The Dialogic Imagination of Joyce: Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses

Transcription

1 Sonderdrucke aus der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg MONIKA FLUDERNIK The Dialogic Imagination of Joyce Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses Originalbeitrag erschienen in: Style 20 (1986), S

2 Monika Fludernik The Dialogic Imagination of Joyce: Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses The acknowledgment of Joyce's mastery in portraying the hazards of )nversation or communication in Dublin has become a commonplace in the itical assessment of Joyce's work. Indeed, it would seem that the various )nversations recorded in Ulysses must have been taken down by the unbiased.;n of a practiced stenographer or captured and faithfully reproduced on a pe recorder. The reader's conviction of being placed in the singular position 'an immediate witness to the action can, however, be revealed as an illusion. id recognized as the effect and indeed purpose of Joyce's adept managelent of the dialogue. In this connection, Joyceans are indebted to the acuity Hugh Kenner, C. H. Peake, and others for having furnished them with new 'sights. In spite of the general recognition of Joyce's achievements in the handling r dialogue, few studies have concentrated on an examination of the forms Id functions of dialogue in his work.' This may be due to the critics' awareness iat one could not cut off the dialogue from the remainder of the text without -avely distorting the text's meaningful unity and texture. Indeed, in assessing le dialogue in Ulysses, one soon finds oneself beset by questions of how to istinguish dialogue from surrounding narrative, or of how to define the inter- Aationship between narrative proper (Erzeihlerbericht) and the recording of haracters' utterances. Perhaps it is this difficulty which has so far stood in le way of a more thoroughgoing appreciation of Joyce's dialogues. Dealing.ith the function of dialogue necessarily involves one's proceeding from a tore or less fully established theory of discourse to avoid becoming entangled narratological controversy. A critic's assessment of the function(s) of dia- )gue will thus implicitly depend on his or her views on the text as a whole. nd his analysis of the dialogue will therefore of necessity be a partial or deological one. It is such a partial view of dialogue in Ulysses that I propose here. The heoretical basis for my argument derives from F. K. Stanzel's A Theory of kirrative and has been detailed in my article "Narrative and its Development n Ulysses." Dialogue is here used as a synonym for the recording of characters' itterances, and its function and form are determined by the qualities of the iarrative in each individual episode. Since the narrative, by definition, mediates ictive reality to the reader, it is free to quote characters' utterances as they 2 STYLE.. Volume 20, No. 1, Spring 1986

3 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 43 occur, to suppress or distort them, to comment on them, or use them playfully for its own ends. The more objective a narrative is that is, the more it seems to provide an illusion of rendering fictive reality immediately the more thoroughly it will attempt to present characters' utterances as verbatim as possible. On the other hand, to the degree that a narrative is self-conscious, artificial, or fictive, it will appropriate the words of its fictional characters, abbreviating and paraphrasing, suppressing or even distorting them. It is thus that a scale of discrete forms of dialogue in fiction becomes established, ranging from (a) direct quotation of characters' utterances (with or without commentatory inquit tags), (b) discours indirect libre (DIL), 2 and (c) indirect (reported) speech to (d) speech report, 3 in which the narrative fully takes over, recounting what a character is saying in the narrative's own words.4 On the basis of these elementary distinctions let us now turn to Ulysses. I Dialogue as a whole takes up some 19% of the text of Ulysses. This does not include "Circe" and "Ithaca," since both episodes, though cast into the form of dialogue, do not necessarily record (realistic) utterances by individual characters. 5 If one included the dialogue parts of "Circe" that is, exclusive of the stage directions the percentage would rise to Over 60% of the dialogue is direct speech, quoted by means of an introductory dash (from now on called "marked dialogue") and most frequently integrated into the narrative by means of introductory inquit phrases or intervening and postposed inquit tags.' It is also found in mere juxtaposition to the narrative. Marked dialogue occurs in episodes one to thirteen ("Telemachus" to "Nausicaa") and in "Eumaeus." In some chapters it can also be part of passages of interior monologue. "Unmarked" direct speech in minor quantities occurs in "Sirens" and in some earlier sections of interior monologue, in which it refers to remembered or imagined utterances. In "Oxen of the Sun" unmarked direct speech in some measure takes the place of marked dialogue. 18.2% of this episode consists of direct speech flanked by inquit tags ("quoted" direct speech), and an additional 11.3% is unquoted direct speech. Instances of discours indirect libre (DIL) for the presentation of speech occur in "Hades" this one instance is however ambiguous 8 in "Wandering Rocks" (several instances), in some phrases in "Sirens" and "Nausicaa" as well as in "Oxen of the Sun." DIL becomes a major device for rendering characters' utterances in "Eumaeus." Reported speech, too, appears mainly in "Eumaeus" and "Oxen of the Sun." Before that point it occurs only in brief passages in "Sirens" and "Nausicaa." Speech report, finally, occurs first in "Sirens," becomes more prominent in "Cyclops," and constitutes a large part of both "Oxen of the Sun" and "Eumaeus."

