230622 Henry James: the Experience of Conflicting Cultures (S) (SoSe 2006)

The "international theme" is one of the topics Henry James's writing is best known for. After all, many of James's narratives place cultural contrasts at their centre, especially that between an economically prosperous and progressive America and an "old" Europe of refined manners, (sometimes outlandish) traditions, and established knowledge. In this connection, students may well want to draw on their knowledge of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, in which a group of American tourists do the sights of the old world.

As we will explore in this class, however, the representation of cultural contrast and conflict in James goes beyond any stereotypic perceptions (as largely in Twain) that attach to national cultures. We will, therefore, broaden our approach and take in, among others, such aspects as the transition from would-be 19th century certainties to an apparently precarious new century; social class and financial background; the role of major cities (e.g. London, New York, Paris, Rome) as well as such dimensions as the family, gender, and feminism. We will approach these questions by using the anthropological method of dense description (especially Clifford Geertz) and by studying how these parameters are reflected in the individual experience of James' major characters. We will also try to find out how James¿ own literary criticism (e.g.The Art of Fiction), which is still of considerable relevance to the critical debate today, can be made relevant to his novelistic oeuvre. Finally, Henry James has never been more popular with fellow writers than in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, witness such biographical fictions as David Lodge's Author, Author!, Colm Toibin's The Master and Emma Tennant's Felony. It will be one of our concerns to study what it is that these writers see in Henry James that is still of relevance for today.

Please make sure to read the texts below in the Spring break and note that a second reading will be necessary during term time.

In the sequence in which we will read them, the texts are (required editions in parentheses):

"An International Episode" (1878); Daisy Miller (1878) in: Wegelin, Christof Ed.): Tales of Henry James (Norton Critical Edition). New York: Norton, 2002.

The Europeans(1878) (Penguin)

The Portrait of a Lady (1881) (Norton, 2nd edn 1995)

The Ambassadors (1903) (Norton; 2nd edn 1994)

"The Beast in the Jungle", in Tales (see above)