Henry__James美国文学作家亨利詹姆斯要点.pptVIP

Henry James and Realism ◆An strong advocate of realism: The Art of Fiction --“Art without life is a poor affair”; “the only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent life”, --“point of view” ◆ Psychological approach to his subject matter: forerunner of the 20th century “stream-of –consciousness” the founder of psychological realism Henry James as a Stylist Highly refined and insightful language Accurate in word selection Complex syntax Henry James （1843-1916） A novelist literary critic Life of Henry James born in a wealthy cultured family in New York father: a philosopher and theologist brother: William James, a famous philosopher psychologist the best short story writer in America at 25 years old never married frequent tour to Europe, England, France, and Italy… An English man in 1915 died in 1916 and buried in Massachusetts The Time of James’ never took part in public affairs or showed much interest in the economic and social changes of his age deeply interested in the contrast between the old world and the new one The International Theme moral and psychological complications, American innocence encountered European sophistication Typical Americans of James: fresh, enthusiastic, eager to learn, basically “good”, disregard of conventions, stand for morality Europeans of James: highly cultivated, elegant in manners, sophisticated, stand for manners Literary Features of James The cultural conflict between Europe and America The psychological activities of character Dramatic effect Ambiguity in attitude towards many things Three Periods of James’ literary Career Early period (1865-1882): “international theme” (American innocence in face of European sophistication) major works: The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1878), The Europeans (1878), The Portrait of a Lady (1881) Middle period (1865-1895): experiments with different themes and forms (subtle studies of inter-personal relationship) major works: The Bostonia