Understanding "The Art of Fiction"

"The Art of Fiction"의 이해(理解)

The purpose of this thesis is to understand Henry Jame's theory of the novel and to clarify the importance of him as a theorist. He developed many literary techniques through his dozens of works. But it is more important that he is a theorist who established the unique theory of novel through his critical essays. I arranged Jame's early theories, focusing on "The Art of Fiction" that was one of his major essays written in 1884. His main idea was that the purpose of novel was to represent life. The "experience" that James emphasized was composed of characters, impression and consciousness. "Psychological Realism", which is Jame's unique realism, reflected his interests in the inner mind of man. James believed in the capacity of human imagination as the source of creative inspiration and its ability to perceive reality in a manner that is more intense and comprehensive and transform it into a more balanced and orderly ideality. Henry James always insisted on the importance of writer's imagination. Another important imagination in Henry Jame's novel is the character's imagination. It is closely related with the consciousness, the heart of the Jame's literary world. James devised the new form of novel as well as the possibility of representation of mind. At this point, it is said that James was the pioneer of literary criticism. He evoked the trend of the early 20th century.