4 44 Monika Fludernik From this brief survey it becomes immediately apparent that marked dialogue is the major form of dialogue in Ulysses. It prevails from the beginning of the novel up to "Cyclops" and reappears in a less prominent fashion in "Nausicaa" and "Eumaeus." Up to "Scylla and Charybdis" marked dialogue has a monopoly, which is then partly challenged in "Wandering Rocks" and "Sirens," and destroyed in "Cyclops" and "Nausicaa," where it has to compete with other forms of dialogue. When marked dialogue reappears in "Eumaeus," it occurs in conjunction with, and in contrast to, the mediate forms of speech (that is, DIL, reported speech, and speech report). One also needs to point out that Bloom's utterances are here distorted by the style of the narrative, becoming absurdly artificial and quite unlike his former style of conversation: No, Mr. Bloom repeated again, I wouldn't personally repose much trust in that boon companion of yours who contributes the humorous element, Dr. Mulligan, as a guide, philosopher and friend if I were in your shoes. He knows which side his bread is buttered on though in all probability he never realised what it is to he without regular meals. (540/620/ 1357) This chimes in well with the development of the narrative as a whole as explained in my article "Narrative and its Development in Ulysses." Marked dialogue occurs precisely in those episodes in which some kind of realistic presentation is aimed at that is to say, at the beginning of the novel and with decreasing intensity up to "Nausicaa." "Scylla and Charybdis," "Wandering Rocks," and "Sirens" in particular are the first episodes in which the narrative evinces pervasive playfulness, a playfulness which in turn renders what is being described less and less "realistic." Hence it is significant that the monopoly of marked dialogue becomes challenged at precisely this point in the development of the narrative. The move away from realistic portrayal is continued beyond "Sirens" and the percentage of marked dialogue accordingly decreases. Significantly, "Oxen of the Sun" with its crass distortion of reality is the first episode not to use any marked dialogue. In the subsequent chapters, dialogue disappears completely as a recognizable unit.' In "Circe" it is hard to distinguish "realistic" from "fantastic" passages: Bloom talks in his interior monologue style even out of fantasies (see Bloom's encounter with Mrs. Breen [434/443/957D, and there are seemingly "realistic" passages that have quite fantastic stage directions, as, for example, at the very beginning of the episode. After the "destruction of all time and space" in "Circe" t we encounter in "Eumaeus" a new effort to set up conventional values. Significantly, this is where marked dialogue reappears if only to become invalidated as a measure of realism, just as the narrative in itself proves a stumbling block to an acceptable interpretation of fictive reality. The allusion is to the distortion of the dialogue in accordance with the conventions of Eumaean prose. This "narrative to end all narratives" stresses the impossibility of rendering fictive reality by means of language rather than

5 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 45 succeeding in once again reassuring the reader about the objectivity of the fictive world. The case is similar for "Ithaca." Scientific language is not able to describe reality appropriately, either because science has no sensorium to distinguish between relevancy and irrelevancy of detail (it has to be exhaustive in order to be scientific), or because it cannot describe the reality of religious or aesthetic experience." In "Ithaca" Bloom's and Stephen's utterances can only be referred to, not narrated. We frequently conclude from a question that a conversation has been going on and receive gleanings of its content in the subsequent answer. '2 Except for snatches of people's utterances, "Penelope" does not contain any forms of dialogue. Molly's musings, however, in a sense prove to be an exchange of sorts between two parts of her own ego: she is talking to herself. Yet both Bloom's and Stephen's monologues have similar dialogic qualities. These are only so much more apparent in Molly's monologue because the language she uses is quite more colloquial than that of either Bloom or Stephen. Molly's polylogue to herself is significant because it foregrounds the intertextuality of language to a much higher degree than do the musings of the two male protagonists. Her thinking is a random medley of words and phrases encountered, recorded, and rearranged by and in her mind. The very lack of a systematic principle of molding these discordant elements into a harmonious melody of her own makes the sources of this medley more conspicuous to the reader than the restrained remembrances of quotations or scientific laws in the minds of Stephen or Bloom. As an aside let me here briefly comment on the communicative situation of the dialogues I am here concerned with all kinds of dialogue, not merely marked dialogue in Ulysses. In a very striking way, the conversational exchanges in Ulysses all belong to two of the four types of dialogue suggested by Gerhard Bauer in his typology: they are either "open dialogues" or "conversations." In both types the communicative function or effect is at its minimum. In "open dialogue" characters talk at cross-purposes; in "conversations" they talk for the sake of talking. The two types can easily be illustrated in Ulysses. Stephen and Mulligan, Stephen and Deasy, or Stephen and Bloom (in "Eumaeus") do not manage to find common ground in their communications, and the same is true for Bloom's talk with M'Coy, his discussion with the Citizen, or with Nannetti. On the other hand, whenever Dubliners meet, they practice the art of "conversation," airing their gifts for oratory, whether in a coach on the way to Dignam's funeral, in an editor's office, or in a pub. This also applies to the endless discussions in "Oxen of the Sun," in which unmarked direct speech has been substituted for the marked dialogue of earlier episodes. Bauer's typology can of course only be marginally relevant to the discussion of Ulysses, yet in a general sense it helps to locate characteristically modern features of the novel's presentation of dialogue.

