Pop Maria -Lavinia [608432]

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Pop Maria -Lavinia
RO-EN, ‘prelungire studii ’
Assignment 3
James Jo yce and Salman Rushdie
1. The Modernist literary works are consequences of the fast -changing world of the 20th
Cent ury and also respo nses to the realistic style that governed the period. The moder nists changed
the ‘typical’ way o f writing by using the first -person narration, that can be considered a non –
reliable narrator, the frag mentatio n of the text , which often lead to confusion amongst the readers,
the use of multiple points of view or the interior monologue and the stream -of-consciousness.
James Joyce, in A Port rait of the Artist as a Young Man , is par ticularly fond of the stream –
of-consciousness and inside monologue. The latter writing approach can be h ard to tell apart from
the narrator ’s thoughts , since q uotation marks are not used , as in standard dialogues : ”Once upon
a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road …His father
told him that story : his father looked at him through a glass: he had hair y face ”. One can not identify
the storyteller whether it is the narrator or Stephen Dedalus as a young c hild. Even though the
inside monologue is not frequently u sed, it can be se en that, as Stephen grow s, the language o f a
child evolves into philosophical phrases of an artist who is more selective. The gro wth of his
consciousne ss reveals the man ’s persona l contemplation : throughout the novel, Stephen discusses
about family, religion, sins and se x. All of these epiphanies allo w the chara cter to gain
consciousness . At the end of the novel , the narrative is much more sophisticated : ‘His mind when
wearied of its search for the essence of beauty amid the spectral words of Aristotle or Aquinas
turned often for its pleasure to the dainty songs of the Elizabethans. His mind, ”in the vesture of a
doubting monk, stood often in shadow under th e windows of that age, to hear the grave and
mocking music of the lutenists or the frank laughter of waistcoateers until a laugh too low, a
phrase, tarnished by time, of chambering and false honour, stung his monkish pride and drove him
on from his lurking -place”1. His thoughts r eveal that he has a higher intelle ct than his friends due
to personal co ntemplation .
The modernist technique of the stream -of-consciousness is a lso used by Salman Rushdie ,
in Midnight ’s children. His na rrative style is alwa ys shifting : at the beginning o f the novel , the

1 James J oyce, A Port rait of the Artist as a Young Man , page 235.

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first-person storyteller, Saleem Sinai, narrates as he wants to finish the story before he dies. Saleem
presents different sto ries from generations, leavi ng holes in some stories : ”And there are so many
stories to tell …staring from the point it really beg an”2.
In terms of modernist view s on the plot, it can also be observed the use o f multiple
perspectives ; Padma (Saleem ’s liste ner) plays both a passive role as an audience me mber and an
active role when she interjects, making comments and suggestions for the man. This way, Padma
acts as she was a reader , sometimes being skepti cal or critical ab out the narrations, an d also
Rushdie can anticipate the (real) readers ’ frustration s, addressing any concerns one might have.
These methods used in both of the novels are not used to ps ychologically anal yze a
character but to depict his inner thoughts through out time (from childhood to adulthood , in
Stephen ’s case, and fro m the las t thirty -two years , in Saleem ’s case ).

2. National ism and Irish identi ty are issues that c an be seen through out James Joyce ’s A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man due to the fact t hat they were pervasi ve in the Irish society.
Therefore, they occupy an important position in S tephen Dedalus ’ personal growth. From infancy,
he has shown his nationalistic spirit, feeling like he belonged to Ireland : the colours th at were used
to allegorize Irish politicians ( ”…the brush with the green velvet back for Parnell an d the brush
with the maroon velvet back for Michael Davit t”3) and the hierarchical scale that positions himself
in the centre of world (”Stephen Dedalus/ Class of elemen ts/ C longowes Wood College / Sallin s/
Country Kidare/ Irelan d/ Europe/ The Wor ld/ The Univers e”). Choosing green and maroon and
not mentioning the United Kingdom4 illustrate Stephan ’s sense of bel onging to his country. One
may notice that the character is d evoted to Ireland but not in a conservative nationalistic way since
he wants his country to be released from the d omination of the inflexi ble Catholi cism . Steph en
Dedalus (as the voice of Joyce ’s persona l thoughts ) considers that Ireland cannot thrive when it is
subordinate d to the United Kingdo m’s poli tical and cultural beliefs. This opinion is reflected in
the dialogue that he has with a young nationalist, Davin, ‘the peasant student ’: ”worshipped the
sorrowful legend of Irelan d… His nurse had taugh t him Irish and shaped his rude imagination by
the broken lights of Irish myt h”5. Stephen rejects the Celtic myth and any form of regressive

2 Salman Rush die, Midnight ’s chi ldren, page 9.
3 James Joyce, A Port rait of the Artist as a Young Man , page 20.
4 during t he time in which Joyce wrote the n ovel, Ireland was part of the United King dom.
5 Ibide m, page 239.

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nationalism. Joyc e’s point is that the society has to abandon its ancest ral conservatism and
contrad ictions, in order to pro gress.
Indian nationalism is analyzed by Salman Rush die, in Midnight ’s chi ldren. Salee m Sinai
and other fiv e-hundred -eighty -one chi ldren were born during the midnight hour of Indian
Independence. All these children have particular quality – some kind of gi ft – and sharing their
moment of birth with the country ’s symbolize s various possibilities for India . As Saleem was
growing up, he could see the fights between India an d its neighbo rs. As the storyteller , he b eliefs
that through the wars, India validated its national identity and nationalism is a consequence of the
fight for freedom. Saleem us es the met aphor of ‘swallow ing’ (”To understand just one life, you
have to swallow the world ”6) for problems such as supremacy, boundaries, marginalization.
Saleem and India ’s tales are bound together ; thus , he feels the urge to ”write the future as he has
written the past, to set it down with the absolute certainty of a prophet ”7.
Bibliog raphy
Joyce, Jame s, A Port rait of the Artist as a Young Man , in
https://www.scribd.com/read/271673879/A -Portrait-of-the-Artist -as-a-Young -Man# , consu lted
on 18th of January, 2021 ;
Rushdie , Salman , Midnight children, in
https://www.academia.edu/43190621/Salman_Rushdie_Copiii_din_miez_de_noapte , consulted
on the 18th of January, 2021.

6 Salman Rushdie, Midnight ’s chi ldren , page 109.
7 Ibidem , page 448.