Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel

Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel by Robert Humphrey is a foundational study that clarifies one of the most elusive terms in modern literary criticism. While “stream of consciousness” has often been applied loosely to a wide range of works, Humphrey offers a precise definition: fiction that emphasizes the prespeech levels of consciousness in order to reveal the psychic being of characters. Focusing on the major practitioners—Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner—he identifies the varied purposes behind their use of inner awareness: from Woolf’s search for mystical vision, to Joyce’s comic objectivity, to Faulkner’s tragic exploration of psychic conflict. In doing so, he situates these writers within broader philosophical and psychological currents while distinguishing their methods from earlier naturalism and experimental realism. The book is not merely theoretical but also practical, serving as an inductive manual of how stream-of-consciousness fiction is constructed. Humphrey systematically analyzes the functions, techniques, devices, and forms that shape this mode of narrative, including interior monologue, time- and space-montage, suspended coherence, and metaphorical transformation. By concentrating on technique, he demonstrates how these authors expanded the possibilities of fiction, moving beyond external action to depict the inner drama of thought, memory, and vision. First published in 1954, Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel remains an indispensable resource for students and scholars of modernism, offering both a framework for understanding a pivotal literary form and an evaluation of its artistic achievements. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.