Henry Miller and Narrative Form. Constructing the self, rejecting modernity.pdf

Henry Miller and Narrative Form

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.

Henry Miller and Narrative Form provides readers with new insight into some of the

most challenging writings of the twentieth century and a template for under-

standing the significance of an extraordinary, inventive, narrative form.

James M. Decker is Associate Professor of English at Illinois Central College,

where he teaches a range of literature and writing courses. He is the author of

Ideology (2003) and Editor of Nexus: The International Henry Miller Journal.

Context and Genre in English Literature

Series Editors

Peter J. Kitson

Department of English, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

William Baker

Department of English, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA

The aim of the Context and Genre in English Literature series is to place bodies of prose,

poetry, and drama in their historical, literary, intellectual, or generic contexts. It

seeks to present new work and scholarship in a way that is informed by contempo-

rary debates in literary criticism and current methodological practices.

The various contextual approaches reflect the great diversity of the books in the

series. Three leading categories of approach may be discerned. The first category,

consisting of historical and philological approaches, covers subjects that range

from marginal glosses in medieval manuscripts to the interaction between folklore

and literature. The second category, of cultural and theoretical approaches, covers

subjects as diverse as changing perceptions of childhood as a background to child-

ren’s literature on the one hand and queer theory and translation studies on the

other. Finally, the third category consists of single-author studies informed by

contextual approaches from either one of the first two categories.

Context and Genre in English Literature covers a diverse body of writing, ranging over

a substantial historical span and featuring widely divergent approaches from

current and innovative scholars; it features criticism of writing in English from

different cultures; and it covers both canonical literature and emerging and new

literatures. Thus, the series aims to make a distinctive and substantial impact on the

field of literary studies.

Other titles in this series include:

Ted Hughes

Alternative horizons

Edited by Joanny Moulin

George Eliot’s English Travels

Composite characters and coded communications

Kathleen McCormack

Henry Miller

and Narrative Form

Constructing the self, rejecting modernity

James M. Decker

First published 2005

by Taylor & Francis Inc.

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Simultaneously published in the UK

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s

collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now

known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in

any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Decker, James M., 1967–

Henry Miller and narrative form : constructing the self, rejecting

modernity/James M. Decker.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Miller, Henry, 1891– Literary style. 2. Narration (Rhetoric)–

History–20th century. 3. Literary form–History–20th century.

4. Miller, Henry, 1891– Technique. 5. Fantastic, The, in literature.

6. Realism in literature. 7. Self in literature. I. Title.

PS3525.I5454Z6597 2005

818'.5209–dc22

2005017533

ISBN 0-415-36026-9 (Print Edition)

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