The aim of this section is to analyse some of the geographic patterns in The Blue Hour using the QGIS and to discuss what they reveal about the way Pizzichini represents Jean Rhys.
Jean Rhys, who was born in Dominica, has lived in many countries during her life and has moved many times. However, that is not always indicated in biographies about her. Some of the biographies, like Howells’ and Stanley’s, mostly focus on her literary works and mention only the most important locations and mostly only as far as they are relevant to Rhys’ stories that they discuss. Whereas others, like Angier’s biography, appear to list all the details about the places associated with Rhys as well as speculations when the facts are insufficient. Pizzichini’s biography, while perhaps not as thorough as Angier’s, also pays significant attention to geographical details. She not only mentions places which are directly connected to Rhys (for instance, she has been there or lived there), but also many places that are indirectly connected with Rhys (for instance, her acquaintance has lived there or places mentioned as historical context of war). Thus Pizzichini provides an extensive geographical context to Rhys’ life and work.
The following map illustrates the locations in Europe mentioned in The Blue Hour and contains both general references to certain countries and references to specific places within those countries, for instance, London.
It is clear that the United Kingdom and places within it are mentioned the most, with France following as the second most mentioned place. Both the dates mentioned in Pizzichini’s biography and the distribution of mentioned locations indicate that Rhys has spent significantly more time in the UK than in France. This fact of Rhys’ life is interesting in its own right if we consider it in the context of the claims that Rhys’s approach to Britain was defined by disappointment and dissatisfaction. However, what is particularly interesting is that the amount of time spent in these two countries is not proportional to the number of times certain locations are mentioned. Rhys spent around 6 years of her life living in France and around 60 years living in the UK (roughly 1:10), whereas there are 88 locations mentioned in France and 237 in the UK (roughly 1:2.7). Thus, the geographical context of Pizzichini’s biography ascribes greater importance to France to Rhys’s life than could be expected from the amount of time Rhys lived there.
The geographic pattern is slightly different if we focus on more specific areas and dismiss general references to various countries, as shown in the map below illustrating the number of references to specific places in certain regions.
Paris and London are two locations that are important in all the biographies of Jean Rhys, thus, it is not surprising that they are so prominent in Pizzichini’s biography as well. The pattern remains pretty much the same even if we consider only general references to these cities (Paris – 64, London – 29). An obvious explanation for the contrast between this and the previous map is that Rhys has lived in many various places in the UK, while in France, she mostly lived in Paris. However, the fact that Paris is spoken of more often than London contributes to the pattern illustrated by the previous map, showing that the amount of time Rhys lived in a certain area is not necessarily directly proportional to the number of times the area was mentioned. This is a particularly interesting pattern when we consider the fact that London in connection to Rhys’ life is generally presented in a more negative way (e.g. ‘London was disappointing. She could not see her future in its smog-smudged streets’, Pizzichini, 49) than Paris (e.g. ‘She would always be faithful to Paris’, Pizzichini, 145). Such representations and contrasts in geographical patterns discussed above seem to insinuate that Rhys enjoyed her life in France more but ended up spending most of it in the UK. As a consequence, it accentuates the portrayal of Rhys as an outsider and evokes sympathy for her.
The contrast between UK and France could be traced back to Dominica, which has been influenced by both of these cultures since it used to be a French colony before it became a British one. Another reason why this contrast is particularly interesting is that it illustrates Rhys being a person of many cultures. Furthermore, her movements from one place to another both within the UK and internationally can denote either that she was the type of person who was not bound to one place and could find home anywhere or that she was a person who tried to discover where she belonged, since she did not feel she belonged anywhere. Judging from the way Pizzichini represents her, the latter sounds more accurate (to illustrate, ‘Jean’s short stories suggest she managed to find shelter through constantly moving to new abodes’, 237).
Contributing to the portrayal of Rhys as an outsider is not the only effect that Pizzichini’s geographical contextualisation has. D. Alves and A. I. Queiroz suggest :
…works of literature are able not only to capture the significance of specific locations, but also to ascribe new kinds of significance to those locations and, in the process, to influence how readers understand and interpret them (58).
That is one of the effects of Pizzichini’s geographical contextualisation. Her biography turns places into spaces that are shaped by Rhys’ life. Furthermore, the fact that so many places are mentioned (whether they are all equally relevant is another matter) makes it easier for the readers, who already have some sort of connection to a particular mentioned place, to relate to Rhys’ life, and thus it all contributes to Pizzichini’s purpose, namely, ‘to present the facts of Rhys’ life in such a way that the reader is left with an impression of what it was like to have lived such a life.’ (305)
Acknowledgement: Natural Earth open access data was used to illustrate the boundaries of countries and regions.