Henry James and Deep Intersubjectivity

Despite the successes of earlier phenomenological studies of James, more remains to be said about James's constructions of human consciousness, especially human consciousnesses. This study of the narrative practice in James of deep intersubjectivity (orbits of perceptions of perceptions perceived) focuses on the textual knot of looking at looking observed, and explores some characteristic features, themes, and narratological implications for narrative authority and free indirect discourse. Paradigmatic scenes come from The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl. The essay's theoretical framework derives from the French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty.