ABSTRACT
Polyphony works on a series of levels in Sophia Grieve Ryder, providing a conceptual framework for the novel, by prioritising the sense of voice, much as the journalism defamiliarised the operation of the gaze. Despite the novel's rather unruly structure, the concerns of the Ryder family do provide some continuity of reference, and so it is worth outlining the principle members of the family. Although it is somewhat ironic to suggest that a polyphonic novel might have a unifying concept, the phrase 'Everything is true that is honoured' does resonate across many of Ryder's pages. Despite its polyphony, Ryder charts the development of women's voices, and the articulation of their desires, from Cynthia's monosyllable, to Molly's verbal 'canters'. Djuna Barnes' decision to have Almanack privately printed protected the text from the intervention of the censors, and allows it to continue the development of the female voice seen in Ryder in even more explicit terms.
