James/Proust

A reading-intensive, comparative study of two of the great novelists of consciousness, who by renouncing omniscient narration developed idiosyncratic styles and influential techniques through which to chart the shapes, and limits, of subjectivity. Their peculiar transitional status in the history of the novel, departing from realism and naturalism and prefiguring modernist difficulty, will be the basis of our comparison; we will also explore themes common to each, such as memory, childhood, sexuality. Our reading will include two novels and some select stories by James, as well as representative portions of Proust’s Recherche. Class to be conducted in English.