Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- V Some major critics of the period
- 20 Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804–1869)
- 21 Hippolyte Taine (1828–1893)
- 22 Francesco De Sanctis (1817–1883)
- 23 Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
- 24 Henry James (1843–1916)
- 25 Georg Brandes (1842–1927)
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
24 - Henry James (1843–1916)
from V - Some major critics of the period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
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Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- V Some major critics of the period
- 20 Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804–1869)
- 21 Hippolyte Taine (1828–1893)
- 22 Francesco De Sanctis (1817–1883)
- 23 Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
- 24 Henry James (1843–1916)
- 25 Georg Brandes (1842–1927)
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
Summary
Born into a remarkable family, Henry James exhibited signs of precocity early on. In his autobiography, he chronicled his discovery, at the age of about eleven, that a hyperactive consciousness and restless curiosity such as his had a value that could be put to critical use. The 1880s were a particularly rich period in James's career as critic and novelist. In 1882 he was saluted by Howells as the chief exemplar among the new school of novelists who combine the psychological analysis of Charles Eliot Norton and Hawthorne with the formal demands of the French Realists. In the same year James wrote his fullest tribute to Sainte-Beuve, the French critic most adept at making his point of view an art of appreciation. James was original in his stress on the reader's active role in the literary process. In this respect he encouraged the very different rhetorics of fiction advocated by Wayne Booth and J. Hillis Miller.
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- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism , pp. 440 - 463Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013