Henri Bergson and British Modernism While the influence of French philosopher Henri Bergson on mod- ernism has long been debated, this is the first thorough, current examination of the ways in which his ideas are manifest in British modernism. Mary Ann Gillies shows that he played a central role in the development of British literary modernism. Focusing on the work of T.E. Hulme, the Men of 1914, the Blooms- bury Group, T.S. Eliot, and John Middleton Murry, Gillies convinc- ingly demonstrates that Bergson's theories underlie the literary aesthetics of the period that forms the intellectual basis of modern literature. She then turns her critical eye to five major modernist writers - Eliot, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, and Joseph Conrad - and provides insightful and detailed Bergsonian readings of their major works. Drawing on material not previously available, Gillies persuasively argues that Bergson was a major intellectual force in British literature during the first thirty years of the twentieth century. MARY ANN GILLIES is assistant professor of English, Simon Fraser University. This page intentionally left blank Henri Bergson and British Modernism MARY ANN GILLIES McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo © McGill-Queen's University Press 1 ISBN 0-7735-1427-9 Legal deposit third quarter 1996 Bibliotheque Rationale du Quebec Printed in the United States on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from Simon Fraser University. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Gillies, Mary Ann, 1959- Henri Bergson and British modernism Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-1427-9 1. Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941 - Influence. 2. Modernism (Literature) - Great Britain. 3. English literature - 20th century - History and criticism. I. Title. PR83O.B47G541996 820.9'! 096-900332-3 This book was typeset by Typo Litho Composition Inc. in 10/12 Palatino For my mother This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction 3 1 Henri Bergson: Antecedents, Philosophy, and Context 8 2 Bergson and British Culture 28 3 Charting Bergson's Theories of a Modernist Aesthetics 39 4 T.S. Eliot: The Poet 78 5 Virginia Woolf: Bergsonian Experiments in Representation and Consciousness 107 6 James Joyce: Fiction as the Flux of Experience 132 7 Dorothy Richardson: The Subjective Experience of Time 151 8 Joseph Conrad: Bergsonian Ideas of Memory and Comedy 166 Conclusion 186 Notes 189 Bibliography 201 Index 209 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments During my decade of work on Henri Bergson and British Modernism, I have incurred a number of significant debts. As a doctoral student, I received grants from the Rhodes Trust (Rhodes Scholarship) and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Doctoral Fellowship). This book is a sub- stantially revised version of my dissertation, which was supervised by Lord Quinton. Simon Eraser University's University Publications Committee provided a grant toward the publication of this book. During the lengthy revision process, I benefited from the assistance of many individuals. I thank Philip Cercone at McGill-Queen's Uni- versity Press for his unwavering belief in this project and for his astute advice; Wendy Dayton, who skilfully edited the text, improv- ing it in many ways; and Joan McGilvray, who saw it through the publication process. Carole Gerson's assistance at a critical time in the preparation of the manuscript was truly generous. I also would like to thank the following individuals for their advice and support: Kathy Mezei, Patricia Srebrnik, Betty A. Schellenberg, Leith Davis, John Kelly, June Sturrock, Joseph McAleer Jr., Norman Ingram, Sandra Djwa, Ila Burdette, Elona Malterre, Anthony Warrens, Judith Heaton, and Dr. Robin Fletcher and his wife, Ginny. Some parts of chapter 4 originally appeared in my article "T.S. Eliot and Henri Bergson: An Uneasy Relationship" Literary Half-yearly y 29, no. 2 (July 1988): 1-13. In addition, chapter 8 is a revised version of my article "Conrad's The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes as Berg- sonian Comedies," Conradiana 20, no. 3 (1988): 195-213. Finally, my family encouraged me during my long journey toward this point and also kept me solidly grounded in the here and now. My brother Alan was particularly generous with his time. I gratefully acknowledge my debt to them.