ヘンリー・ジェイムズのアメリカ観(4)

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This paper traces the passage by which Henry James reaches his revaluation of American cullture, which is shown in his essays "American Letters" serialized in Literature from March 26 to July 9, 1898. The focus is put on the period after his return from Italy in 1887. Being tired of the social round in London, he seeks to settle down to work, while he shows an anxiety about his future as a novelist because the sale of his books was not favorable. He had a popularity for "international" fiction at the early stage, but he comes to feel it is trifling and pedantic to insist on the difference between the nations. He searches his way in dealing with England in his fiction, but the prospect of the English market is not promising. Thus he pursues financial stability as well as fame in theatricals: he devotes himself in writing plays from 1890 to 1895, which results in miserable failure. He puts the blame for the failure on the vulgar English public and the theatrical world as a whole, although his own creative attitude is also questionable. His struggle with the English theatrical world changes his view of English culture, which leads him in the direction of revaluating American writers who reveal Americanness through their writings. Most of all, he revaluates Hawthorne for his sense of the romance of New England.
恵泉女学園大学の論文