Concetti Chiave
- James Joyce, born in Dublin, had a complex relationship with his homeland due to its provincialism and strong Catholic influences, prompting him to live in cities like Paris, Zurich, and Trieste.
- Joyce's literary work is divided into two distinct periods: the first being more traditional with works like "Dubliners" and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," and the second being more experimental with "Ulysses."
- "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" mirrors Joyce's life through the character of Steven Dedalus, whose symbolic name reflects Joyce's feelings of persecution and desire to escape through art.
- "Dubliners," a collection of 15 short stories, explores themes of decay and stagnation in Dublin, using innovative techniques like multiple points of view and the literary device of epiphany to reveal hidden truths.
- "The Dead," the final story in "Dubliners," is renowned for its portrayal of a Christmas party and the emotional revelation experienced by the character Gabriel through a song that reminds his wife Greta of a past lover.
He was born in Dublin into a Catholic family and he had a strange relationship with his country, because of the provincialism and the strong Catholicism. He’s the perfect example of those feelings of isolation, paralysis. He also wanted to escape from his country, in fact he settled in Paris, then in Zurich, later in Trieste (where he taught English at Berlitz School).
Literary Production
His literary production could be divided into two periods:
• The First period in which he’s more preservative and follows the traditional features.
• The Second period in which there are many experimentations and the introduction of some features like: the stream of consciousness, the interior monologue and the multiple points of view. The work that belongs to this period is the “Ulysses”.
Works
“A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”:
This novel is the adaptation of his life, it could be considered as an autobiographical story. The central character is an artist, Steven Dedalus, who mirrors the passions and the desires of the author. His name is so symbolical: in fact the name “Steven” reminds to the first martyr of Christianity (Joyce feels persecuted by Christianity), while the surname “Dedalus” reminds to the mythological craftsman, who built some wings of wax in order to escape (Joyce wants to escape trough the wings of art). In this novel we do not find some techniques’ novelties, but it is less realistic.
“The Dubliners”:
It’s a collection of 15 short stories set in Dublin, dealing with the theme of decay and stagnation of city’s life. It is divided in four phase, according to the stages of men’s life: childhood, adolescence, mature life and public life.
FEATURES:
• All the stories are set in Dublin individualized by the name of streets, shops.
• There is the absence of the narrator’s point of view, which expresses his obiectivity, this point of view is replaced by the multiple point of view.
• In the different phases of the novel he changes his style according to the themes he dealt with: this is an innovation. The style is the perfect mixture of realism (description of Dublin) and symbolism (names of characters).
• Another novelty is the use of epiphany: it consists into the sudden revelation of an hidden truth, that changes the view of the world of the character.
• The main theme is the paralysis, for example the story of “Eveline”: a woman who wants to escape from Dublin, but she is not able to do it, she falls in love with a man, but she could never escape from there because of her relationship whit his father (provincialism and Catholicism).
“The Dead”: it’s the last short story of “Dubliners” and is also the most famous. It dealt with the Christmas party organized by two old ladies, in which Gabriel and his wife Greta took part. After Gabriel’s speech, they are going back to hotel’s room while Greta listens to an old song that they are singing upstairs. This song reminds her of a young lover who died for her (Michael Furey).
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il rapporto dell'autore con il suo paese d'origine?
- Come si divide la produzione letteraria dell'autore?
- Qual è il significato simbolico del nome del protagonista in "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"?
- Quali sono le caratteristiche principali delle storie in "Dubliners"?
- Di cosa tratta "The Dead", l'ultima storia di "Dubliners"?
L'autore ha un rapporto complesso con il suo paese, caratterizzato da sentimenti di isolamento e paralisi, dovuti al provincialismo e al forte cattolicesimo.
La produzione letteraria si divide in due periodi: il primo più conservativo con opere come "Dubliners" e "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", e il secondo più sperimentale con "Ulysses".
Il nome "Steven Dedalus" è simbolico: "Steven" richiama il primo martire del Cristianesimo, mentre "Dedalus" richiama il mitico artigiano che costruì ali di cera per fuggire, riflettendo il desiderio dell'autore di evadere attraverso l'arte.
Le storie sono ambientate a Dublino, caratterizzate dall'assenza del punto di vista del narratore, l'uso di epifanie e un mix di realismo e simbolismo, con il tema centrale della paralisi.
"The Dead" tratta di una festa di Natale organizzata da due anziane signore, a cui partecipano Gabriel e sua moglie Greta. La storia culmina con Greta che ricorda un giovane amante morto per lei, evocato da una vecchia canzone.
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