M. Henry Carmines

My research concerns the ecological and aesthetic implications of the figure of atmosphere in the work of Henry James.

Working titles of my thesis project:
The “effect of atmosphere”: Dissolving Perspectives in Henry James’s Transatlantic Sketches of Life
OR
Learning to read atmospherically with Henry James

Research interests:
Henry James, atmosphere, ambiance, modernism, realism, ecocriticism

Degrees
M2 Études Anglophones, Université Paris-Nanterre
M2 Littérature : critique et création, Université Grenoble-Alpes
B.A. Philosophy, The College of William & Mary

Conference Presentations

“The Echo of Ivan Turgenev in Henry James’s Atmospheric Modernism,” New Work in Modernist Studies, postgraduate conference organized by the British Association of Modernist Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 13 December, 2024.

“The Modernist Stimmung of Henry James’s The Europeans,” 5e congrès de la Société d’Études Modernistes: Therapeutic Modernisms, Université Grenoble-Alpes, 19-21 June, 2024.

“‘And you may find yourself in another part of the world’: Tuning in to the London Hyperobject with Henry James,” Société d’Études Modernistes et Société d’Études Woolfiennes (SEM-SEW) workshop, 63e congrès de la SAES « Frontières et Déplacements », Université de Lorraine, 30 May-1 June, 2024.

“‘To ride once, in these conditions, is of course to [write] again’: The weirdness of writing in Henry James’s ‘Roman Rides’,” Henry James Society panel Weird James at the American Literature Association Conference, Chicago, USA, 23-26 May, 2024.

“What Henry James Knew About the ‘effect of atmosphere’”: panel organized with Myrto Charvalia and Isabelle Loréal, “Atmospheres and Spectralities: Thinking the Space of Literature”. Colloque du CREA: Contested Spaces. Université Paris-Nanterre, 7-8 December, 2023.

“« L’ambiance » chez Bruce Bégout et Timothy Morton,” Séminaire doctoral: La vie et la mort, Ecole Normale Supérieure-Ulm. 22 November, 2023.

“‘Where could they have lived?’: The Modernist Pastoral Mode of Henry James’s The Europeans”. Journée d’étude: From cottagecore to solarpunk: new political and aesthetic readings of the pastoral. Université Paul-Valéry-Montpellier-3, 17 November, 2023.

“Literary Atmospheres in Anglo-American Modernism,” Seminar “Modernisms,” CREA, Université Paris-Nanterre, 29 September, 2023.

“Breathing in atmospheres of the past in Henry James’s ‘The Grand Canal’ (1892),” Société d’Études Modernistes et Société d’Études Woolfiennes (SEM-SEW) workshop, 62e congrès de la SAES « Transmission(s) », Université Rennes 2, 1-3 June 2023.

“Learning to Read Atmospherically with Henry James,” Invited speaker at Breadcrumbs Workshop, CLIMAS, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, 21 February 2023.

“Henry James’s ‘Dark Ecology’: Abysses of Time in the Landscapes of the Roman Campagna,” Journée d'étude: Lire le paysage: perception, interprétation, appropriation; Université Bordeaux Montaigne, 20 February 2023.

“The ‘air of reality’ in Henry James’s The American Scene: Towards an atmospheric modernism,” Modernism and Matter: International Workshop; Université Paul-Valéry-Montpellier-3,  13-14 October 2022.

Publications

“Ghostly transmissions in the atmosphere of Henry James’s ‘The Grand Canal’,” Sillages Critiques, Special Issue: Modernist Transmission(s), à paraître en 2025.

“The ‘air of reality’ in Henry James’s The American Scene: Towards an Atmospheric Modernism,” Modernism and Matter, Horizons anglophones/Present Perfect, Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée, à paraître en 2025.

“The echo of Ivan Turgenev in Henry James’s Atmospheric Modernism,” The Modernist Review, No. 55, March 2025.

“Reading Henry James Atmospherically: The Case of The American Scene,” Leaves No. 16, July 2023.