亨利

HENRY JAMES(1843 - 1916)亨利·詹姆斯美国（英籍）十九世纪末作家伟大的心理小说创始人，意识流小说的先驱。

主要作品是小说，此外也写了许多文学评论、游记、传记和剧本。

代表作品有《一个美国人》《贵妇人的画像》《金碗》《黛西·密勒》等。

Henry James, OM (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916)An American-born British author.He is one of the founders and leaders of a school of realism in fiction; the fine art of his writing has led many academics to consider him the greatest master of the novel and novella form. He spent much of his life in England and became a British subject shortly before his death. He is primarily known for a series of major novels in which he portrayed the encounter of America with Europe.His plots centered on personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions.His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allowed him to explore the phenomena of consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting.From: /group/HenryJames/1. a wealthy cultured familyfather-- an eminent philosopher and reformer, brother--a famous philosopher and psychologist2.the cultural influence of EuropeIn the Harvard Law School, he read French novelists and critics,He toured England, France and Italy, and met Flaubert and Turgenev. He settled down in London in 1876. In 1915 he became a British citizen.PERSONAL INFORMATION•Henry James was born in New York in 1843.•He belonged to a rich family who could afford the private tutors and governesses that educated him, but he was above all a “devourer of books”.•He was the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James.•At the age of twenty-five he was recognized as the best short story writer in America.•He never married.•For many years he alternated visits to England, France and Italy to stays in the USA.•In 1875 he decided that Europe was his ideal home and settled in Paris, where he met Flaubert and Maupassant.•Then he went to England where the most well-known writers of the period, such as Conrad and Kipling, accepted him as a friend and appreciated his books.•In 1915 he became British subject. He died in London in 1916 and was buried in Massachusetts.In 1976 his ashes were removed to Poets’ corner in Westminster Abbe .•The author and his time•He never took part in public affairs or showed much interest in the economic and social changes of the period.•He was deeply interested in the contrast between the old world and the new one, between the European way of life, which he considered fascinating, sophisticated, rich in culture andtradition but corrupting, and the American one which he considered too rigid, Puritan butinnocent.Literary career: three stages• a. 1865~1882: international theme•The American《美国人》Daisy Miller 《黛西米勒》The Portrait of a Lady 《贵妇画像• b. 1882~1895: inter-personal relationships and some plays•The novels and plays were poorly received but he got a better knowledge of literary techniques.• c. 1895~1900: novels and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international theme•The Turn of the Screw《螺丝在拧紧》What Maisie Knew 《梅西所知道的》The Ambassadors 《奉使记》The Wings of the Dove 《鸽翼》The Golden Bowl 《金碗》•James changed the method of presentation in a novel, shifting the centre of gravity from action to its intellectual and fantastic aspects: external circumstances lose significance before theinward events that take place in a soul.•James eliminates the author and gives the reader the illusion of being present at the scene of action.•He presents events and the minds of the characters directly, without comments or explanations: Dramatize, only dramatize, is his lesson.•his fame rests upon his novels with James’s international theme.•novelsare set against a large international background, usually between Europe and America•focus on the confrontation of the two different cultures with two different groups of people representing two different value systemsJames’s literary criticism(文学评论)The Art of Fiction” 《小说的艺术》the aim of the novel is to present lifethe artist should write about anything that concerns him, even the ugly and the commonplaceArt must be related to life The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent life"James’s literary techniquespoint of view” 视角 Explain the situation and character through one or several mindsreaders observe events and people through the consciousness of characters and participate in their experiencepsychological analysisemphasizes the inner awareness and inward movement of characters the forerunner of "stream-of-consciousness" novelsthe founder of psychological realismStyle –“stylist”a. over-elaborate styleb. Language: highly-refined, polished, (文雅) insightful, accuratec. Construction: complicated, intricateare not the liking of the common readers•美国的亨利·詹姆斯是真正处于临界点的小说家。