Henry James and the father question / Andrew Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Andrew, 1968- author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; 129.

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; 129

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Philosophy.

James, Henry.

James, Henry, 1811-1882--Influence.

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Family.

James, Henry, 1811-1882--Family.

Fathers and sons--United States.

Fathers and sons.

Fathers and sons in literature.

Father figures in literature.

Autobiography in literature.

Philosophy in literature.

Fathers in literature.

Self in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 234 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Henry James & the Father Question

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The intellectual relationship between Henry James and his father, who was a philosopher and theologian, proved to be an influential resource for the novelist. Andrew Taylor explores how James's writing responds to James Senior's epistemological, thematic and narrative concerns, and relocates these concerns in a more secularised and cosmopolitan cultural milieu. Taylor examines the nature of both men's engagement with autobiographical strategies, issues of gender reform, and the language of religion. He argues for a reading of Henry James that is informed by an awareness of paternal inheritance. Taylor's study reveals the complex and at times antagonistic dialogue between the elder James and his peers, particularly Emerson and Whitman, in the vanguard of mid nineteenth-century American Romanticism. Through close readings of a wide range of novels and texts, he demonstrates how this dialogue anticipates James's own theories of fiction and selfhood.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Series-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Note on the text and brief titles; Introduction The nature of inheritance; 1 Autobiography and the writing of significance; 2 Reading the man without a handle : Emerson and the construction of a partial portrait; 3 Under certain circumstances : Jamesian reflections on the fall; 4 Doing public justice : New England reform and The Bostonians; 5 Breaking the mould; Conclusion The imminence of a transformation scene; Notes; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-226) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-12445-X

0-521-12071-3

0-511-48568-9

0-511-11984-4

0-511-30426-9

0-511-15683-9

0-511-04439-9

1-280-15497-7

OCLC:

437063403