© 2015 Amanda J. Kotch ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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© 2015 Amanda J. Kotch ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE EMBARRASSMENT OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY: FORM AND AFFECT FROM DICKENS TO WOOLF By AMANDA J. KOTCH A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in English Written under the direction of Kate Flint and Jonah Siegel and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Embarrassment of Literary Biography: Form and Affect from Dickens to Woolf By AMANDA J. KOTCH Dissertation Directors: Kate Flint and Jonah Siegel This dissertation argues that the embarrassments associated with literary biography in the nineteenth century should be understood as productive confrontations between affect and analysis. By definition, "embarrassment" can refer to the uncomfortable self-exposure one experiences from unanticipated social interactions, but it can also refer to the kind of confusion and perplexity that obscures meaning. I examine intellectually generative relationships in late nineteenth-century biographical writing— including those between friends, critics, readers, and admirers—to show how these relationships inform twentieth-century theories of authorship that otherwise reject biography for its potentially embarrassing combination of commemoration and criticism. In the first chapter, I explore how in the Life of Charles Dickens, John Forster transforms the definitive moment of embarrassment in the novelist's life—the period in which the young Dickens worked in a factory to support his family—into evidence for the critical claim that Dickens's novels draw on personal circumstances to move beyond the individual life as a model for fiction. Chapter two situates the embarrassing relationship between biography and realist fiction in the literary culture of the late ii nineteenth century. I argue that the writings of George Gissing suggest how novelists critical of biography as a moneymaking venture might make exceptions to convert their biographical work into cultural capital. Whereas the first two chapters focus on the use of biography to evaluate fictional representations of real life, the second half of the project turns from social and cultural forms of embarrassment towards the critical and interpretive embarrassments that concern the literary artist. Chapter three examines how the 1895 trials of Oscar Wilde perpetuate the idea of biography as consisting of what I call "debased intentionalism." The fourth chapter analyzes early twentieth century studies of biography that seek to define its relationship to aesthetic form; I argue that these studies propose ways in which biography can adapt to an increasingly specialized culture of knowledge. My dissertation demonstrates how the creative negotiations of embarrassment in late nineteenth-century biographical writing continue to shape reading practices that are marked by the affective tension between literary lives and literary interpretation, within and outside of institutions. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I was applying to graduate school, I was told by the department chair of my undergraduate institution, whose advice on my personal statement I had sought: "You should consider that you are interested in a topic that no one studies anymore." I have written a dissertation on that topic. I am glad to have been able to do it at Rutgers; sometimes I wonder if I would have been able to do it anywhere else. Regardless, I now have the pleasure of acknowledging the individuals who have collectively made the project possible in myriad ways. I am grateful to the Mellon Foundation for a year of support that allowed me to make significant progress towards the completion of this dissertation. Kate Flint and Jonah Siegel have complemented each other as co-advisors, from giving me free rein to explore my options at its inception, to providing firm guidance when it imploded, to letting me declare it finished, for the moment, with confidence. I thank Kate for her pragmatism and her curiosity; both of these qualities helped me forge ahead during many moments of uncertainty. Jonah will be pleased to know that I already have my quote from him for the ages, a remark he included on one of my course evaluations, long before this project began: "I even enjoy her faults; nonetheless, I must address them." While I don't imagine that all of my faults have been equally enjoyable, I am convinced that this is the reason we continued to work together, and I am a better writer and thinker for the experience. I am glad to have worked with each member of the department's group of Victorian faculty at various points throughout my graduate career. Thanks to John Kucich and Carolyn Williams for our conversations leading up to the qualifying exam. iv David Kurnick has my appreciation for agreeing to read this project after my misadventures with George Eliot during coursework, and for providing a model of undergraduate teaching. Dianne Sadoff gave an earlier version of the abstract her careful and precise attention. I wish to extend a special thanks to Alison Booth for her comments as outside reader. The Wilde chapter benefitted from a workshop hosted by the Rutgers Nineteenth Century Group, and Andrew Goldstone's generous comments. A portion of Chapter two is forthcoming in Studies in English Literature. I thank the editorial board and the anonymous readers for their comments and suggestions. It is a great feat to make me feel as though I have nothing to worry about, but Cheryl Robinson & Courtney Borack have made that feeling possible at every stage of the program. Thank you, Cheryl and Courtney, for your compassion and comic relief. I owe so much to Barry Qualls, for the practical and personal support he has given me, and for the sheer delight of his energy and enthusiasm. I can only hope to realize the celebrated role that he has conferred upon me so effusively during our teaching experiences together, and I feel very fortunate to have had his example. Ann Jurecic offered me invaluable insight and assistance, including a renewed faith in creativity, at a late stage in this process. Over the years, I have benefitted from the trustworthy companionship, scathing wit, intellectual stimulation and positive encouragement (not necessarily in that order) of Sarah Sheridan, Josh Crandall, Greg Ellermann, Naomi Levine, Anne Terrill, Mimi Winick, Sarah Balkin, Brian Pietras, and Vivian Kao. v For our many years of devoted friendship, and for their own examples of perseverance, I thank Poppy (Amanda Farah Cox) and Steven Aracic Del Corso. Steve Hopkins has weathered the ups and downs of my intellectual journey with indefatigable patience and love. To my family: thank you for never imagining I'd do anything else. My parents, Jerry and Carol Kotch, have supported me willingly and lovingly through many years of education, and have been my greatest champions. A great many of my visits to authors' homes and haunts have been with them. My sister, Alison, has been a buffer and a well of positivity. And not forgetting, of course, Effie, my beautiful Pre-Raphaelite cat, who keeps simple joys always within reach. vi CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Illustrations viii Introduction 1 Chapter One Biography's "Proper Place": Character and Fiction in Forster's Life of Dickens 34 Chapter Two George Gissing and the Fictional Work of Biography 85 Chapter Three Narrating Narcissus: Oscar Wilde, Biography, and Debased Intentionalism 123 Chapter Four How Should One Read a Biography? The Critic and the Common Reader 176 Bibliography 219 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 45 Robert William Buss, "Dickens's Dream" (1875) Charles Dickens Museum, London Figure 2 46 Charles Dickens as His Characters Date Unknown, Reprinted in Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens, Illustrated Edition, ed. Holly Furneaux (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2011) Figure 3 47 Jacket Design for The Life of Charles Dickens, Illustrated Edition viii 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation is concerned with the awkward self-consciousness biography can engender in its writers, readers, and subjects. It argues that the attitudes and responses to biography over the course of the nineteenth century—the ways biography was simultaneously celebrated and devalued, regarded both as an imaginative force and a sign of creative inhibition—inform the ongoing discussion about affective experiences of reading. In the chapters that follow, I discuss literary biographies, fictionalized aspects of authors' biographies in novels, and critical essays that address biography as a form. I draw on these various forms of biographical writing to distinguish the array of roles biography made it possible to sustain. The roles of friend, critic, and admirer seldom overlap comfortably in contemporary literary criticism; critics may reference the author's life for historical purposes, but the life otherwise represents a limited interpretive approach premised on the author's intentions and affective disposition. The late nineteenth and early-twentieth century texts addressed in this dissertation anticipate the kind of limitation associated with biography in contemporary literary studies, while they also imagine ways of moving past it. I situate embarrassment as the salient feature of these biographical texts to illustrate how the various affective roles they encompass work together,