Orienting the Reader: Literary Impressionism and the Case of Herman Bang
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(Dis)orienting the Reader: Literary Impressionism and the Case of Herman Bang By Monica Susana Hidalgo A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Scandinavian Languages and Literatures in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Karin L. Sanders, Chair Professor Mark B. Sandberg Professor Dorothy J. Hale Fall 2015 1 Abstract (Dis)orienting the Reader: Literary Impressionism and the Case of Herman Bang by Monica Susana Hidalgo Doctor of Philosophy in Scandinavian Languages and Literatures University of California, Berkeley Professor Karin L. Sanders, Chair This dissertation examines the ethical stakes of Herman Bang’s (1857–1912) literary impressionism using both his critical and fictional writings. Against previous scholarship, which argues that Bang’s impressionism was predominantly a nervous stylistic tendency, I contend that his impressionism variously implements a technique I call disorientation, which is in the service of an evolving ethical concern over character. Bang’s distinct employment of disorientation can be read as bearing in mind the reader in an aesthetic logic that recasts impressionism as an ethically concerned aesthetics of fiction. Understanding that Bang’s goal is to disorient the reader can account for the gaps, fissures, ambiguities, and strangeness in his work. He attempts to disorient by manipulating the narrative (e.g., via unusual narrative closure, violent literary language) such that perception is disrupted and made difficult or strange, jolting readers into a reconsideration of what they have just read. In this way, disorientation creates the possibility for a reader to be reoriented to the impression left behind by a character. In four chapters, I trace the ethical inflections within Bang’s writings. Chapter one outlines a historical and conceptual framework for apprehending literary impressionism, detailing how Bang’s emerging critical writings engage with an ethically concerned aesthetic logic. In chapter two, I compare Bang’s strategic use of the partial literary portrait in his unpublished “Manuskript til foredrag om Ivan Turgenjev” (ca. 1885, Manuscript for a lecture on Ivan Turgenev) with Henry James’s references to Turgenev both in “Ivan Turgénieff” (1884, 1888) and in his 1908 preface to The Portrait of a Lady. I argue that this comparison reveals Bang and James’s shared interest in a method of capturing and recording their impressions of characters by employing as a model the “literary portrait.” In chapter three, using “Irene Holm” (1886, 1890) and Ved Vejen (1886, By the wayside) as evidence, I look to Bang’s experimentation with disorientation in both the short story and the novel to demonstrate that he is wrangling with the tension between the need for formal closure and the need to preserve the integrity of the impression left by a character. Chapter four offers a close reading of Bang’s novella “Les quatre Diables” (1890, “The Four Devils”) where formal disorientation is taken to such an extreme that the language itself becomes violent. While the first two chapters are concerned with situating Bang’s impressionism as a method rooted in character, the last two chapters discuss specific instantiations of Bang’s use of disorientation. i Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... ii 1. Herman Bang and Literary Impressionism ................................................................................ 1 2. A Partial Portrait of an Author: Herman Bang and Henry James on Turgenev ...................... 33 3. Exit Character, Enter Impression: The Disorienting Finales of Herman Bang’s “Irene Holm” and Ved Vejen ................................................................................................... 58 4. “My God, the Poor Devils”: Performing Violence through Language in Herman Bang’s “Les quatre Diables” ................................................................................................................ 85 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................... 103 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 108 ii Acknowledgments Although my name is listed as the author, this work is the product of a collaboration among several people, each of whom have left their own memorable impression on this dissertation. For this reason, I would like to take this moment to thank those who have contributed to this project and supported my efforts throughout graduate school. My committee chair, Karin Sanders, first introduced me to Scandinavian literature when I was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley many years ago. My love of Danish literature was kindled after taking her inspiring class on Hans Christian Andersen, and I have been fortunate enough to have had Karin as my mentor throughout my graduate studies as well. Her gracious mentorship, scholarly finesse with Danish literature, and facility for interdisciplinary research have helped steer my dissertation in many creative directions. Her steadfast support of this dissertation throughout its various incarnations has been remarkable. She has tirelessly read draft upon draft of my work, always providing constructive feedback, patiently reviewing my translations, and advising me on how further to clarify my writing. Her guidance has been invaluable, and I feel honored to have had the opportunity to study under her tutelage. I am grateful to my second committee member, Mark Sandberg, for challenging me to further develop my arguments about the role of the reader in Bang’s vision of literary impressionism. His thoughtful comments and suggestions on various drafts of the dissertation really helped me develop and clarify my thinking. I especially appreciate his having taken the time to read my drafts during his sabbatical. Mark has generously given me feedback not only on my dissertation, but also on several other papers and talks, and they are always the better for it. I would also like to thank my third committee member, Dorothy Hale of the English Department, whose analytical acuity and profound level of knowledge have never failed to amaze me. I am grateful for her patience and willingness to help me wade through dozens of books and articles about Henry James and novel theory and for pointing me in constructive directions. Her expertise really showed in her incisive feedback on my drafts, and her scholarly brilliance and love of novel theory have been truly inspirational. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work with her. Many thanks to Pål Bjørby of University of Bergen, Peer E. Sørensen of Aarhus University, and Arne Lunde and Tim Tangherlini of UCLA for their willingness to discuss my work and give me feedback at various stages of the project. Additionally, I would like to thank Martin Ellfolk at Åbo Akademi Library for generously helping me locate and date “Manuskript til foredrag om Ivan Turgenjev.” I am grateful for the support I have received from UC Berkeley over the years, which has included the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship and the UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship. Also, I would also like to thank Scandinavian Studies for having given me permission to use a version of my article “‘My God, the Poor Devils’: Performing Violence through Language in ‘Les quatre Diables’” for this dissertation. My deepest thanks goes to my partner, Aaron Platt, without whom I could not have done this. His patience, many generous readings of my work, endless encouragement, and unwavering belief in me have helped keep up my morale and resolve throughout the arduous writing process of this dissertation. He will always be my favorite reader, comedian, and colleague, whose insight and wit continually orient me to the many beautiful and wonderful things in life. Lastly, I want to thank my daughter, Ilona. Her arrival into this world while I was writing this dissertation has been a blessing and a constant source of joy. 1 Chapter One Herman Bang and Literary Impressionism Man bliver Digter, ikke fordi man staar over sin Tid, men fordi man er et fuldt, levende Udtryk af den, fordi man har lidt med den, har kæmpet med den og har forstaaet den. —Herman Bang, Realisme og Realister (One becomes a writer, not because one is above one’s time, but because one is a full, living expression of it, because one has suffered with it, has struggled with it and has understood it.)1 Prologue In April 1968, the American Comparative Literature Association’s “Symposium on Literary Impressionism” (Benamou et al. 1968, 40) deliberated about whether literary impressionism, with its multiple, conflicting definitions and characterization as merely a nervous stylistic tendency, should be dropped from the literary lexicon. As Calvin Brown put it: “The time has come to fulfill [Brunetière’s prophecy] by dropping impressionism and impressionist from the musical and literary vocabulary. We have nothing to lose but confusion” (1968, 59).2 In Scandinavia, just three years prior, a similar concern regarding the definition and applicability of the term “impressionism” appeared in Torbjörn Nilsson’s (1965) Impressionisten Herman Bang. In that comprehensive study of the Danish literary impressionist Herman Bang (1857–1912), Nilsson contended that associating