In the first book-length study of the comedic in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Roy Gottfried argues that, far from being a solemn work, Joyce’s early masterpiece is covertly but determinedly comic. Specifically, he looks at the Portrait’s narrative structure, the protagonist Stephen’s conscious disavowal of humor, and Joyce’s comic use of word-play, vulgarity, and gendered language to establish the work’s doubled nature.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
"An overall argument that is strong and sound and important to our understanding of Joyce’s comic project."--Claire A. Culleton, Kent State University
In the first book-length study of the comedic in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Roy Gottfried argues that, far from being a solemn work, Joyce’s early masterpiece is covertly but determinedly comic. Specifically, he looks at the Portrait’s narrative structure, the protagonist Stephen’s conscious disavowal of humor, and Joyce’s comic use of word-play, vulgarity, and gendered language to establish the work’s doubled nature.
In Portrait of the Artist, Gottfried argues, Stephen attempts to put all humor away from him, perceiving it as a temptation to abandon his sense of high seriousness and mission. Routinely, however, the comedic intrudes, creating a shadow or a double that challenges the very nature of "portraiture."
Central to Gottfried’s argument and method is a comparison of Portrait and the earlier Stephen Hero, in which Gottfried demonstrates how Joyce deliberately edited the more overtly comic Stephen Hero to create a Portrait in which the comedic is diffused and backgrounded but never erased, existing always just beyond or behind the text.
Gottfried also looks at Joyce’s early theorizing about the comic, the development of his prose style across time, and the comedic influence of popular culture on Portrait. Challenging long-held assumptions in Joyce scholarship, Joyce’s Comic Portrait is an original and lively contribution of interest to students and scholars alike.
Roy Gottfried is professor of English at Vanderbilt University and author of Joyce’s Iritis and the Irritated Text: The Dis-lexic Ulysses (UPF, 1995), winner of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Book Award.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
James Exonerated, Given the Credit He Deserves,
This review is from: Joyce's Comic Portrait (Florida James Joyce) (Hardcover)
James Joyce, oft regarded as the singular sensation of modern literature, rarely receives the attention of today's literary critics which he has undoubtedly earned. Roy Gottfried, however, the leading Joyce scholar of the century, has presented this trilogy to spread the word of James' power of prose. Professor Gottfried, I commend you on a job well done, a book so flawlessy captivating that none can resist. Please accept my deepest thanks, mere pittance for the work which you have bestowed upon me and my fellow scholars.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
