NIGEL H. FOXCROFT AND THE KALEIDOSCOPIC VISION OF MALCOLM LOWRY
Nigel H. Foxcroft, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Russian and European Studies in the School of Humanities at the University of Brighton has had published a monograph entitled The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry: Souls and Shamans by Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, USA.
It is an interdisciplinary investigation of the multifaceted, intuitive insight of the international modernist writer, Malcolm Lowry through an analysis of a selection of his works and correspondence. Nigel Foxcroft analyzes his psychogeographic perception of the interconnectedness of East-West cultures and civilizations in terms of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican customs; the Mexican Day of the Dead festival; the Atlantis myth; surrealism; and Russian literary, filmic, and political influences. He traces his intellectual efforts in pursuing philosophical and cosmic knowledge to bridge the gap between the natural sciences and the humanities.
This monograph identifies Lowry’s attempts to reintegrate modernism with primitivism in his quest for an elixir of life for the survival of humanity on the brink of global catastrophe, as indicated in In Ballast to the White Sea and Under the Volcano. It examines his sustained endeavours to attain psychoanalytical atonement with himself and his environment in Ultramarine, Swinging the Maelstrom, “The Forest Path to the Spring,” and October Ferry to Gabriola. It also discusses the odyssey on which Lowry and his literary protagonists embark to connect with the past and to gain a deeper insight into human nature in Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid, La Mordida, and “Through the Panama.” Scholars of cultural studies, history, humanities, Latin American studies, literature, and Russian studies will find this book particularly useful.
Dr Alistair Davies, University of Sussex declared, “Malcolm Lowry, born in England and longtime resident of Mexico and Canada, is one of the greatest yet also one of the least understood and least appreciated of twentieth-century English writers. Nigel Foxcroft's scrupulous study unravels Lowry's heterogeneous erudition and what he calls his 'kaleidoscopic vision of the world'. Foxcroft provides the biographical, historical, cultural and above all the literary contexts of a magpie writer who drew upon American, Norwegian, German and Russian literatures, European silent cinema, contemporary anthropology and philosophy and mystical and esoteric sources to create the remarkable writing, global in scope, of 'an international modernist visionary'. This rich and illuminating account will help readers appreciate more fully the singularity and the achievement of this extraordinary writer.”
Kazuo Yokouchi, Professor of English Literature and Vice-Dean of the School of Humanities, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan stated, “I have just finished reading The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry and am deeply impressed by Nigel H. Foxcroft’s truly informative and powerful discussion. I am overwhelmed by his wide range of reading and extensive research, from anthropology and ancient religion to European, Russian, and American writings, and even to Indian and Chinese thoughts. I am also attracted by Lowry's religious dimensions, somehow comparable to those of shamans. I am so encouraged to tackle Lowry's works again. I think that this monograph is an important corrective to the Euro-centered understanding of modernism, to be read not only by Lowry specialists but also by everyone interested in modernism in general. Another point that interested me is that In Ballast to the White Sea - the latest work to be published and a key text bridging the early and mature Lowry - seems to occupy the near centre in Foxcroft’s discussion of the Lowrian canon. The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry is quite unique in that respect.”
Sheryl Salloum, an independent scholar from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada affirmed, “The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry is an excellent and important publication. While I have long been aware of the spiritual and cultural influences in Lowry’s writings, Nigel H. Foxcroft has thoroughly examined those influences and their impacts. Therefore, he has highlighted and connected many new thoughts and ‘visions’ for all those interested in Lowry. Moreover, he does so in a style that is clear and concise. He has made me once again be amazed at Lowry’s ‘kaleidoscopic’ interests and knowledge, and his ability to weave those interests into such unique and riveting novels and short stories. Foxcroft has made me want to re-read all of Lowry’s works again as I now have some fresh insights! I am also amazed at the research that he has conducted, and the rigorous ways in which he has drawn that research together – a major undertaking.”
Dr Glenn Woodsworth, another independent scholar from Vancouver declared, “I have finished The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry. I really enjoyed it! The writing is clear and direct, which is a big plus. What I really enjoyed is that Nigel H. Foxcroft has tried to take ALL Lowry’s works, including the letters, and put them into a common, coherent framework. Most commentators just concentrate on ‘Volcano’ or one of the other novels. Foxcroft’s work gives a better idea than any of the others of the depth of Lowry’s reading and the inter-connectedness of his thoughts. I particularly enjoyed Foxcroft’s comments on Donnelly, Charles Fort, J. W. Dunne, and Ouspensky. Now I’m going to have to re-read the Lowry works again.”
Nigel Foxcroft has published extensively, in English and Russian. His publications include peer-reviewed works on modern Anglo-American literature (J. M. Coetzee, Malcolm Lowry, and Toni Morrison), Russian Literature (A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, and Anton Chekhov), and Russian historical linguistics in Acta Academiae Paedogogicae Szegediensis and Acta Universitatis Szegediensis (Hungary); The Atlantic Critical Review (India); Commonwealth Essays and Studies and La Fureur et la Grâce: Lectures de Malcolm Lowry (France); IAFOR Academic Review and IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship (Japan); Planeta Literatur: Journal of Global Literary Studies (Poland); Rusistika (UK); Sobre Lowry (Mexico); and Sun Yat-Sen Journal of Humanities (Taiwan). He has contributed to the following forthcoming publications: Remaking the Voyage: New Essays on Malcolm Lowry and ‘In Ballast to the White Sea’ (UK) and Actas do XIV Encontro Internacional Malcolm Lowry (Portugal).
He has delivered keynote lectures and research papers - and chaired sessions - at international (and world) conferences in Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, USA, as well as in the UK. A researcher member of the Centre for Memory, Narrative, and Histories (CMNH) at the University of Brighton, he is currently supervising two PhD students.
His research into Sussex modernism has enabled him to develop links with the Centre for Modernist Studies at the University of Sussex and Towner art gallery in Eastbourne (where he gave a public lecture on surrealist influences on Malcolm Lowry), and with the Bluecoat creative hub in Liverpool. His international network reaches from Mexico (the Instituto de Cultura de Morelos, the Malcolm Lowry Foundation, the Museo de la Casona Spencer, and La Cartonera publishing movement), to France (the Centre Culturel International de Cerisy-la-Salle in Normandy), and, indeed, to Japan (IAFOR International Academic Forum).
He said, “I am truly inspired by Malcolm Lowry’s fiction because its multifaceted nature facilitates an appreciation of the important role played by literature in heightening our awareness of the interconnectedness of our environment. My research aspires to contribute to the development of a psychogeographic and historical framework for the investigation and appraisal of the international dimensions of modernism. It also seeks to lay a firm foundation for an analysis of the influence of cultures and civilizations on modernist authors and avant-garde artists.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Nigel H. Foxcroft at nhf@brighton.ac.uk
