A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN - AN INQUIRY INTO THE CHARACTER’S EVOLUTION

Abstract

James Joyce, a prominent figure in the modernist literary movement, created the character Stephen Dedalus and revealed an example of how consciousness functions when one searches for direction in life. The chaotic nature of human consciousness is revealed through literary devices and techniques that prove the lifelikeness of the character and the way fiction represents not only the reality of a specific time but the reality of the multitude of meanings present within the content of fictional writing, namely literature. The aim of this paper is to investigate the evolution of the main character in the novel “A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce to reveal the way Stephen Dedalus builds his consciousness and finds the tone of his “voice”. The metaphor of the voice is to be considered the conceptual term used to describe the different phases of the character’s evolution and the way he succeeds in creating order among uncertainties, quests, and struggles. The term “voice” is used within the neuro-scientific frame of thought, as defined by Antonio Damasio as being “the representation of the conscious self” (Damasio 2010: 45). Both terms, namely consciousness and voice, lead to psychological content; thus, the nature of the analysis is psychological, literary, and symbolic as well. The mythological dimension is to be interpreted through symbols and their significance. The literary dimension revolves around literary techniques such as interior monologue and stream of consciousness, and the psychological frame includes elements that connect literature and psychology.