The Relationship Of Henry James's Prefaces To The Texts

In this thesis, I firstly make a general survey of the genre of the preface as well as its prevalent features, arguing that it is, above all, an occasion in which the writer addresses a specific audience and thereby establishes his authorial voice. Meanwhile some authors will take this opportunity to establish his authoritative voice so as to influence reader's response to his texts.The first chapter is main in examination of the strange literary prefaces of Henry James to his New York Edition works, in which I will show that James's prefaces are not transparent guides to his process of composition, but his way of directing readers how to correctly read all literary works (not just his own works), thus establishing literary criteria for readers and his followers.The next three chapters focus on the relationship of James's prefaces to his texts. The second chapter defines that these particular prefaces, James believes, will best serve an opportunity to influence the reader's reception of his texts. I pay particular attention to the Prefaces to The Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors, concluding that, different from prefaces in general, James's Prefaces are a special kind of literary genre, which is vindicating against misreading. It focuses on the various means James uses to direct reading of the main text and on the success of James's attempts.The third chapter analyzes the apparent conflict between James's preface and his text in The Portrait of A Lady, in which the narrative method in the text conflicts his statements in the preface. Instead of directing readers to make a common response to his works, James leave readers enough freedom to make their own judgments.The final chapter attempts to find a reasonable explanation for the relationship between James's prefaces to his texts. A double reading method is introduced to demonstrate that James's strange prefaces require reader's open attitude because James himself never draws a frame for his works and he is open to reader's participation in appreciation of his works while he tries to voice his aesthetic principles for reading his works in his prefaces.My conclusion is that James's particular prefaces have innate flexibility. Theyseem to establish the writer's authority at the beginning, thus framing readers' responses to his texts. But the prefaces also leave the readers enough room for their own reactions to the texts. As a great novelist and critic, Henry James demonstrates his great brilliance in creating the art of novels.