Henry James

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 444.

Artistic Fiction

· From the beginning of 20^th century

· All artistic creativity is like religious creativity

· Not only the content, message, but also form was important

· Idea that fiction can be art- was controversial for 19^th century people (fiction is sth everybody used, no art; only poetry & drama [from Renaissance] are art)

Henry James and Joseph Conrad – founding fathers of 20^th century British novel

· Called “The Master”

· A Victorian man

· Son of prosperous preachers, he studied mostly at home, travelled a lot, studied law for 2 years

· 1870s- he emigrated to Paris and lived there for a year

· He met a lot of literary critics

· He wrote a pamphlet/essay “The Art of Fiction” – about the theory, you have to think how to construct a novel in a conscious way

· Novel not a ready product but a joined work. The reader has to cooperate/work/think while reading.

· Novel – demanding, ambitious

· It should be more painful and time consuming

How you write a novel:

· Point of view – you always have it, as an observer, as an main character?

o “What Maisie Knew” – little girl, her point of view, her parents wants to divorce, she doesn't know what's going on but she senses a lot and describes it from her viewpoint

o Message is affected by the point of view, technical things

o The reader has to find his own conclusion