The Concept of Culture in the Novels of Henry James INAUGURAL
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Concept of Culture in the Novels of Henry James INAUGURAL-DISSERTATION zur Erlangung des Grades einer Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. Phil.) dem Fachbereich fremdsprachliche Philologien der Philipps-Universität Marburg vorgelegt von Xiaohui Wang aus Fujian Master of Arts Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester 10. April 2018 09. July 2018 Marburg, 2018 Hochschulkennziffer: 1180 Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..ⅲ Introduction …………………………………………………………………………...4 1. James and Culture: A Theoretical Framework …………………………………….15 1.1. The Concept of Culture: A Brief Survey of Different Definitions and Usages...16 1.2. James’s Concept of Culture: A Transatlantic Perspective……………………..28 1.3. James’s Criticism of European and American Cultures……………………….39 2. The American: Cultural Differences and Conflicts………………………………...48 2.1. Pursuing “the Best”: From California to Paris………………………………..49 2.1.1. Superficial Acquisition and Profound Admiration….…………………..50 2.1.2. The Obstacles in the Pursuit of “the Best”…………………….…….….56 2.2. American Nouveaux Riches and French Aristocrats: Democracy vs. Hierarchy59 2.2.1. To Work or not to Work: Enterprise and Leisure………………………..59 2.2.2. Social Status: Flexible or Fixed…………………………………………62 2.3. Marriage: Personal Freedom vs. Familial Duty……………………………….68 2.3.1. Pursuit of Happiness…………………………………………………….68 2.3.2. “Name for Name, and Fortune for Fortune”……………………………..70 3. Daisy Miller: A Study of Manners………………………………………………….78 3.1. Manners and Morals: External Civility and Internal Cultivation………………79 3.1.1. Manners in America and Europe……………………………………...…80 3.1.2. Two Customs: Chaperonage and Flirting………………………………..82 3.2. Traveling Americans: “Vulgar, Vulgar, Vulgar”.................................................85 3.2.1. Uncultivated and Ungovernable…………………………………………85 3.2.2. Daisy Miller: Ignorant or Innocent...……………………………………89 3.3. Expatriate Americans: “Superstitious Valuation of Europe”………………….95 3.3.1. The American Colony in Europe: Snobbish Society……………………96 3.3.2. Europeanized Americans: Amphibious Attachments…………………..101 i 4. The Portrait of a Lady: Individual and Society …………………………………...107 4.1. Place, Culture, and Character: America, Britain, and Italy…………………..108 4.1.1. Albany: Isolation and Imagination……………………………………..108 4.1.2. Gardencourt: Nature and Civilization………………………………….112 4.1.3. Florence and Rome: Sophistication and Corruption……………………117 4.2. American and European Influences: Transcendentalism and Determinism….123 4.2.1. Individualism and Self-Reliance: Identity as Autonomous Self………..125 4.2.2. The Importance of Circumstances: Identity as Social Construction……131 4.3. The Choice of a Lady: Liberty and Duty…………………………………….137 4.3.1. The Needs for Independence and Free Play of Imagination……………138 4.3.2. The Quest for Perfection and Moral Integrity…………………………145 5. The Ambassadors: Becoming a Cosmopolitan …...................................................152 5.1. “The World of Grab” and “The World of Culture”……………………..……153 5.1.1. Unbridled Materialism in Woollett…………………………………….154 5.1.2. Seductive Metropolitanism in Paris……………………………………163 5.2. Disinterestedness and Provincialism…………………………………………169 5.2.1. Confronting Prejudice: Liberal Appreciation…………………………..170 5.2.2. Confirming Preconception: Narrow-Minded Judgment………………..177 5.3. (Un)attainable Cultural Ideal: Aesthetically Appealing and Morally Sound…182 5.3.1. “Spontaneity of Consciousness”: Beauty and Truth……………………185 5.3.2. “Strictness of Conscience”: Asceticism and Obedience……………….190 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..…………197 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...204 ii Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been completed were it not for the guidance, encouragement, and support from my advisor, fellow doctoral students, family, and friends to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle for her continuous instruction and support during my time as her student, for her prompt replies to my questions and queries about my study and related research, and for her insightful comments on and suggestions for every draft I sent her. Her knowledge and guidance helped me overcome difficulties and gave me inspiration. