Henry James's permanent adolescence / John R. Bradley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bradley, John R., 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Knowledge and learning--Psychology.

James, Henry.

James, Henry, 1843-1916.

Psychology.

Homosexuality and literature--United States--History.

Homosexuality and literature.

Psychological fiction, American--History and criticism.

Psychological fiction, American.

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Characters--Men.

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Psychology.

Adolescence in literature.

Narcissism in literature.

Young men in literature.

Desire in literature.

Boys in literature.

Sex in literature.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 162 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire [England] ; New York : Palgrave, 2000.

Summary:

Henry James remained throughout his life focused on his boyhood and early manhood, and correspondingly on younger boys and men, and John R. Bradley illustrates how it is in the context of such narcissism that James consistently dealt with male desire in his fiction. He also traces a more subtle but related trajectory in James's writing from a Classical to a Modernist gay discourse, which in turn is shown to have been paralleled by a shift in James's fiction from naturalistic beginnings to later stylistic evasion and obscurity. This radical book, which covers the whole of James's career, will quickly be recognized as a defining text in this emerging field of James studies.

Contents:

1. Critical Hostility 1

2. Defining James's Homosexuality 13

3. Whitman, Pater and the Importance of Being Manly in James's Early Fiction 31

4. John Addington Symonds and 'The Author of Beltraffio' 75

5. Public Scandals, Private Dilemmas 91

6. The Uses of Obscurity 125.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-160) and index.

ISBN:

0333918746

0312235607

OCLC:

44045603