초록 열기/닫기 버튼
In “Scylla and Charybdis” and “Cyclops” of Ulysses, Joyce openly criticizes or parodies the Irish Literary Revival and Gael nationalism. The chapter, “Aeolus” is also covertly critical of this movement. However, compared with the other two episodes, “Aeolus” has not been extensively studied in terms of this theme. This paper examines how “Aeolus” presents critiques of this movement. Dawson’s essay praises the nature of Ireland by excessively beautifying it, like the Irish revivalists who mystify the Irish past and sanctify her soil. His “peerless panorama of Ireland’s portfolio” is contrasted with Stephen’s realistic view of the Dublin city. MacHugh’s idea of “spiritual” Irish, as contrasted with materialistic British, also idealizes his nation by rationalizing the failure of the Irish people in the present life. Joyce would never have accepted Taylor’s speech on the revival of the Irish language, even though the writer was impressed by Taylor’s suggestion that the Irish should not succumb to British domination. This is confirmed by the parody of this speech in the “Ithaca” chapter; the speech is demystified and will be emulated by Stephen’s Parable. MacHugh’s claims about the spiritual nature of the Irish are also challenged by this parody. While Taylor idealizes the heroic story of Moses, Stephen realistically describes the petty bourgeois life in his parable. If Taylor’s speech reflects the revivalist’s tendency to idealize and inflate the past and country, the parable shows the present and the heart of the city in its historical context. Stephen deflates, demythologizes, and desacralizes the romantic notion of the Revival as well as Taylor’s speech. Poor Old Woman/Ireland idealized by Literary Revival is reduced to a prostitute who readily gives her body to the conqueror of their country, thus revealing the reality of the colonized country. In fact, Joyce has kept this critical attitude toward the Revival throughout his career, by writing on the lower middle class of Dublin with the style of “scrupulous meanness”; that is, with precision.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Ireland, James Joyce, Ulysses, “Aeolus, ” Irish literary revival, Gael nationalism, the parable of the plums (or A Pisgah Sight of Palestine)
