A Psychoanalytical Perspective on the Use of Stream of Consciousness in the Work of James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
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Date
2018
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UNIVERSITY OF ABBES LAGHROUR-KHENCHELA
Abstract
Abstract
James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is narrated through the extensive use of stream of consciousness, and it focuses on the journey of Stephen Dedalus from childhood to adulthood. While living in a world torn apart by political, religious and social chaos, yet, the protagonist follows a life quest to find his own identity as an artist. His identity and existence as an individual and as an artist is at every point reshaped through his journey. The problem arises with the idea that James Joyce did not use the technique of stream of consciousness only to portray the thoughts, ideas and feelings of his character, but he also implicitly embedded the psychoanalytic concepts throughout his novel. The study focuses on a psychoanalytic reading of Stephen’s character by implementing Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of personality and identity, in addition to a set of psychoanalytic concepts provided by Sigmund and Anna Freud to understand about the inner disorders and their defense mechanisms. After reading the primary source closely, the case study of Stephen was analyzed, and a detailed discussion and interpretations are provided in the field work section. By using psychoanalysis as a perspective, examining the behavior, identity and psychological development of Stephen were possible; all of them are indicated and discussed while using Freud’s and Erikson’s concepts.