Lecture 4 The Awkward Age.docx

Lecture 4 The Awkward Age.docx

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Lecture4TheAwkwardAge

MODERNISTFICTION:

LECTURE4

HenryJames:

TheAwkwardAge

Inlastweek’slecture,ImentionedJames’s1884essay‘TheArtofFiction’.AsIsaidlasttime,inthatessay,Jameswaskeentopresentnovel-writingasoneofthefinearts,andhedidthat,inpart,byusingtheanalogyofpainting.Throughthisanalogywithpainting,Jameswasabletomakeclaimsforthenovelandforaseriousconsiderationoftheaestheticsofthenovel.Thus,henotesatonepoint,‘itisnotexpectedofthepicturethatitwillmakeitselfhumbleinordertobeforgiven’,implying,ofcourse,thatthenovelistisexpectedtoadoptthisposture.Hebeginstheessayinquitetheoppositevein.

Heobservesatthestart:

‘OnlyashorttimeagoitmighthavebeensupposedthattheEnglishnovelwasnotwhattheFrenchcalldiscutable’.Thenheexplainswhathemeansbythisterm:

‘Ithadnoairofhavingatheory,aconviction,aconsciousnessofitselfbehindit–ofbeingtheexpressionofanartisticfaith’.Jamesisclearlyaimingtoremedythislack.AgainitisworthnotinginpassingtheindebtednesstoFrenchliterature:

howFrenchliterarycultureisprovidingaprecedentforthisseriousengagementwiththeartofthenovel.ItisworthrememberingalsothatoneofJames’searliestpublicationswasacriticalbook,FrenchPoetsandNovelists,publishedin1878,inwhich,throughaseriesofessaysinvestigatingthepracticeofarangeofcontemporaryFrenchpoetsandnovelists,hecanbeseendevelopinghisowncriticalpositiononthenatureandartofthenovel.Hegoeson:

‘Artlivesupondiscussion,uponcuriosity,uponvarietyofattempt,upontheexchangeofviewsandthecomparisonofstandpoints’.And,inthisspirit,heoffershisowncontributiontotheon-goingdiscussion.

Imentionedlasttime,James’sassertionofthefreedomofart,thefreedomofthenovel,initschoiceofsubjectanditstreatmentofthatsubject.Heaffirms:

‘Theonlyobligationtowhichinadvancewemayholdanovel…isthatitbeinteresting’.Heelaboratesonthislaterintheessay:

‘Wemustgranttheartisthissubject,hisidea,hisdonnee:

ourcriticismisappliedonlytowhathemakesofit’.Atthesametime,againstBesant’sattempttolaydownlawsforthenovel,Jamesasserts:

‘Thewaysinwhichitisatlibertytoaccomplishthisresult（ofinterestingus）strikemeasinnumerable…Theyareasvariousasthetemperamentofman,andtheyaresuccessfulinsofarastheyrevealaparticularmind’.ThisinsistenceonthetemperamentofthewriterisderivedpartlyfromdiscourseaboutthenovelinFrance,butitalsoechoeswhatwehaveseeninPater.

InhisessayJamesworkssystematicallythroughthevariouspointsthatBesantmadeinhislecture.Thus,JamesalsoquestionsBesant’sassertionthatthenovelistmustwritefromexperiencebyinterrogatingthatword‘experience’.Heobserves:

‘Experienceisneverlimited,anditisnevercomplete;itisanimmensesensibility,akindofhugespider-webofthefinestsilkenthreadssuspendedinthechamberofconsciousness,andcatchingeveryairborneparticleinitstissue’.Whatisinterestinginthisimageishowitmovesfromexperiencetothesensibilityofthepersonexperiencing.Jamesgivesanexampletointerrogatefurtherthenotionof‘experience’:

Thackeray’sdaughter,AnneRitchieThackeray,wroteanovelaboutFrenchProtestantyouth;theexperiencefromwhichshewrotethenovelwastheglimpseofagroupofyoungProtestantmenseatedattableinahouseinParis.Jamesobserves:

‘Theglimpsemadeapicture;itlastedonlyamoment,butthatmomentwasexperience’.‘Experience’,fortheartist,dependsuponthis‘powertoguesstheunseenfromtheseen,totracetheimplicationofthings,tojudgethewholepiecebythepattern’.SoJames’sadvicetotheyoungartistis‘’Trytobeoneofthepeopleonwhomnothingislost!

’

JamesalsopicksuponBesant’soppositionofdescriptionanddialoguetoargueinsteadfororganicform.Henotes:

‘Icannotimaginecompositionexistinginaseriesofblocks,norconceive,inanynovelworthdiscussingatall,ofapassageofdescriptionthatisnotinitsintentionnarrative,apassageofdialoguethatisnotinitsintentiondescriptive’’.AswewillseeinTheAwkwardAge,thisbecomeswhatJamescalls‘reallyconstructivedialogue’.Insimilarveinhegoesoninhisessaytochallengeanotherdistinction–‘betweenthenovelofcharacterandthenovelofincident’.Heargues:

‘Whatischaracterbutthedeterminationofincident?

Whatisincidentbutthedeterminationofcharacter?

’WemightproductivelyaddressthesequestionstoTheSpoilsofPoynton.

