Marcel Proust in the light of William James : in search of a lost source / Marilyn M. Sachs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sachs, Marilyn M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922--Criticism and interpretation.

Proust, Marcel.

Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922. À la recherche du temps perdu.

James, William, 1842-1910--Influence.

James, William.

James, William, 1842-1910.

Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xvi, 311 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2014]

Summary:

For a century now, scholars have searched for the "source" of Marcel Proust's startlingly innovative novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Some have pointed to Henri Bergson, Sigmund Freud, or Paul Sollier. Others have referenced the novels of Henry James. But no one has focused on the more significant influence of the writings of Henry's older brother, the psychologist and Harvard professor, William James. A close comparison reveals the degree to which Proust's novel stems from James's psychological and philosophical theories. William James was a prominent member of the scientific, medical, and philosophical communities in Proust's Paris and was close friends with two men well known to Proust. His works were translated into French and reviewed in French journals and newspapers. This book discloses how Proust likely became familiar with William James and illustrates how James's writings were key to Proust's ability to craft the book he had been trying to write, extending even to his use of similar language and imagery and a narrative schema that arguably mimics James's description's of consciousness, perception, and memory. Proust's hero assiduously explores the vague, uncertain relational aspects of experience, the trials and comforts of habit, the salvational potential of memory, and the "moral" aspects of personal history teeming: with impression and desire-these are the truths of human psychology and behavior theorized by William James and made fictional flesh in Proust's rendition of lived experience. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Seeing Proust in a new light

Text in context: points of contact and circles of acquaintance

The Jamesian stream and the Proustian art of consciousness

Parallels in the penumbra: tracking James's psychology in Proust's novel

From Jean to Je: experience in the first person singular

Patterns of palimpsest: James's theories and Proust's prose in the purview of neuro-cognitive science.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739181621

0739181629

OCLC:

857879033