Katherine Mansfield

In a comprehensive podcast presentation by Dr. Alison Laurie, a distinguished academic and LGBTQ+ activist, an exploration is conducted into the life and relationships of Katherine Mansfield, a notable writer from Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. The presentation delves into whether Mansfield, whose works do not predominantly focus on same-sex relationships between women, could be identified using labels like 'lesbian', and if their relationships with women influenced their writing sensibility.

Katherine Mansfield was born in 1888 into an influential family. They had early educational experiences at local public schools, which shifted to private schooling as their family's wealth grew. A transformative time was their education at Miss Swainson's School, where they formed a close bond with Maata Mahupuku, and later at Queen's College in London, where they met Ida Constance Baker—two relationships that Laurie hypothesizes were emotionally and possibly sexually significant for Mansfield.

Although primarily documented as having intense friendships with women, Mansfield revealed through written records a deep emotional and physical attraction to some of them. One particular person of interest was Maata Mahupuku, a Māori woman and possibly Mansfield's first lover, whose relationship with Mansfield, Laurie suggests, may have raised eyebrows due to its intensity and cultural differences. This relationship, detailed in journal entries and stories, along with an encounter with Edith Kathleen Bendall, illustrates Mansfield’s exploration and struggle with their sexual identity.

Mansfield's journals display their wrestle with societal conventions and the fear of being perceived as sexually deviant, termed as perverted during their era. Laurie reviews Mansfield's international experiences and engagements, including their time in Belgium and their later return to New Zealand, where their relationships with women seem to continue alongside their known kinship with Ida Baker.

Drawing connections to figures like Oscar Wilde, the podcast examines the influence of literature on Mansfield's understanding of sexuality, examining the possible impact of their time in Germany, where their mother took them for water treatments, which were commonly used to address sexual and mental concerns at the time. Mansfield's marriage to George Bowden, a person they left on their wedding night, further contributes to the narrative of their complex personal life, which oscillated between conforming to societal expectations and pursuing their true desires.

Throughout their life, Mansfield maintained a long-term relationship with Ida Baker, later known as LM, which Laurie insinuates was perhaps the most consistent and important relationship until Mansfield's death in 1923. Their relationship with John Middleton Murry, although significant, is characterized by ambiguity regarding its physicality, particularly as their health declined from 1918 onwards.

In the final years of Mansfield's life, they engaged with the teachings of Gurdjieff and pondered risk-taking, potentially signaling a pursuit of authenticity despite pervasive social conventions. Laurie portrays Mansfield as an individual deeply affected by societal expectations and their own sexual identity, influencing the lens through which they viewed themselves and their relationships.

The presentation concludes, positing that while the significance of Katherine Mansfield's same-sex relationships can be inferred through a collection of writings, personal correspondences, and biographical anecdotes, the true depth and impact of these relationships remain a subject of intrigue and scholarly interpretation. The podcast's content elucidates the intricate narratives of queer women in New Zealand's history, exploring the intersection of creativity, societal pressures, and personal identity.

This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.

Alison Laurie

1880s, alison laurie, arts, bisexual, days bay, eastbourne, edith kathleen bendall, gay line wellington trust, katherine mansfield, lesbian, maata mahupuku, ngāti kahungunu, queer history 101, rule foundation, transcript online, wellington, writing

assault, beauty, belief, biography, books, breasts, canada, cats, change, children, class, clothing, connections, dance, death, degenerate, diary, disappear, divorce, education, emotional, encounters, engagement, europe, events, face, family, fear, friends, funeral, gay, germany, ghana, gonorrhea, health, heterosexual, hit, homosexual, hope, hospital, hotel, journal, justice, kissing, knowledge, laughter, library, london, love, lover, march, marriage, mary, masculine, morality, music, nature, news, nightclub, oscar wilde, other, otter, parents, paris, peace, people, perversion, pregnancy, private schools, punishment, race, rainbow, reading, relationships, religion, respect, running, sailor, scene, school, serbia, sex, sexuality, silence, singing, sleep, social, sodomy, soul, suicide, support, te herenga waka - victoria university of wellington, teacher, the beatles, time, tinder.com, trauma, travel, trust, truth, tuberculosis, twins, university, upper class, virginia woolf, water, wedding, women, women's studies, work