Nonverbal Communication in the Novels and Plays of Henry James

FAIN: FB-13258-77

Patricia Marks
Valdosta State University (Valdosta, GA 31698-0100)

To study Henry James's masterly handling of the unspoken. The key to the Europeanization of James's American's is both their ability and willingness to learn new denotations for words, most commonly words relating to states of mind or of moral existence, and their ability to perceive unspoken connotations. Verbalization is thus a direct indicator of cultural diversity. The Jamesian character who can handle the spoken and unspoken becomes l'homme (or .la femme) du monde, a possessor of great power in that he can both name and define situations according to their true nature. With this insight he is often the central tragic figure in the classical sense.