James Baldwin & Henry James
Originally written for the DE&I Middletown, AT&T Labs newsletter
In the fall of 1986, the Henry James Journal published an interview between literature professor David Adams Lemming and writer James Baldwin, discussing the latter's love for the works of Henry James. For some, it is surprising that James felt such an affinity with a writer of such a privileged race & caste. What did Baldwin see in his work?
This question becomes all the more pressing because Henry James's writings often center upon the glittering social lives of American elites, depicting with great detail the nuances and anxieties of WASP society as its members careened from tea parties to galas. The seeming triviality and remove of this subject matter from "important" subjects like War & Race have led some to dismiss James for not being sufficiently political, the insinuation being that great art must overtly grapple with grave subjects. Baldwin repudiates this, and believes that James' work is profound because it, more than the work of any American writer, unveils the hidden forces & premises that shape most Americans.
According to Baldwin, James has grasped the essence of what he calls the "American Dilemma", defined by a "tremendous sincerity" that is applied to every aspect of life, from "Disneyland to football games." This sincerity extends to "the negro problem", and subtly imperils efforts to advance black dignity in American life, for it cannot see its own limitations, and is laden with premises and assumptions that go unseen and unanalyzed. James understood this, and explored its consequences in his novels, most notably in The Ambassadors. In that work, the main character, Lambert Strether, is sent to Paris to 'rescue' an American widow's son from the clutches of a "fallen" French woman. Strether embarks on his mission with the aforementioned sincerity congenital to his countrymen, but is soon disabused of all his assumptions, and comes to see Paris and Europe not as debauched but as complex and vital -- perhaps more vital in some ways -- a stage of life as America is.
Central to Strether's journey is seeing what was not see before, recognizing that complex problems cannot be solved with fairy-tale solutions, and recognizing the full humanity of what were once caricatures. Baldwin connects this journey to the American who cannot confront the reality of race in America;
It's far beyond that. It's a failure to see, a failure to live, a failure to be. Americans do not see me when they look at me, their kinsman- literally blood of their blood, created by them. The price they pay for living is to pretend that I'm not here, and the price they pay for that is not being able to see the world in which they live. What they don't know about me is what they don't know about Nicaragua. And it is not Nicaragua or myself who is doomed.
An engaged reader of James -- and of his acolyte and fellow traveller, Baldwin -- may very well have the scales fall from their eyes, recognizing the subtle forces that shape the American experience, and shackle both the WASP characters of James' work and the black and white characters of Baldwin's work. It is important to note that in Baldwin's analysis of James' work, he and his fellow Black Americans are also shaped by these forces -- Baldwin remarks that like Strether, it took coming to Paris to realize just how much of an American he was. In this, we see another consequence of Baldwin's encounter with Henry James -- of realizing the shared ancestry, the common inheritance, the ineluctably entangled fate of Black Americans with their non-black compatriots.
Baldwin's encounter with James was profoundly generative, and touches many of his writings; it would be impossible to fully outline the consequences or extent of James' influence on Baldwin in this short essay. What is evident, however, is that James & Baldwin show us the power of literature to speak truth, to reveal what was once hidden, and expand consciousness. What this encounter has to say about the issue of race cannot be tidily summarized, and indeed it raises as many questions as it answers. Can the American project, that story we tell ourselves about creating a more just society for citizens of any ilk or kind, be ever achieved -- or is it yet another example of "tremendous sincerity"? Does that sincerity block progress, or can it be recognized, situated in its context, and worked with to generate more equality for all Americans? These are enormous questions, but we need to ask them, and become heritors of both James and Baldwin.
Lemming and Baldwin's interview can be found here: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Baldwin_HenryJamesInterview.pdf