창작과 비평 사이―Henry James의 Hawthorne론을 중심으로

Abstract

Henry James’s Criticism on HawthorneHahm, YeonjinThis study attempts to show that James frequently referred to Hawthorne in forming his own idea of fiction and eventually entered into a complex relationship with him in criticism as well as in writing. James’s relationship to Hawthorne was complex and many-sided and involved both close kinship and disavowal. James personally produced a great number of critical essays on Hawthorne during his own literary career. From early James’s formative period, Hawthorne’s influence on him formed such a steady pattern that it practically overshadowed any other single source or sources of influence.In Hawthorne, James’s critical biography on Hawthorne, he repeatedly pointed out that Hawthorne was a provincial writer even though he was the genius of a man of a fancy. Hawthorne revealed where James was in his career when he had written the book: he became established as a realist with an international outlook, and he needed to challenge Hawthorne and his ‘little’ world. In his critical biography he ‘corrected’ Hawthorne, as he had corrected in his fiction.After Hawthorne James continued to write tremendous essays on his predecessor. Later in his life, James frankly told that Hawthorne was one of those happy men of letters and clearly felt much closer to Hawthorne. In conclusion, through his career, James had tried to estimate Hawthorne’s greatness. James was Hawthorne’s lineal heir while remaining his unceasing critic and emulator.