Henry James in Context

by David McWhirter

Overview

Long misread as a novelist conspicuously lacking in historical consciousness, Henry James has often been viewed as detached from, and uninterested in, the social, political, and material realities of his time. As this volume demonstrates, however, James was acutely responsive not only to his era's changing attitudes toward gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity, but also to changing conditions of literary production and reception, the rise of consumerism and mass culture, and the emergence of new technologies and media, of new apprehensions of time and space. These essays portray the author and his works in the context of the modernity that determined, formed, interested, appalled, and/or provoked his always curious mind. With contributions from an international cast of distinguished scholars, Henry James in Context provides a map of leading edge work in contemporary James studies, an invaluable reference work for students and scholars, and a blueprint for possible future directions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521514613
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/16/2010
Series:	Literature in Context
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

David McWhirter is Associate Professor of English at Texas A & M University.

Table of Contents

Preface; Chronology Christopher Carmona; Part I. Life and Career, Times and Places: 1. Nineteenth-century America (1843–70) Andrew Taylor; 2. Nineteenth-century Europe (1843–1900) Millicent Bell; 3. Victorian England (1870–90) Priscilla L. Walton; 4. Fin-de-siècle London (1890–1900) Michael Levenson; 5. The twentieth-century world (1901–16) Martha Banta; 6. Autobiographies and biographies Sheila Teahan; 7. Letters and notebooks Philip Horne; 8. The James family Pierre A. Walker; Part II. Historical and Cultural Contexts: 9. Aestheticism and decadence Michèle Mendelssohn; 10. Authorship Richard Salmon; 11. Children Kevin Ohi; 12. Consumer culture Miranda El-Rayess; 13. Cosmopolitanism Jessica Berman; 14. Courtship, marriage, family Lynn Wardley; 15. Ethics Merle A. Williams; 16. Language Elsa Nettels; 17. Law Stuart Culver; 18. Manners Mary Ann O'Farrell; 19. Media and communication technologies Mark Goble; 20. Modernism Eric Haralson; 21. Money and class June Hee Chung; 22. Museums and exhibitions Tamara L. Follini; 23. Nationalism and imperialism John Carlos Rowe; 24. Print culture Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen; 25. Psychology Sarah Blackwood; 26. Race Kenneth W. Warren; 27. Realism and naturalism Phillip Barrish; 28. Sexualities and sexology Hugh Stevens; 29. Social sciences and the disciplines Wendy Graham; 30. Things Victoria Coulson; 31. Time Deidre Lynch; 32. Travel and tourism Roslyn Jolly; 33. Urbanity Eric Savoy; 34. Visual culture Kendall Johnson; 35. Women and men Donatella Izzo; 36. Work Rory Drummond; Part III. Reception: 37. Publishing history and contemporary reception Linda Simon; 38. Critical response, 1916–47 Michael Anesko; 39. Critical response, 1947–85 Jonathan Freedman; 40. Recent criticism (since 1985) Gert Buelens; 41. Translation and international reception Annick Duperray and Jeremy Tambling; Further reading; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Not only a sober, practical guide to the requirements of James studies in the twenty-first century, Henry James in Context also displays abundant examples of elegant writing, trenchant reading, and playful thinking.' Dennis Flannery, The Henry James Review

From the Publisher