The Challenge of Bewilderment

Understanding and Representation in James, Conrad, and Ford

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, American
Cover of the book The Challenge of Bewilderment by Paul B. Armstrong, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Paul B. Armstrong ISBN: 9781501722738
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: March 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Paul B. Armstrong
ISBN: 9781501722738
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: March 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

The Challenge of Bewilderment treats the epistemology of representation in major works by Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Ford Madox Ford, attempting to explain how the novel turned away from its traditional concern with realistic representation and toward self-consciousness about the relation between knowing and narration. Paul B. Armstrong here addresses the pivotal thematic experience of "bewilderment," an experience that challenges the reader’s very sense of reality and that shows it to have no more certainty or stability than an interpretative construct.

Through readings of The Sacred Fount and The Ambassadors by James, Lord Jim and Nostromo by Conrad, and The Good Soldier and Parade’s End by Ford, Armstrong examines how each writer dramatizes his understanding of the act of knowing. Armstrong demonstrates how the novelists’ attitudes toward the process of knowing inform experiments with representation, through which they thematize the relation between the understanding of a fictional world and everyday habits of perception. Finally, he considers how these experiments with the strategies of narration produce a heightened awareness of the process of interpretation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Challenge of Bewilderment treats the epistemology of representation in major works by Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Ford Madox Ford, attempting to explain how the novel turned away from its traditional concern with realistic representation and toward self-consciousness about the relation between knowing and narration. Paul B. Armstrong here addresses the pivotal thematic experience of "bewilderment," an experience that challenges the reader’s very sense of reality and that shows it to have no more certainty or stability than an interpretative construct.

Through readings of The Sacred Fount and The Ambassadors by James, Lord Jim and Nostromo by Conrad, and The Good Soldier and Parade’s End by Ford, Armstrong examines how each writer dramatizes his understanding of the act of knowing. Armstrong demonstrates how the novelists’ attitudes toward the process of knowing inform experiments with representation, through which they thematize the relation between the understanding of a fictional world and everyday habits of perception. Finally, he considers how these experiments with the strategies of narration produce a heightened awareness of the process of interpretation.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book A World of Work by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book The Brown Recluse Spider by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Madame Bovary on Trial by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book They Will Have Their Game by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book In Uncertain Times by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Love's Wounds by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Secession and Security by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book New Policies for New Residents by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Kodiak Kreol by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Echoes of Desire by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book "Getting By" by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Outsourcing War by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book Imperial Eclipse by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book John Dewey and American Democracy by Paul B. Armstrong
Cover of the book New Labor in New York by Paul B. Armstrong
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy