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Binghamton University

The functions of language in the early tales of Henry James: 1864-1872

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>In the following essays, I attempt to examine the nineteen earliest tales of Henry James as artistic experiments in the manipulation of language. Accordingly, my work represents a creative, rather than a scholarly treatment of the subject, an approach particularly warranted by the paucity of imaginative critical effort expended on these stories up to the present. A comprehensive cross section of what has been written by others, however, is summarized in an extended footnote on the initial pages of each critique, with full references to the sources documented in the bibliography. Hopefully, this concise method of annotation will serve several purposes: first, to direct readers efficiently to as wide as possible a variety of divergent interpretations of the tales; second, to illustrate how lightly certain stories have been touched upon by critics. Most importantly, though, it may help to clarify the choice of the term "language" as the pivot of my dissertation topic, by distinguishing what I attempt in my paper from discussions of the tales as biography, or as rude prototypes——-in theme and/or character-—-of James's later fiction.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
English, General Literature, and Rhetoric
Year
1973

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Yarina, Margaret Anne
Contributors dc:contributor
  • William B. Stein
  • Mario A. Di Cesare
  • Sheldon M. Grebstein

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:orb.binghamton.edu:dissertation_and_theses-1221

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Binghamton University
Base URL
orb.binghamton.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Yarina, Margaret Anne. The functions of language in the early tales of Henry James: 1864-1872. Dissertation thesis, 1973. https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/215