Literature as ConductThe work of a master critic writing at the peak of his powers, this magisterial book draws on speech act theory, as it originated with J. L. Austin and was further developed by Paul de Man and Jacques Derrida, to investigate the many dimensions of doing things with words in Jamess fiction. Three modes of speech act occur in Jamess novels. First, Jamess writing of his fictions is performative. He puts on paper words that have the power to raise in the