James Joyce and Unique Complexities of His Literary Style

Table of Contents The life of James Joyce Famous Works Literary Style Joyce’s legacy

Significant Quotes “A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.” “The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails.”

Overview One of the predominant Irish novelists during the Irish literary renaissance Utilized objective correlative style and stream of consciousness Work reflects his life in Ireland Renowned for experimental style which included technical innovations Interior monologue Symbolic parallels Unique language

Biography : The Early Years Born on February 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland Son of John Stanislaus Joyce, who was a failed distillery businessman Mother of an accomplished pianist and devout Roman Catholic Oldest son of 12 children, 2 of which died of typhoid fever

Biography cont. Father became the rate collector by the Dublin Corporation, forcing the family to move into a prominent suburb Exhibited skill in writing at an early age, when he wrote a poem entitled “Et Tu Healy” about the death of Charles Stewart Parnell His father published the work and it was even sent to the Vatican library After his father was dismissed from his job, the family slowly declined into poverty due to financial mismanagement.

Biography Throughout his youth, his family maintained the façade of a middle class family At a young age he was educated at Clongowes Wood College, at Clane Following his fathers inability to pay for school, Joyce was forced to study at home

Biography He then attended Belvedere College in Dublin, learning from Jesuits, yet he disowned Catholicism becoming an agnostic Attended University College in Dublin in 1898 Studied language and involved himself in literary and theatrical crowds within Dublin In 1898 he wrote an essay on Ibsen's play “When We Dead Awaken” which was published Moved to Paris in 1902 and worked as a teacher and a journalist

Biography Returned home but continued to travel after the death of his mother Met Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid, who he would eventually married in 1931 Moved to Zurich and subsequently Trieste with his wife

Biography During this time his relationship with his brother was complicated as Stanislaus objected to James’ drinking and carelessness with money, but supported him none the less Moved to Trieste in 1907 and returned to Dublin only two other times: to see his father and settle a dispute over the publication of Dubliners While writing Dubliners he had two children, Giorgio and Lucia Published Dubliners, a collection of short stories, in 1914 Due to his financial instability, Joyce constantly concocted several methods to secure money including borrowing and teaching private students

Biography Wrote Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man which was published in 1916 with the help of Ezra Pound Moved to Zurich in 1915 and began writing Ulysses with the help of publisher Harriet Shaw Weaver who provided him money, allowing him to focus on writing his novel Ulysses was hailed by critics for its uniqueness but was banned in the US and UK for obsenities Began writing Finnegan's Wake, with several segments appearing in the literary magazine “transition” entitled Work in Progress, it was eventually published in 1939 Returned to Zurich where he suffered complications arising from a perforated ulcer and eventually died January 13, 1941

Significant Works Dubliners A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Ulysses Finnegan's Wake

Dubliners A collection of short stories Joyce's’ experiences in Ireland are the backdrop for each story The stories are an analysis of the stagnation prevalent in Dublin society Notable for epiphanies Most famous story is “The Dead”

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A semi autobiographical story concerning the maturity and education of Stephen Dedalus, loosely based on Joyce himself Almost a complete rewrite of one of his earlier works: Stephen Hero Utilizes stream of consciousness and a third person narrative to imitate the protagonists perspective and thoughts Contains Irish themes like the power of the Catholic church and the search for independence

Ulysses Depicts one day (June 16, 1904) in the life of Dubliner Leonard Bloom Parallels Homer’s “The Odyssey” Novel ranges from 732 to 1000 pages, with over 267,000 words Subject to controversy due to its obscenities Considered a masterpiece notable for stream of consciousness techniques and an experimental prose containing puns, parodies, and allusions

Finnegan’s Wake Story concerns a publican and his family in a town near Dublin and several other characters Contains several interpretations History is cyclic Historical and literary characters sometimes appear and disappear The first and last sentences connect The protagonists represent Dublin and possibly the history of mankind Utilizes stream of consciousness, allusions, and disregards plot conventions Written in a language consisting of “multi level puns” Received a mixed critical reaction

Finnegan’s Wake The first several sentence “riverrun,past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend if bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr' over the short sea,had passencore rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war: nor had topsawyer's rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse to Laurens Country's gorgios while they went doublin their mumper all the time: nor avoice from afire bellowsed mishe mishe to tauftauf thuartpeatrick: not yet, though venissoon after, had a kidscad buttended a bland old isaac: not yet, though all's fair in vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe.”

Modernist Literature Literary form of modernism Emerged in 17th century France Believed that traditional forms of literature should be re-imagined Modernism seeks a progression in ideas Asks the author to provide their own personal perspective to the world Literary form of modernism Movement deviated from Romanticism

Modernist Literature Contain mundane matters and is generally pessimistic Utilize metanarrative any story told to justify another story, esp. involving artifice; a story about oneself that provides a view of one's experiences Differ from realist novels with concern for social change An all encompassing story or historical record Can order a persons thoughts and experiences Contain a universal truth with an evolutionary style

Stream of Consciousness Literary technique used to recreate a character’s thoughts or point of view Continually changing thoughts and sensations while conscious Interior monologue with shifts in punctuation, syntax, and distinctive Sometimes dramatic monologue

Religious Undertones Compared an artist to a priest, as they both provide “social and aesthetics functions” Compared literary symbols to sacraments Called his early work epiphanies Epiphany is a deeper understanding following a realization A Joycean epiphany is characterized by an insignificant descriptive moment that contains a deeper meaning A single word exemplifies a character’s personality

Legacy Divided critics Some believe he has harmed both modern and post-modern fiction Influenced other fields Books have been written examining his novels Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake James Joyce Ramble is held 10K road race where his work is celebrated Life is celebrated every year on June 16 in Dublin in several cities

Superfluous slide: Favorite Food

Bibliography http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/ http://joycean.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/joyce.html http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568953/Joyce_James.html http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140062866/sr=8-2/qid=1142825724/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2826290-6421500?%5Fencoding=UTF8 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=metanarrative http://www.maguiregallery.com/barrie/joyce.htm http://www.jacquesmoitoret.com/html/james_joyce.html