Title Henry Miller and narrative form : constructing the self, rejecting modernity / James M. Decker

Published New York : Routledge, 2005

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Description 1 online resource (182 pages) Series Context and genre in English literature Context and genre in English literature. Contents Introduction : spiral form -- Brooklyn dawn -- Parisian tempest -- Californian tranquility -- Conclusion : Henry Miller and the American literary tradition Summary Annotation In this bold study James M. Decker responds to the common charge that Henry Miller's narratives suffer from "formlessness." He instead positions Miller as a stylistic pioneer, whose place must be assured in the American literary canon. From Moloch to Nexus via such widely-read texts as Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Decker examines what Miller calls his "spiral form," a radically digressive style that shifts wildly between realism and the fantastic. Decker draws on a variety of narratological and critical sources, as well as Miller's own aesthetic theories, in order to argue that this fragmented narrative style formed part of a sustained critique of modern spiritual decay. A deliberate move rather than a compositional weakness, then, Miller's style finds a wide variety of antecedents in the work of such figures as Nietzsche, Rabelais, Joyce, Bergson and Whitman, and is seen by Decker as an attempt to chart the journey of the self through the modern city Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 156-176) and index Notes Print version record Subject Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 -- Literary style Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 -- Technique SUBJECT Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 fast Subject Narration (Rhetoric) -- History -- 20th century Literary form -- History -- 20th century Fantastic, The, in literature. Realism in literature. Self in literature. LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General. Fantastic, The, in literature Literary form Narration (Rhetoric) Realism in literature Self in literature Literary style Technique Genre/Form Electronic books History Form Electronic book ISBN 0203008367 9780203008362

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