Indeed,
his works are "full of such transpositons" and
"mixing up" (or amalgamation) of characteristics
and experiences of different people and events, etc. As
we shall see, Kangaroo, in particular, is richly-furnished
with these two methods of transformation.
In fact, his literary locker was stocked with a varied
arsenal of fictionalisation and transposition techniques
- spelling-transpositions, pun-transpositions, geographic-transpositions,
literary-transpositions, identity-transpositions, historical-transpositions
- even sex-transpositions.
Yet his overall transformation technique - the one he
used most - was associative...what can be called his "associative-transpositions".
If he wanted to change or disguise the name of a real
person or place or whatever, he would think of something
- or something would occur to him - that he associated
in his mind with that name or person or word, and come
up with a transposed name or word.
It seems that such transpositions or "shifts"
were mostly unconscious or "automatic", with
Lawrence devoting little thought or effort to the actual
transformation procedure - a process almost akin to "instant
translation".
Let me offer some examples to make my point...
|
ORIGINAL
(FACT)
|
CHANGE
(FICTION)
|
SWITCH
TECHNIQUE
|
LAWRENCE
WORK
|
|
|
LAWRENCE
H DAVIDSON
|
NAME
REVERSAL
|
MOVEMENTS
IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
|
|
GEORGE
NEVILLE
|
GEOREGE
SAXTON
GEORGE
GRAINGER
|
KEPT
FIRST NAME
KEPT
FIRST NAME
|
THE
WHITE PEACOCK
THE MARRIED MAN
|
|
LILLY
RAWSON
|
RAWDON
LILLY
|
NAME
& SEX SWITCH
|
AARON'S
ROD
|
|
REGGIE
TURNER
|
ALGIE
CONSTABLE
|
BOTH
PAINTERS
|
|
|
LADY
DIANA COOPER
|
LADY
ARTEMUS HOOPER
|
GREEK/ROMAN
GODDESSES & SIMILAR SOUNDING NAME
|
AARON'S
ROD
|
|
LADY
OTTOLINE MORRELL
|
LADY
HERMIONE RODDICE
|
FEMINISATION
OF GERMAN NAMES (OTTO/HERMAN)
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
PHILIP
MORRELL
|
ALEXANDER
RODDICE
|
cf
PHILP OF MACEDON'S SON ALEXANDER
|
|
|
PHILIP
HESELTINE
|
JULIUS
HALLIDAY
|
CHANGED
FROM SIDNEY HALLIDAY (cf THE POET SIR PHILIP SIDNEY)
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
DEVONSHIRE
STREET
|
SOMERSET
STREET
|
CHANGE
OF COUNTY
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
THE
MIDLANDS HOTEL
|
THE
DERBY HOTEL
|
DERBY
BEING IN THE MIDLANDS
|
THE
LOST GIRL
|
|
THE
BREACH
|
THE
BOTTOMS
|
ANATOMICAL
REFERENCE
|
SONS
AND LOVERS
|
|
MR
CLAY
|
MR
COBB
|
COBB
IN MIDLANDS DIALECT IS A TYPE OF CLAY
|
THE
LOST GIRL
|
|
COCKER
HOUSE
|
SHOTTLE
HOUSE
|
SHUTTLECOCK
(GETTIT?)
|
AARON'S
ROD
|
|
MR
HOLBROOK
|
MR
FULLBANKS
|
DESCRIPTIVE
PUN/ALLUSION
|
LOST
GIRL
|
|
BOLSOVER
|
BELDOVER
|
SIMILAR
SOUNDING NAME
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
CISSY
GIDDENS
|
SISSY
GITTENS
|
"D"
FOR "T"
|
MR
NOON
|
|
DUNCAN
GRANT
|
DUNCAN
FORBES
|
SAME
FIST NAME
|
FIRST
LADY CHATTERLEY
|
|
WILLIE
MACQUEEN
|
BILL
MACFARLANE
|
SIMILAR
FIST NAME & SCOTTISH SURNAME
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
PROFESSOR
ALFRED WEBER
|
PROFESSOR
ALFRED KRAMER
|
SIMILAR
GERMAN NAME
|
MR
NOON
|
|
MAXIM
LITVINOV (RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT)
|
MAXIM
LIBIDNIKOV
|
THE
ENVOY WAS A NOTORIOUS WOMANISER
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
|
GARLAND'S
HOTEL
|
|
HARLAND'S
HOTEL
|
FIRST-LETTER
SWAP & SIMILAR SOUNDING NAME
|
LADY
CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
|
|
ANNESLEY
|
ALDERSLY
|
SIMILAR
SOUNDING NAME
|
SONS
AND LOVERS
|
|
SITWELLS
|
SAYWELLS
|
SAME
SUFFIX
|
THE
VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY
|
|
CROYDON
|
NORWOOD
|
ADJACENT
LONDON SUBURBS
|
SONS
AND LOVERS
|
|
BERTHA
CUTTS
|
BERTHA
COUTTS
|
SINGLE-LETTER
CHANGE
|
LADY
CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
|
|
GORDON
CAMPBELL
|
SHOLTO
BANNERMAN
(in typescript)
|
PERSISTANCE
OF ORIGINAL
|
WOMEN
IN LOVE
|
...and there
are hundreds more.
However, the last one is of special interest.
Gordon Campbell's wife Catherine Carswell actually saw
the name Bannerman on the manuscript of what eventually
became Women in Love. She asked Lawrence to alter
her husband's surname to something like "Balfour"
(both Arthur Balfour and Henry Campbell-Bannerman being
Edwardian politicians).
