12 Henry James (1843–1916)
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Mirosława Buchholtz
Abstract
This chapter begins with an overview of Henry James’s career as a short-story writer from 1864 to 1910, and comments on his artistic aims and achievements, his predecessors and followers, and his publishing strategies. The two tales selected for a close reading span twenty-five years of his creative work and illustrate both continuities and changes in the writer’s style and theme. The two texts can be classified as American tales in the sense of being set in the United States and exploring American society and culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both tales were published after the expatriate author’s increasingly infrequent visits to the country of his birth. “Pandora” is quite clearly an example of James’s “international theme,” whereas “Crapy Cornelia” shows that a culture shock may be occasioned by differences other than nationality, gender, or class identity, namely, the difference in age and attitude to the past and the future. The juxtaposition of these ostensibly female-centered narratives helps discover the evolution not only in James’s perception of the American woman, but also of the man (German or expatriate American) who studies her. The two tales lend themselves to a variety of readings including textual, autobiographical, and political.
Abstract
This chapter begins with an overview of Henry James’s career as a short-story writer from 1864 to 1910, and comments on his artistic aims and achievements, his predecessors and followers, and his publishing strategies. The two tales selected for a close reading span twenty-five years of his creative work and illustrate both continuities and changes in the writer’s style and theme. The two texts can be classified as American tales in the sense of being set in the United States and exploring American society and culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both tales were published after the expatriate author’s increasingly infrequent visits to the country of his birth. “Pandora” is quite clearly an example of James’s “international theme,” whereas “Crapy Cornelia” shows that a culture shock may be occasioned by differences other than nationality, gender, or class identity, namely, the difference in age and attitude to the past and the future. The juxtaposition of these ostensibly female-centered narratives helps discover the evolution not only in James’s perception of the American woman, but also of the man (German or expatriate American) who studies her. The two tales lend themselves to a variety of readings including textual, autobiographical, and political.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
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Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
- 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
- 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
- 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
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Part II: Close Readings
- 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
- 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
- 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
- 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
- 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
- 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
- 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
- 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
- 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
- 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
- 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
- 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
- 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
- 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
- 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
- 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
- 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
- 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
- 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
- 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
- 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
- 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
- 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
- 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
- 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
- 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
- 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
- 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
- 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
- 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
- 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
- Index of Names 683
- Index of Subjects 691
- List of Contributors 699
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
- 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
- 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
- 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
- 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
- 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
- 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
- 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
- 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
- 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
- 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
- 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
- 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
- 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
- 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
- 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
- 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
- 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
- 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
- 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
- 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
- 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
- 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
- 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
- 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
- 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
- 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
- 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
- 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
- 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
- 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
- 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
- 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
- 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
- Index of Names 683
- Index of Subjects 691
- List of Contributors 699
