Abstract

In my thesis I would like to explore Henry Jamess theory of fiction, focusing on his notion of consciousness and his different narrative techniques for representing fictional consciousness. There are several factors that make Henry James an intriguing writer and an outstanding critic. Firstly, his actively productive period was from the 1860s to 1914; the turn of the century brought about many changes, such as the idea of relativization, which ultimately triggered the movement towards Modernism. I would like to explore this notion of relativization and show how James wove it into the very fabric of his novels. Secondly, he is not only considered to be the forerunner of Modernist fiction, but is also the advocate of the notion that the novel is a form of art in its own right, and that novels can be just as important as poetry or drama. James proved his dedication towards novels in his essays, such as The Art of Fiction or The Future of the Novel, and in the prefaces to his novels. The first section of my thesis focuses on Jamess life and how his personal experience shaped his basic theory on life, experience, impression and imagination in connection with writing fiction. The second section explores Jamess views on the connection between the subject and form, and introduces the organic notion. The third section takes the organic notion one step further by showing how and why characters became the germs of Jamess stories. In addition, it also explores what James considered a successful portrayal of characters. The fourth section introduces the notion of the Jamesian centre and analyses the connection between organic form, characters, centre of interest and point of view. Thus having sketched Jamess theoretical framework on his theory of fiction, the last section sets out to explore the different narrative techniques James employed in order to bring his centre of interests to life.

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Introduction
Almost a year after the war broke out between the Allied Forces and the Central Powers in August 1914, a battle was fought between Henry James and H. G. Wells on the literary front (Wiesenfarth 55). This was the opening sentence of Joseph Wiesenfarths essay, The Art of Fiction and The Art of War. Indeed, James was at war with several critics and writers of his time. He fought with Walter Besant, for instance, in The Art of Fiction, over the artistic value of the novel (Rawlings 25). His sharp words did not spare friend or foe. About his friend, the author William Dean Howells, James once wrote, he hates a story ... and has probably made up his mind very definitely as to what the pestilent thing consists of (qtd. in Miller 160). He also criticised Dickens, George Eliot and Anthony Trollope among others. His affectionately quarrelsome friendship (Wiesenfarth 55) with Wells ended when James received Wells newest book that satirized him and parodied his work (55). While James argued that Wells showed no artistry in his storytelling, Wells considered James the culmination of the superficial type novelist who shows more interest in form than content (56). Jamess legacy also provoked strong reaction from the succeeding critics. Whereas Richard P. Blackmur marvels that the Prefaces were the most sustained and I think the most eloquent piece of literary criticism in existence (Blackmur viii), D. D. Todd claimed that, in any respectable sense, there is no Jamesian theory of fiction (qtd. in Alvarez, Henry Jamess Organic Form 1). James E. Miller Jr. observed that James remained remarkabl y consistent in his views from the beginning to the end of his career. On the other hand Jos Antonio Alvarez Amors claims that, it is problematical to extract from Jamess works something that could pass for a cohesive and global theory (Alvarez 1). It is true, however, that James is among the most widely cited theorists of fiction (ATM). Many critics tried to reconstruct his theory based on his critical essays and prefaces, yet their aim to create a synthesis of them only distorted the Jamesian thoughts or resulted in contradictory theories (Alvarez 1). In my thesis I would like to explore the different aspects of Jamess notion of fiction. Therefore, in my attempt to remain true to the Jamesian theory, I am going to follow Alvarezs advice: only one way seems to open and that is to focus on specific aspects of his critical reflections (1). As a result, my thesis consists of five sections intended to explore several key concepts of Jamess works. The first section focuses on life, art, experience, impressions and the role of imagination. The second section focuses on the connection between subject and form,
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namely unity, economy and organic form. The third section explores the Jamesian characters and their role in his theory of fiction. The fourth section carries out an attentive exploration of the concept of centre in Jamess works. Finally, the last section deals with Jamess different narrative techniques to present his centres or in other words focalizers. Apart from his novels, I used two anthologies of Jamess writings: Blackmurs The Art of Fiction, which is the collection of Jamess Prefaces. The other main source is Millers Theory of Fiction, which is the most splendid collection of Jamess utterances of his art - scattered through his vast body of work (Miller, back cover). Miller collected and organized Jamess works and divided them into different categories, such as character, style or culture. He also added an introduction, written by him, to every chapter. I used this anthology primarily throughout my thesis. Apart from the anthologies I tried to use recent critical studies about James. I read several essays from Alvarez, who holds the Chair of English Literature at the University of Alicante. All of his studies that I cited are available online. The other significant critic whose work provided me with greater insight is Andr Marshall. His book, The Turn of the Mind: Constituting Consciousness in Henry James gave me the idea for the last section of my thesis.

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