James Joyce: Irish Author's Life and Literary Works, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica James Joyce: Irish Author's Life and Literary Works e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! James Joyce (1882-1941) Irish authors who emerged during the irish question but he is not very concerned in political problems Origins and education: He was born in Dublin into a middle-class family His primary education was catholic, at Jesuit schools whose students often became priests after the diploma He later studied modern languages at University College, Dublin’s catholic mniversity. His father: Supporter of irish independence, his alcoholism lead his family to a decline in term of financial resources Formation Dublin at that period was very provincialism. In his early years, he regarded himself as a rebel against the situation in which he lived and his eagle was huge. He didn't take any part in any nationalist activities of his fellow students and rejected Catholics. He was in favor of a literary mission. And for him leaving Dublin meant become an artist, in a self-imposed state of exile. Career He worked as a school teacher in Dublin In 1904 he moved to Trieste where he supported himself as a teacher of English until 1915, occasionally returning to Dublin. In 1915 he moved to Zurich He took with him his wife Nora. Personality He was a proud writer, absolutely convinced of his genius, not easy to get along with, but somehow sociable even in the worst period so he had plenty of friends. In particular Wealer supposted him also ona financial level. He also suffered from eye diseases and was blind for brief periods , undergoing several different operations. (etapatch) Death In 1920 Joyce and Bernacle settled in Paris where they lived until 1940. Dubliners (1914) Joyce began his career by writing a series of stories evocative of specific aspects of Dublin life. The language is very lucid, the description are very detailed with a lot of symbolic meanings. The stories are realistic sketches of what Joyce called the paralysis that conditioned the lives of people in then- provincial Ireland. Irony: the house of an English is his castle while the house of an Irish is his burial Epifany: a dramatic moment revelation about the self or the world Portait ofthe artist as a young man (1916) His next work would be about the youth and the development of an aitist and the exile represent a fundamental element. The character has to liberate form every social bond and prohibition to become a real artist. There is a parallel between the art and the exile Ulysses (1922) His magnum opus was banned in England and in America from publication for its obscenity, the ban was lifted in 1933 in the usa and in 1937 in Britain. Finnagans wake (1939) His must piece even ifit is impossible to understand, because he invented a new language, creating new words as a mixed of ancient influence and different contexts, to achieve new meaning. There is no plot is basically the dream of a keeper of a pub in the outskirts of Dublin. The funeral * Summary Leopold Bloom has gone to a funeral and he is bored. His flow of thoughts keeps distancing from the ceremony and coming back to it, in an uncoscious way. He appears to be not emotional involved even if he is not completely indifferent. Bloom arrives to the funeral and he starts counting the people who are there. Then he notices Ned Lambert’s suit and thinks about his sentimental life. He also highlights the superstitious meaning behind the thirteen. Finally he reveals some of his personal belief about the concept of the death. So his flow of thoughts seems to go farin an unpredictable way. * Style No there are no reference to a chronological time because the scene follows Bloom’s stream consciousness as it is collocated in his mind. However the place of the reality ofthe ceremony gives an order to his stream of consciousness, because there is a link between what it is in his mind and what is happening around him. 5- Focus on Bloom'’s flow of thoughts. His first remark (Poor Dignam!) is a starting point from which his thoughts start to deviate. Create a list of his thoughts to get a clearer idea of how they develop. *& Waste of wood for a grave «The holy land where he wants to be kept after his death @ Coffin & Irishman’s misery Superstition behind the number thirteen: the superstition is not believed by him but it is placed in his mind è Rain « Lambert’s suits @ Death & Purgatory * Language The tone seems to be ironic and the rhythm is really dynamic following his stream of consciousness, which is expressed with every-day language * Psychological portrait Bloom appears as a very overthinking person, his curiosity is shown since he makes himself a lot of questions about what surrounds him. Leopold has gone to a funeral and he is bored. He is not very emotional involved so he appears to be insensitive even if he is not completely indifferent. He has to stand some conventional social norms. Although Bloom does not really fix in the context in which he lives. He has created his own psychological world which keeps him distance from what is really happening, making him a sort of outsider, but his attention is often caught by the real life. Ulysses (1922): modernist novel Publication * Written 1914-1921 * Eliot was one of his biggest fan and he exalted the mythical method (the realism ofthe narration is overlaid by the parallels with the Odyssey) Overview * Homer’s poemis a point of reference and Joyce himself described his novel as a modern Odyssey * Thetitle reinforce the parallel, even if Ulysses’s voyages are replaced by Bloom'’s small journey around various localities in the city of Dublin * Parodicaspect: because Joyce juxtaposes the heroic dignity of the ancient mythical past with the umpoetic present * Butevenifthe present offers only modest material for a narration Joyce can elaborate it on an epic level. * Ononehandbhe celebrates the ordinariness of Dublin life, on the other hand he mocks it. Parallels The reason way the novel was not banned anymore because Joyce attempted to show exactly how the minds of his characters operate and to tell fully what his characters think about, conveying the screen of consciousness with its kaleidoscopic impressions. Characters L Leopold Bloom: the son of a Hungarian Jew and an Irish Protestant, converted to Catholicism to marry his wife Molly. He is not in touch with very religious faith but sometimes he thinks about some motto, as memories of his