A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as a Künstlerroman, Summaries of Asian literature

Download A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as a Künstlerroman and more Summaries Asian literature in PDF only on Docsity! 1. Discuss Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as a Künstlerroman. Künstlerroman, (German: “artist’s novel”), class of Bildungsroman, or apprenticeship novel, that deals with the youth and development of an individual who becomes—or is on the threshold of becoming—a painter, musician, or poet. The classic example is James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Unlike many Bildungsroman, where the hero often dreams of becoming a great artist but settles for being a mere useful citizen, the Künstlerroman usually ends on a note of arrogant rejection of the commonplace life. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel where the main character ‘Stephen Dedalus Joyce’ is a mythical representation of himself. The story shows us how he grows as a Jesuit in childhood, how he goes to Paris to fulfil his dreams and struggle between finding his identity. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel by the Irish modernist writer James Joyce. It follows the intellectual, moral and spiritual development of a young Catholic Irishman, Stephen Dedalus, and his struggle against the restrictions his culture imposes. Portrait can be placed in the tradition of the bildungsroman – novels that trace the personal development of the protagonist, usually from childhood through to adulthood. James Joyce is considered to be one of the significant writers of the modernist era. He was a versatile writer and exploited the technique of stream of consciousness in his novels. His work Ulysses (1922) is a masterpiece of modernism. The novel A Portrait of a Young Artist as a Man deals with the modern issues of religious extremism, sexuality, self and the development of artist’s growth both intellectually and spiritually. The novel is a Kunstlerroman because it gives a discourse on the protagonist development as an artist. Stephen is an alter ego of James Joyce himself and One could see his development as an artist and the odyssey of finding both spiritual and intellectual growth. The main characteristics of Kunstlerroman novel is the development of self in the main protagonist. The main protagonist undergoes a series of awakening both intellectually and spiritually. Stephen Dedalus grew up in a strict Catholic temperament where he was unable to comprehend the reason for not able to marry or date a Protestant girl and how it was considered to be sinful and derogatory to the Catholic community. The protagonist self-developed by multiple questions that he had regarding the religious extremism and questioned its value in the society. The maturity of self is seen in Stephen Dedalus when he learned to stand up for himself in the boarding school. He complaint one of the teachers to the principal to seek justice and he earned respect from other kids and children. It is important to note that the development of self and personality is necessary for the growth as an artist in life to philosophically think and translate into writing. The novel also projects that Stephen Dedalus was growing both intellectually and spiritually as one of his fundamental selves. He was asking multiple questions regarding the religious indoctrination. He was conflicting with his self between his inner sexual desires and a religious belief. His suppression of religious conscience and sleeping with the prostitutes reveals his Path to spiritual journey as he realises his sins later while attending the sermon. However, as he was growing up, he realises that religious life and a priestly life is mundane and hence he decides to suppress his religious life. This also shows his growth and development of self where he tries to civilize himself the right conscience and things that are harmful for a person. Futhermore, the important aspect of Kunstlerroman novel is the development of a protagonist as an artist. Stephen Dedalus pursued his passion on aesthetics and beauty where he decides to show his passion to his friends yet it was unrelatable to his friends. Stephen’s development of an artist has shown that one must pursue alone to cause their dreams and his leaving of Ireland clearly projects his exile and isolation only to pursue one’s dreams.