The Embodiment of Memories: Perforation in Henry James's “Crapy Cornelia”

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  • ヘンリー・ジェイムズと記憶のかたち―「喪服のコーネリア」に穿たれた穴
  • ヘンリー ・ ジェイムズ ト キオク ノ カ タチ : 「 モフク ノ コーネリア 」 ニ ウガタレタ アナ

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<p>This essay investigates the image of perforation in Henry James's short fiction “Crapy Cornelia” and in his autobiography in order to demonstrate how the image serves as a tangible embodiment of memories.</p><p>In “Crapy Cornelia,” perforation is most obviously symbolized by the opening Central Park setting in New York. James recognized the park as a nostalgic as well as fictional space surrounded by sky-scrapers, as if it were a fantastic past perforating the heart of the modern city. In this place, the protagonist White-Mason vacillates between Mrs. Worthingham, the sky-scraper-like figure representing the new society, and Cornelia, a Central-Park-like figure representing the old one. When he recognizes Cornelia in Mrs. Worthingham's apartment and, after meditation, decides to choose her, his perception is described as a physical act of reaching an antique society through “perforation of the newest newness.” Although White-Mason finally reaches Cornelia's home where they share old memories, his memories are fictional and affected by the present just like Central Park.</p><p>After the publication of this tale, James wrote his autobiography. Here again, James emphasized that memories are fictional and created through the interaction between the present and past, employing the image of perforation of the present in order to reach the forsaken past. In this way, perforation embodies the concept of memories for the author.</p>

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