The "Cosmopolite" and Cosmopolitanization: The Tragic Vision in Selected Early Fiction of Henry James

Abstract

Henry James was the first to recognize the possibility of generating a fiction treating the encounter of youthful America with sophisticated Europe, which he called the "international situation." America in the late 1800s was a young nation without a satisfying cultural and intellectual history. An American who had just acquired wealth and leisure found few intellectual challenges and stimulating cultural events for his entertainment. Imagining that America was culturally bankrupt, he left for Europe seeking new insight and experience.