Finally,hereturnstothatquestionofthefreedomoftheartist.Heassertsthat‘theprovinceofartisalllife,allfeeling,allobservation,allvision’.HechallengesBesant’sassertionthatarthastohavea‘consciousmoralpurpose’andcounterswiththeassertionthat‘questionsofartarequestions（inthewidestsense）ofexecution;questionsofmoralityarequiteanotheraffair’.Inotherwords,itistheartist’stechnicaldecisionsintheirtreatmentofthesubjectthataretheproperobjectforcriticalattention.Notonlydoesthenovelnothavetohavea‘consciousmoralpurpose’;itshouldnotbeexpectedtoconformtoconventionalmoralvalues.Fromthisposition,hegoesontoattack‘themoraltimidityoftheusualEnglishnovelist;withhis（orher）aversiontofacethedifficultieswithwhichoneverysidethetreatmentofrealitybristles’.Ashenotes,thisleadsto‘acautioussilenceoncertainsubjects’–subjects,ofcourse,whichJamescan’tmentionexplicitly.Instead,heobservesthat‘thereisatraditionaldifferencebetweenthatwhichpeopleknowandthatwhichtheyagreetoadmitthattheyknow,thatwhichtheyseeandthatwhichtheyspeakof,thatwhichtheyfeeltobeapartoflifeandthatwhichtheyallowtoenterintoliterature’.Asthissuggests,therewere,innineteenth-centuryEnglandandAmericaconstraintsonwhatcouldbesaidandwhatcouldbesaidinliterature.Asthisalsosuggests,theseconstraintsalsoproduceanallusivestyle（asinthesepassages）whereallthose‘intheknow’knowexactlywhatisbeingalludedto,whilethosenotintheknowarekeptinthedark.Jamesinhisfiction,aswesawwithsomeofhisshortstoriesandTheSpoilsofPoyntonorinnovelslikeWhatMaisieKnewandTheGoldenBowl,broughtintofictionthingswhichhisadultreaders‘knew’butdidn’tnecessarilyallowintoliterature.Atthesametime,Jameshadtonegotiatetheofficialconstraintsonwhatcouldbeincludedinliterature:

hecouldnotbeasexplicit,forexample,asFlaubertandZola.Aswehaveseen,thishadimplicationsforhistechniqueandhiswritingstyle.ItisalsoanimportantcontextforTheAwkwardAge.

I.ThePrefacetoTheAwkwardAge

JameswrotehisPrefacestoaccompanytheNewYorkCollectedEditionofhisworksthatcameoutin1907:

theydidnotaccompanythenovelswhentheyfirstappeared.OneoftheambitionsofseriousnovelistslikeJamesandConradwastohaveaCollectedEditionoftheirwork.Thiswasoneofthesignsoflegitimation,ofrecognition.ThepublicationofJames’sCollectedEdition,likethelaterpublicationofConrad’s,wasalsoanopportunityforthewritertorevisitearlierworkandtoreflectuponit.Fromthepublishers’perspective,theauthor’sPreface（inJames’scase）orAuthor’sNote（inConrad’s）wasalsoawayofaddingvaluetothevolume–afurtherinducementtothereadertobuytheedition.ItiscomparabletotheDVDwithout-takesoradditionalmaterial.Whattheauthor’sPrefacealsooffersisanaccountoffiction,asJamesnotesin‘TheArtofFiction’,fromthepointofviewof‘theproducer’ratherthantheconsumer.IfwereadthroughJames’sPrefacesinchronologicalorderwhatwealsoseeisaprocessbywhichheexploreshisideasaboutfiction,whereideasmightbestartedupinonePrefaceandthenpickedupanddevelopedfurtherinalaterone.ThePrefaceswerepublishedseparatelyfromthenovelsin1934asabookcalledTheArtoftheNovel.LikePercyLubbock’sTheCraftofFiction,whichcameoutin1921,thepublicationofthePrefacesasaseparatebook,readslikeanattempttosetupJames’sexplorationsofhispracticeasanovelistasaprescriptivemodelforfiction–whichisquitecontrarytothespiritofJames’sownwork（aswesawinhisessay‘TheArtofFiction’）anddidn’tsucceed.

ThePrefacetoTheAwkwardAgeisoneofthosemostorientedtomattersoftechnique.Jamesbegins,easilyenough,with‘thegerm’.AsinTheSpoilsofPoynton,thegermwasasocialphenomenon,aproductofJames’ssociallifeinLondon-inthiscase,‘thedifferencemadeincertainfriendlyhousesandforcertainflourishingmothersbythesometimesdreaded,oftendelayed,butneverfullyarrestedcomingtotheforefrontofsomevagueslipofadaughter’andtheresulting‘accounttobetaken,inacircleoffreetalk,ofanewandinnocent,awhollyunacclimatizedpresence’.Again,aswithTheSpoilsofPoynton,wehavetothinkaboutthesocialcustomsoftheupper-classes:

inthiscase,theseparationofchildrenandparentswithinthehouseholdapartfromcarefullycontrolledvisitingtimes,andtheproblemthenofdecidingwhentoallowtheyoungadulttojointhesocialcircleoftheparents.Whatwealsohavetobearinmindasafactorhereistheperceivedneed,inthisperiod,to‘protect’femalechildren–indeed,unmarriedyoungwomen-fromcertainkindsofknowledge.InhisNotebookentryfor4March1895,Jamesbeginshisoutlineofthe‘germ’forthenovelbyreferringto‘TheideaofthelittleLondongirlwhogrowsupto“sitwith”thefree-talkingmodernyoungmother’andtheproblem