Kimber, G. (2017) ‘A child of the sun’: Katherine Mansfield, Orientalism and Gurdjieff. In: Kimber, G., Martin, W. T. and Diment, G. (eds.) Katherine Mansfield and Russia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 41-65.
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Abstract:
There was a particular strand to her spirituality which manifested itself both in Katherine Mansfield’s personal life as well as her creative endeavours, and that was her deep fascination with the Orient and its traditions, and especially the tea ceremony. I shall show how this eventually linked up with her attraction to P.D. Ouspensky and Gurdjieff and the theosophical philosophies expounded in the book Cosmic Anatomy, which would go on to have such a deep effect on her at a critical time in her life. Thus, this essay will explore Mansfield’s spiritual development, culminating in her decision to enter Gurdjieff’s ‘Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man’ near Paris in the autumn of 1922, together with her desire as she expressed it at the end of her life: ‘I want to be all that I am capable of becoming so that I may be – [...] a child of the sun’.
Subjects:
Creators:
Kimber, G.
Editors:
Kimber, G., Martin, W. T. and Diment, G.
Publisher:
Edinburgh University Press
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
Date:
1 September 2017
Date Type:
Publication
Page Range:
pp. 41-65
Title of Book:
Katherine Mansfield and Russia
Series Name:
Katherine Mansfield studies
Place of Publication:
Edinburgh
Number of Pages:
224
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781474426138
Status:
Published / Disseminated
Refereed:
Yes
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