Abstract
Moments of collective experiences throughout Henry James’s autobiographies revolve around the physical experiences, the sights, sounds, smells, and touch of the theatres, dance halls, and family gatherings, and it is these physical senses that create a unified sense of identity – the sense of being a Jamesian American. Through language, James creates these spaces and envelopes our own senses in order to invite readers into his world and the world of his sense of American collective identity. Yet, at the onset of WWI, writing fiction became difficult for James, and he once again turned to writing non-fiction in the form of essays concerning the war effort. Here, language was intended to create a sense of unity against the enemy in order to increase support and persuade his native Americans to join the fight. My study compares the linguistic register utilized in each set of non-fiction works to demonstrate James’s understanding of how language creates a sense of self as both an individual and a collective construct that is in a constant state of becoming. By examining the tension between the communal and the individual, belonging and isolation, this study shows James’s attempt to create communal experiences in crisis that transgress borders and form a collective identity along a linguistic register.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Communications and Linguistic Studies
KEYWORDS
Collective Memory; Lyrical Language; Collective Identity