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my PhD study. Besides my advisor, my sincere appreciation goes to my second reader, Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester, who offered me valuable suggestions. I would also like to thank my fellow doctoral students in American Studies who gave me many useful feedbacks in our doctoral colloquiums, even though our research interests are quite different. I am very grateful for the funding of my PhD program from CSC (China Scholarship Council), the mentoring scholarship from the DAAD STIBET Doctoral Program, and the travel grants for participating in international conferences from MID (Marburg International Doctorate) and MARA (Marburg University Research Academy). I’m forever indebted to my parents for their unremitting love, support, and encouragement. Last but not least, many thanks go to my friends, especially Dorothea Wilke, Helmut Wilke, and Bettina Mohr, who helped me through hard times and made my life in Germany more enjoyable. iii Introduction Culture is a difficult term to pin down because of its different usages in different contexts. Since the nineteenth century, many critics from different disciplines have been employing it as an important tool of analysis. The critical project underlying the concept of culture in its nineteenth-century form has continued to frame the social analyses of a number of intellectuals in the twentieth century, even today. In the nineteenth century, America had been independent from Britain for over one hundred years; however, it was not easy for it to break from the previous colonial influence, especially the cultural legacy. After the Civil War, commerce and industry flourished in America. Therefore, how to find a way to structure an ideal culture under the pressure of European cultures and the erosion from commercial culture in America was a subject that American scholars or writers of that age had to consider and make efforts to cope with. At that time many American writers felt the need to define their own and their country’s relation to Europe. In Europe, as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, many noble families lost their economic power and were struggling to keep their properties and to go on living in the same pompous way of life. As a matter of fact, they despised the American nouveaux riches and the way they behaved when traveling in Europe. Therefore, the idea of Europe and America came to be shaped not only by native residents but also by visitors and expatriates on both sides of the Atlantic. Born at that age, dangling between Europe and America for many years, Henry James felt like his contemporary writers, as he writes in his letter to his friend, Charles Eliot Norton in 1872: “It’s a complex fate being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is fighting against a superstitious valuation of Europe” (Henry James Letters Vol. I: 274), which became a prophecy of his own career. James helped to fashion the myth of the American abroad and incorporated this myth in his novels with the “international theme,” of which he was the acknowledged master. His works frequently portray the encounter of America with Europe, juxtaposing characters from the Old World (Europe), embodying a feudal civilization that is beautiful, often corrupt, and alluring, and from the New World (the United States), where people are often 4 innocent, open, and assertive and embody the virtues, freedom and a more highly evolved moral character of the new American society. “His career reflects the transformation of American literature from an insular, isolated tradition founded in rebellious but dependent relation to its British progenitors to a cosmopolitan one connected to the broadest currents of modern thought of England and Europe” (Freedman 292). As a great figure in transatlantic culture, he expanded the range of formal and thematic possibility for both his contemporaries and his successors. The globalized world now is still characterized by cultural misunderstandings, disagreements, prejudices, and tensions, which altogether pose challenges for many people. Culture, contextually dependent, is not regarded as unchanging and identical for all individuals, but as an inherently dynamic process of interpretation or analysis. The aim of this study is to explore James’s concept of culture. To address the research aim, the specific research objectives are presented as follows: To examine the historical and cultural contexts of Europe and America in which James lived and worked; to inquire into the cultural conflicts and misunderstandings between European and American characters in James’s novels with the international theme; to map out the evolution of his concept of culture; and to unravel James’s attitude toward European and American cultures and his cultural ideal. Although living mostly in the nineteenth century, James foresaw the importance of the concept of culture, which is still heatedly discussed in modern society. He promoted tolerance, a recognition of similarities, and an acceptance of difference and explored how to reduce cultural conflicts, and the path of integration of different cultures, which still contributes to improving cross-cultural communication and harmonious development