6 36 Monika Fludernik To turn back to the marked dialogue. Since marked dialogue echoes characters' utterances realistically, there does not seem to be any possible development in marked dialogue per se. Nevertheless, formal variation is possible in the integration of the dialogue into the narrative. Here one can point to several stages of development between "Telemachus" and "Nausicaa," which, incidentally, reflect the general tendencies in the development of the narrative proper in these episodes. Most of the marked dialogue is introduced by, interspersed with, or followed by inquit tags. In the early parts of the novel these tags are unobtrusive and thus intensify the illusion of an immediate presentation of fictive reality, of its authenticity. Sometimes these tags are even written from Stephen's or Bloom's point of view, describing their sensations of reality rather than providing an "objective" account of what is happening: - Have you the key? a voice [Haines'] asked. (18/11/21) - That was terrible, Mr. Power's shocked face said, and the corpse fell about the road. Terrible! (100/98/201) Since the reader's illusion of seeing into Stephen's (Bloom's) mind is intensified rather than hampered by these means, the overall effect is the same as with unobtrusive inquit tags. As the novel progresses, however, inquit tags become more varied' 3 and hence more noticeable. This development can be traced from "Aeolus" onwards. In "Lestrygonians" it is particularly evident. When Bloom leaves the bar to go to the toilet, there is a drastic change in the integration of the dialogue. Inquit tags become more numerous and more varied in their use of verbs and characteristic adverbs. As in "Aeolus," the use of striking tags can be interpreted as a sign of the emancipation of the narrative from Bloom's point of view or as a sign of "outward" (exterior) perspective in general. (The two are of course interrelated.) In "Scylla and Charybdis" and "Sirens" inquit tags are playful and quite obtrusive. They consequently relativize or satirize the actual utterances. The dialogue has become a mere function of the playful narrative; it no longer seems to exist in its own right. This incidentally applies to "Eumaeus" as well. ("Eumaeus" is the episode with the greatest number of prominent inquit tags.) In that episode the influence of the narrative on the dialogue even extends to the distortion of Bloom's very utterances, as we have seen. The earlier distancing of the narrative from Bloom's point of view is also though more subtly mirrored in another aspect of the presentation of dialogue. There is a standard pattern for marked dialogue in the episodes up to "Scylla and Charybdis" or "Wandering Rocks." Marked dialogue, particularly in the episodes up to "Cyclops," serves to render the main events of each chapter. (Most of the action of Ulysses is contained in talking, in dialogue, in communication.) All of the early episodes fall into distinct sequences more

