William James, psychologist and philosopher, and Gertrude Stein, one of the most influential writers of modernism, shared more than just a teacher and student relationship. According to Gertrude Stein herself, William James was the most significant influence upon her of anyone at Harvard, and one of the most important influences of her whole life. James had an almost legendary ability to inspire students and he awakened Stein’s interest in human personality, which remained her dominant and prevailing interest.
In the first section of my work, I will give some impressions of James’s and Stein’s meetings throughout their lives. Over a period of several years James was Stein's teacher and made a profound and lasting impact on her. She participated eagerly in discussions and experiments on the subconscious, a to pic of great interest to James. Connected to the first section about ‘Contacts’ is the following one on ‘Judgments’. Here I will try to outline some of Stein's subjective views upon her teacher and I will show James’s understanding of his highly independent student.
The remarkable influence that James had on Stein's writing will be the theme of the section about ‘Influences’. Stein's and James's ideas seem to correspond significantly. James’s theory of the stream of thought shall be especially considered here, for a lot of aspects of it were observed by Stein and modified and embodied into her own style. James in a way established a certain pattern of how consciousness works and enabled Stein to use it and develop it further. This led to an extraordinary style, which also influenced other writers of modernism, for instance Hemingway. My aim is to give some insights into similar thoughts and philosophy of James’s and Stein’s writing. It is quite impossible to state the complete influence that James had on Stein's writings and this is not the intention of this work. This work shall rather give a justifiable impression of their similar theories and of James’s direct influence upon Stein. The signs of their interaction can be seen both in Stein’s personal statements and in her distinctive and innovative style, which will be the basis of my argumentation.
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Contacts - from teaching to friendship
3.0 Judgments - “Yes, a thousand times yes”
4.0 Influences and how “thought goes on”
5.0 Conclusion
6.0 Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
This work explores the profound intellectual and personal relationship between the psychologist and philosopher William James and the modernist writer Gertrude Stein, specifically focusing on how James's psychological theories shaped Stein's innovative literary style.
- The historical relationship and mentorship between William James and Gertrude Stein.
- Stein’s subjective perception of James and the impact of his teachings on her intellectual development.
- The theoretical parallels between James’s "stream of thought" and Stein’s literary techniques.
- The application of "transitive" and "substantive" states of consciousness in Stein’s writing.
- The broader influence of James’s pragmatic philosophy on the development of modernism.
Excerpt from the Book
4.0 Influences and how "thought goes on"
William James influenced Gertrude Stein in many ways. She read his Principles of Psychology in college and the similarity between their concepts of the individual is quite striking in their works. In this section these similarities found in Stein's writing shall be discussed with additional theoretical writings of James. Stein's theoretical writings are still the best critical guide to her literary texts and so they will be particularly considered here.
Stein developed a concept of entity symbolizing human mind and identity symbolizing human nature in her work The Geographical History of America. Identity is described by Stein as “recognition, you know who you are because you and others remember anything about yourself but essentially you are not that when you are doing anything. I am I because my little dog knows me, ...”. Entity as opposed to identity was her new concept. Human mind or entity has no identity and no relations. It is completely contained within itself and moves out of itself without relation.
In the first passage of James’s The Principles of Psychology he describes thought as a process of being: “The first fact for us, then, as psychologists, is that thinking of some sort goes on. I use the word thinking, in accordance with what was said on p. 186, for every form of consciousness indiscriminately. If we could say in English ‘it thinks’, as we say ‘it rains’ or it ‘blows’, we should be stating the fact most simply and with the minimum of assumption. As we cannot, we must simply say that thought goes on.”
Summary of Chapters
1.0 Introduction: This chapter introduces the shared history between William James and Gertrude Stein and outlines the work's aim to explore the influence of James's philosophical and psychological theories on Stein's literary style.
2.0 Contacts - from teaching to friendship: This section details the professional and personal meetings between Stein and James, covering her time as his student at Radcliffe and their subsequent interactions in Paris.
3.0 Judgments - “Yes, a thousand times yes”: This chapter examines the mutual respect and friendship between the two, focusing on how Stein viewed James as a mentor and hero throughout her life.
4.0 Influences and how “thought goes on”: This core section analyzes the theoretical intersections between James’s "stream of thought" and Stein’s experimental writing techniques, particularly the use of repetition and the continuous present.
5.0 Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the enduring impact of James on Stein’s work, acknowledging him as a catalyst for her innovative approach to consciousness in literature.
6.0 Bibliography: This section provides a comprehensive list of primary and secondary sources used to support the argumentation.
Keywords
William James, Gertrude Stein, Modernism, Stream of Thought, Psychology, Philosophy, Continuous Present, Entity, Identity, Transitive, Substantive, Consciousness, Literary Style, Pragmatism, Radcliffe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work investigates the intellectual relationship between William James and Gertrude Stein and analyzes how James’s psychological concepts influenced Stein’s modernist writing style.
What are the central themes discussed in the text?
Central themes include mentorship, the stream of consciousness, the nature of identity versus entity, and the application of psychological theories to literary expression.
What is the main research question of the study?
The study explores to what extent William James’s theories of psychology, particularly his concept of the "stream of thought," provided a framework for Gertrude Stein’s distinct and innovative literary style.
Which scientific methodology is primarily applied?
The work employs a qualitative, comparative analysis, contrasting James’s psychological texts with Stein’s literary writings to identify philosophical and structural parallels.
What is the focus of the main body of the work?
The main body examines their personal history, the perception they held of one another, and a detailed theoretical analysis of how James’s definitions of "transitive" and "substantive" consciousness manifest in Stein’s repetitive writing.
Which keywords best characterize this study?
Key terms include William James, Gertrude Stein, Stream of Thought, Modernism, and continuous present.
How does Stein define "entity" compared to "identity"?
Stein defines identity as recognition and relations defined by others, whereas entity represents the human mind as being contained within itself, moving without relation.
Why did James believe that language was sometimes insufficient?
James argued that language is rigid and fixed, often failing to capture the complexity, fluidity, and constant change characteristic of human consciousness.
- Quote paper
- Sylvi Burkhardt (Author), 2003, Gertrude Stein and William James: Contacts - Judgements - Influences, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/34535
