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Henry James (1843-1916) was one of the most prolific American writers between the Civil War and World War I. In his fiction he traversed four literary historical styles: from sentimental writing through realism and naturalism to the modernist novel. Apart from his fiction, the (self-styled) "master" also contributed to literary theory, notably an early theory of point of view, which he also developed in his narratives from an authorial perspective to multiple forms of internal focalization. He became famous as a transatlantic writer (he lived most of his life in Europe) and prominently features the so-called "international theme" in his novels. However, in the last decades critics have also unearthed a plethora of other concerns such as gender, performance, race and homosexuality. In this seminar we will immerse ourselves in James's writings with an emphasis on the novels Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, the story "The Figure in the Carpet," the modernist novel The Wings of the Dove and his last, The Outcry (in this sequence). Students should bring to the seminar a motivation for sustained and difficult reading and a curiosity for possible approaches to James's oeuvre. Please start reading before the semester break is over!
Course requirements are active participation, 4 one-page responses to a text, a close reading of one passage in class and, as a module exam, a term paper with relation to one of the seminars in the module.
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