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fox in faux-Joyce: The functions of autobiography in James Joyce's "Ulysses"

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Date Issued:
1996
Summary:
In the "Scylla and Charybdis" chapter of Ulysses, the novel appears to make a problem out of its autobiographical suppositions. Stephen Dedalus argues that the works of Shakespeare have a biographical basis, and previously in Ulysses Stephen has imagined himself as a Shakespearean character. Stephen is also the protagonist of Joyce's earlier work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In the "Scylla and Charybdis" episode, the association between Joyce and Stephen seems confirmed when the narrator's voice, sometimes conflated with Stephen's, reports thoughts particularly appropriate for James Joyce. This chapter, however, lures one into an autobiographical reading of Stephen that does not remain tenable throughout the novel. Apparent autobiography in Ulysses becomes a problem (rather than an easy option for interpretation) when one finds autobiographical references significantly changed in the "Circe" chapter--changed so that the essential ambiguity of Joyce's autobiographical references becomes clear.
Title: A fox in faux-Joyce: The functions of autobiography in James Joyce's "Ulysses".
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Name(s): King, John.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
McGuirk, Carol, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1996
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 42 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In the "Scylla and Charybdis" chapter of Ulysses, the novel appears to make a problem out of its autobiographical suppositions. Stephen Dedalus argues that the works of Shakespeare have a biographical basis, and previously in Ulysses Stephen has imagined himself as a Shakespearean character. Stephen is also the protagonist of Joyce's earlier work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In the "Scylla and Charybdis" episode, the association between Joyce and Stephen seems confirmed when the narrator's voice, sometimes conflated with Stephen's, reports thoughts particularly appropriate for James Joyce. This chapter, however, lures one into an autobiographical reading of Stephen that does not remain tenable throughout the novel. Apparent autobiography in Ulysses becomes a problem (rather than an easy option for interpretation) when one finds autobiographical references significantly changed in the "Circe" chapter--changed so that the essential ambiguity of Joyce's autobiographical references becomes clear.
Identifier: 9780591159950 (isbn), 15338 (digitool), FADT15338 (IID), fau:12106 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1996.
Subject(s): Joyce, James,--1882-1941--Ulysses
Joyce, James,--1882-1941--Criticism and interpretation
Autobiography in literature
Self in literature
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15338
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.