title: Jean Rhys writing back from 'The Other Side, Always'

authors: Walford, Amy

subjects: Jean Rhys

abstract: In her postcolonial masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys declared that ‘There is always the other side, always’. Published in 1966, Wide Sargasso Sea wrote back to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre by rewriting the character of Bertha Mason. As the mad Creole antagonist trapped in Rochester’s attic, Brontë’s depiction of Bertha was filled with descriptions of savagery and bestial lunacy. Bertha was pushed to the margins of Jane Eyre, completely voiceless within the narrative of her racialised, sexualised madness. Born in Dominica in 1890, Rhys felt a deep sympathy for Brontë’s madwoman from her first reading of Jane Eyre as a child. Her life as a Creole outsider in England strengthened this connection, as Rhys became more and more like Bertha through her own experiences as a similarly isolated, racialised woman, whilst writing Quartet (1928), Voyage in the Dark (1934), and Good Morning, Midnight (1939). In this thesis I argue that Rhys drew from her experiences of marginalisation, precarity and prejudice to illustrate a possible ‘other side’ of the colonial and patriarchal attitudes that formed Brontë’s madwoman, and that she did so long before the 1960s.
Previously, Rhys’s writing back to Brontë has been examined solely within the connections between Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre. Because of this limited scope of analysis, it is widely thought by academics and Rhys’s biographers that Brontë’s influence upon Rhys began and ended with Wide Sargasso Sea. However, this resistive act of writing back in fact began far sooner than previously recognised. My thesis argues that Rhys began her postcolonial and feminist criticism of Brontë and Brontë’s representation of the West Indies, in her earliest modernist works. 
Analysing a selection of Rhys’s fiction, this thesis reads the Rhysian woman as a modern manifestation of Bertha. Tracing Rhys’s postcolonial inversion of Brontë’s Eurocentric gothic, this thesis also examines the gothic modes and motifs within Rhys’s modernist fiction. The echo of two of Brontë’s other marginalised women, Céline Varens and Ginevra Fanshawe of Jane Eyre and Villette, are also read within Rhys’s female characters. Like Bertha, these minor protagonists closely resembled Rhys’s experiences as a mistress and demi-mondaine, and she was able to rewrite Brontë’s contemptuous representation of Céline and Ginevra with the same lens of sympathy that she applied to the Creole lunatic. With attention to both textual evidence and the author’s contextual experiences, this thesis traces how Rhys was continually motivated and influenced by Brontë’s representations to write back from the ‘other side, always’.

text: Jean Rhys writing back from 'The Other Side, Always' In her postcolonial masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys declared that ‘There is always the other side, always’. Published in 1966, Wide Sargasso Sea wrote back to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre by rewriting the character of Bertha Mason. As the mad Creole antagonist trapped in Rochester’s attic, Brontë’s depiction of Bertha was filled with descriptions of savagery and bestial lunacy. Bertha was pushed to the margins of Jane Eyre, completely voiceless within the narrative of her racialised, sexualised madness. Born in Dominica in 1890, Rhys felt a deep sympathy for Brontë’s madwoman from her first reading of Jane Eyre as a child. Her life as a Creole outsider in England strengthened this connection, as Rhys became more and more like Bertha through her own experiences as a similarly isolated, racialised woman, whilst writing Quartet (1928), Voyage in the Dark (1934), and Good Morning, Midnight (1939). In this thesis I argue that Rhys drew from her experiences of marginalisation, precarity and prejudice to illustrate a possible ‘other side’ of the colonial and patriarchal attitudes that formed Brontë’s madwoman, and that she did so long before the 1960s.
Previously, Rhys’s writing back to Brontë has been examined solely within the connections between Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre. Because of this limited scope of analysis, it is widely thought by academics and Rhys’s biographers that Brontë’s influence upon Rhys began and ended with Wide Sargasso Sea. However, this resistive act of writing back in fact began far sooner than previously recognised. My thesis argues that Rhys began her postcolonial and feminist criticism of Brontë and Brontë’s representation of the West Indies, in her earliest modernist works. 
Analysing a selection of Rhys’s fiction, this thesis reads the Rhysian woman as a modern manifestation of Bertha. Tracing Rhys’s postcolonial inversion of Brontë’s Eurocentric gothic, this thesis also examines the gothic modes and motifs within Rhys’s modernist fiction. The echo of two of Brontë’s other marginalised women, Céline Varens and Ginevra Fanshawe of Jane Eyre and Villette, are also read within Rhys’s female characters. Like Bertha, these minor protagonists closely resembled Rhys’s experiences as a mistress and demi-mondaine, and she was able to rewrite Brontë’s contemptuous representation of Céline and Ginevra with the same lens of sympathy that she applied to the Creole lunatic. With attention to both textual evidence and the author’s contextual experiences, this thesis traces how Rhys was continually motivated and influenced by Brontë’s representations to write back from the ‘other side, always’.

