First World War (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); and the Ford Madox Ford Society’s Publicity Officer. He is currently editing, with Ashley Chantler, Ford Madox Ford: An Introduction (Ashgate).

Review :
War and the Mind focusses subtly on Parade's End and the Great War but also illuminates many other works by Ford, William James, May Sinclair, Rebecca West, and Virginia Woolf. Essential reading for scholars of war and gender studies, trauma theory, modernism, and the fictional relation of sex to violence.