Representing Subjectivity and Irish Identity in James Joyce''s Dubliners

• Main Authors: Miao-jung Chang, 張妙蓉
• Other Authors: Yih-fan Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/20128659955248020494

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 89 === This thesis attempts to discuss the representation of subjectivity and Irish identity in James Joyce''s Dubliners in terms of the theories of Jacques Lacan and Homi K. Bhabha. In this work, James Joyce seems to hold up a mirror to the Irish to see their own image of “paralysis”─ their fragmented subjectivity and mimic and ambivalent Irish identity. In the introductory chapter, I offer the background of James Joyce''s life so as to survey his portrayal of his motherland and his countrymen. I also explore the forces that have had a profound influence on the Irish─ Catholicism, colonialism and their patriarchal society. Also, I offer a brief literary review of critical approaches to reading Dubliners and then explain why I use Jacques Lacan''s and Homi K. Bhabha''s concepts to examine the representation of subjectivity and Irish identity in Dubliners. In the following three chapters, I choose seven stories to discuss the issues of “subjectivity” and “Irish identity” on the basis of Jacques Lacan''s and Homi K. Bhabha''s theories. In Chapter Two, I use Lacan''s theory to analyze the three stories: “The Sisters,” “An Encounter,” and “Eveline.” I illustrate the way each of the characters is so trapped in the Symbolic order of church, school, and family that they fail to escape from their oppression. Their desires are thwarted by “the-Name-of-the-Father”; they eventually realize their subjectivites are still conditioned by the forces of Catholicism and patriarchal society and are compelled to see their fragmented and incomplete subjectivities. Chapter Three deals with the relation between the British Empire and the Irish race (the colonizer and the colonized) in the light of Homi K. Bhabha''s notion of colonial discourse and mimicry. Being ruled by England for over seven hundred years, Ireland had fallen into conditions of extreme poverty and oppression, which are shown in Dubliners. In view of Bhabha''s concept, the characters in “After the Race,” “A Little Cloud,” and “Counterparts” all reveal themselves to be the victims of colonial domination. Though they suffer from colonialism, the Irish have internalized the values and ideology of the colonizer and become the “counterparts” of the colonizer. They are unable to secure their authentic identity but rather have acquired the “mimicry” of Englishness. Chapter Four focuses on “The Dead” to examine the dilemma of a colonized Irish as victims under the forces of patriarchal ideology. This story seems to prefigure Joyce''s literary revolt against his motherland. In his view, Roman Catholicism can’t offer the Irish spiritual comfort and guidance but only the imprisonment of their minds. The patriarchal society can''t guarantee the women and children any sense of security but causes domestic violence. What''s more, the colonization of England not only has devastated Ireland''s economy but also produced in the Irish mind an inferiority complex. Consequently, in Joyce''s narration, the protagonist, Gabriel Conroy realizes the Irish’s state of “paralysis,” making them like “the dead.” Chapter Five concludes my thesis, summarizing the main points of the previous chapters and the contribution that my reading of Dubliners makes.