year: 2022

title: Credit losses in Australasian banking

authors: Hess, Kurt

subjects: banking

abstract: We analyse determinants of bank credit losses in Australasia. Despite sizeable credit losses over the past two decades, ours is the first systematic study to do so. Analysis is based on a comprehensive dataset retrieved from original financial reports of 32 Australasian banks (1980- 2005). Credit losses rise when the macro economy is weak. Asset markets, particularly the equity market, are also important. Larger banks provide more for credit losses while less efficient banks have greater asset quality problems. Strong loan growth translates into significantly higher credit losses with a lag of 2-4 years. Finally, the results show strong evidence of income smoothing
activities by banks.

text: Credit losses in Australasian banking We analyse determinants of bank credit losses in Australasia. Despite sizeable credit losses over the past two decades, ours is the first systematic study to do so. Analysis is based on a comprehensive dataset retrieved from original financial reports of 32 Australasian banks (1980- 2005). Credit losses rise when the macro economy is weak. Asset markets, particularly the equity market, are also important. Larger banks provide more for credit losses while less efficient banks have greater asset quality problems. Strong loan growth translates into significantly higher credit losses with a lag of 2-4 years. Finally, the results show strong evidence of income smoothing
activities by banks.

year: 2008-08

title: Local values and the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services in Aotearoa-New Zealand: a case study of Tauranga’s planning regime

authors: Peat, Helen Ann

subjects: Environmental planning

abstract: Aligning wetlands restoration planning mechanisms with public perceptions and values can help gain support for and assistance with restoration. Using Tauranga as a case study, this thesis is an exploratory study that applies the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) framework to examine the extent to which New Zealand's planning regime incorporates local values in the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services.

This thesis used multiple qualitative research methods in a two-pronged process. A narrative literature review and systematic statutory analysis in phase one helped identify values associated with wetland ecosystem services and how New Zealand’s, and more specifically Tauranga’s, resource management system promotes and enables the restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services. A case study approach with analysis of primary and secondary data in phase two helped identify what Tauranga local residents value as important wetland ecosystem services and the extent to which the local policy mechanisms reflect these values. 

Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and summaries of submissions, this thesis identifies six dimensions that represent values towards wetland ecosystem services and their restoration in Tauranga. Other than one dimension that consists of a single value on education from the cultural services category of the MEA framework, the remaining five dimensions comprise services from within and between the framework categories. These dimensions are wetlands as nutrient- and mineral-rich areas that support biodiversity and provide habitat; that regulate water, act as natural flood plains and sequester carbon to help protect against climate change and natural hazards; that maintain Māori cultural practices; that remove nutrients and contaminants in water; and provide recreational and aesthetic experiences. Therefore, identified dimensions could form the basis of educational programmes and toolkits that promote wetlands restoration.

The systematic policy analysis and cross-comparison with the results of the thematic analysis found that Tauranga’s planning regime partially provides for each of the six dimensions. However, the nuances and complexities of the values, including the interconnected nature of wetlands values and services, are not captured. This means Tauranga’s planning regime does not fully incorporate local values in the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services. Bridging the gap between wetlands restoration provisions and wetland ecosystem service values is likely to be supported by enacting the current resource management reforms. Enacting the reforms would help reduce the number of policies and plans, implement regional spatial planning, and develop outcomes-based policy mechanisms that encompass ecological, social, cultural and spiritual values, including those associated with wetlands.

text: Local values and the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services in Aotearoa-New Zealand: a case study of Tauranga’s planning regime Aligning wetlands restoration planning mechanisms with public perceptions and values can help gain support for and assistance with restoration. Using Tauranga as a case study, this thesis is an exploratory study that applies the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) framework to examine the extent to which New Zealand's planning regime incorporates local values in the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services.

This thesis used multiple qualitative research methods in a two-pronged process. A narrative literature review and systematic statutory analysis in phase one helped identify values associated with wetland ecosystem services and how New Zealand’s, and more specifically Tauranga’s, resource management system promotes and enables the restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services. A case study approach with analysis of primary and secondary data in phase two helped identify what Tauranga local residents value as important wetland ecosystem services and the extent to which the local policy mechanisms reflect these values. 

Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and summaries of submissions, this thesis identifies six dimensions that represent values towards wetland ecosystem services and their restoration in Tauranga. Other than one dimension that consists of a single value on education from the cultural services category of the MEA framework, the remaining five dimensions comprise services from within and between the framework categories. These dimensions are wetlands as nutrient- and mineral-rich areas that support biodiversity and provide habitat; that regulate water, act as natural flood plains and sequester carbon to help protect against climate change and natural hazards; that maintain Māori cultural practices; that remove nutrients and contaminants in water; and provide recreational and aesthetic experiences. Therefore, identified dimensions could form the basis of educational programmes and toolkits that promote wetlands restoration.

The systematic policy analysis and cross-comparison with the results of the thematic analysis found that Tauranga’s planning regime partially provides for each of the six dimensions. However, the nuances and complexities of the values, including the interconnected nature of wetlands values and services, are not captured. This means Tauranga’s planning regime does not fully incorporate local values in the promotion and restoration of wetlands and their ecosystem services. Bridging the gap between wetlands restoration provisions and wetland ecosystem service values is likely to be supported by enacting the current resource management reforms. Enacting the reforms would help reduce the number of policies and plans, implement regional spatial planning, and develop outcomes-based policy mechanisms that encompass ecological, social, cultural and spiritual values, including those associated with wetlands.

year: 2022