7 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 47 appropriately "scenes" which are defined by who is talking to whom and about what. Dialogue is thus of supreme structural importance for the novel. Conversations between characters in these scenes are prevalently rendered en bloc and separated from each other by passages of (Stephen's or Bloom's) stream of consciousness. The standard pattern for such blocks of dialogue is to be interspersed not only with inquit tags but also with brief passages of narrative and/or stream of consciousness (most frequently interior monologue). This results in the reader's illusion that he is a witness to every single word uttered, to every minute action or movement on the part of the characters as well as to Bloom's or Stephen's every thought accompanying these actions. Stephen's exchange with Deasy is a good example of this standard pattern. (For Bloom see his talk with Mrs. Breen [156-59/156-59/329-35], or with Nannetti [121-23/119-21/247-51].) In "Telemachus" and "Nestor" Stephen's interior monologue thus comments on what is going on to an extent that the reader has little difficulty in recognizing how to interpret the scene in question. With the appearance of Bloom, however, there is a slight though at first hardly noticeable change. When Bloom meets M'Coy, Bloom's thoughts give one enough information to judge of the implications of the scene. But by "Hades" Bloom's musings no longer provide an adequate tool for ascertaining the narrative's intentions. On the contrary, by hindsight, one now starts to query the validity of one's earlier responses to the M'Coy exchange. The problem is that the function or "meaning" of scenes is no longer immediately apparent nor can it be reconstructed from the reaction of Bloom alone. Bloom's point of view is not to be trusted completely any longer. The reader is meant to contrast Bloom's interpretation of the goings-on with his own information provided by the context. All of this is naturally part of the already cited distancing of the narrative from Bloom's point of view. The change has formal consequences as well. Frequently there is little flanking interior monologue to guide the reader, and the dialogue is juxtaposed with detailed descriptions of the interlocutors' gestures. A good example of this kind of dialogue is the final scene of "Hades." Menton's reaction to Bloom's polite hint about the dinge in his hat (117/115/237) is rendered in every detail. However, it is only some lines after the exchange has taken place that we learn about the conclusions Bloom draws from the encounter: "How great we are this morning." Earlier on we read: "Bloom drew back, chapfallen." The reader is left to assess Menton's behavior and the significance of the whole scene for himself." What I should like to proffer as a suggestion is that dialogue increasingly develops into a vehicle for illuminative sketches (not to use the term epiphany) of relations between people or of characteristic traits of some of the Dubliners. What better way of describing Cunningham's tact than in the Menton scene or when he is trying to keep Power from indulging in his harangue on suicide! In one way or another, all the exchanges between the four mourners in the

8 48 Monika Fludernik coach are highly typical either of their personal qualities and opinions or of their reaction to Bloom. That the reader is in fact encouraged to take this critical stance in his response to, or interpretation of, fictive reality is prepared for by the gradual distancing of the narrative from Bloom's point of view. The reader can no longer wholeheartedly identify with "Mr. Bloom," because the narrative has already started to get absurdly detailed," and in "Hades" point of view has in fact already once shifted from Bloom to Mr. Power' 6 and shut out Bloom in two further passages (compare 103/101/207; 104/102-03/209-11; and /l06-07/2l7-l9).' Nevertheless, up to "Wandering Rocks," presentation of dialogue remains realistic enough for speech frequency to constitute a relevant tool in determining how characters behave in conversation. One can show conclusively, for instance, that Bloom talks very little on the whole but that when he gets interested in a subject, he can talk at great length, in fact just as much as the others talk on the average.' 8 (This trait is also confirmed by the evidence of the first-person narrative of "Cyclops," which is fairly realistic if biased against Bloom.) Speech frequency is relevant also as a major factor in the portrayal of Stephen and Mulligan in "Telemachus": Mulligan talks volubly and incessantly, whereas Stephen is a passive listener, answers questions rather than asking any. When he says a few words, he does so in a low voice.19 After "Wandering Rocks" the block pattern disintegrates completely owing to the occurrence of mediated forms of dialogue such as DIL. This also means that speech frequency can no longer be counted. Both facts are of course consequences of the narrative's dissociation from "consistently realistic presentation." For the sake of comprehensiveness let us now turn to the remaining forms of dialogue unmarked direct speech, DIL, reported speech, and speech report. The first of these, direct speech without introductory dash, occurs above all in "Oxen of the Sun," where it seems to be used in the place of marked dialogue. The stylistically very striking setup of this episode extends to the inquit tags. We recognize Bloom in the guise of "the traveller Leopold" (384/ 386/831) or "childe Leopold" (385/387/835), "Master Bloom" (392/395/851), "Calmer" (392/395/851), "Mr Cautious Calmer" (393/396/853), "Leop. Bloom" (394/397/855), "Mr. Leopold" (396/399/859), and "Mr. Canvasser Bloom" (407/410/883). Similarly, effective epithets are applied to the other main characters. On/e can assume that the pastiche style presumably had its influence on the choice of reported speech and DIL as more conventional forms of dialogue. The approach is not exclusively determined by historical accuracy,

9 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 49 however, since indirect speech, which briefly occurs in the "Middle English" passages, was no prevalent feature of the older English literary works. DIL only occurs rarely (see, for example, "Merciful providence had been pleased" [403/406/875]) 20 and too "early" in historical respects. (DIL does not appear in English texts before the late eighteenth century, although there are some disputed cases in Chaucer not generally accepted as such by philologists [See Karpf ].) The language of juxtaposed exclamations at the end of the chapter aptly pictures afterbirth chaos or the (linguistic) chaos in the Empire's offspring, namely its colonies. DIL, reported speech, and speech report in "Eumaeus" are little more than signs of conventional style. Except for the few exchanges between Bloom and Stephen given in marked dialogue, all of Bloom's harangues are rendered in a mixture of these three devices, and so is Corley's demand for a tip (536-37/616-17/ ). The mediate forms of speech are not only more conventional, they are also more out of date and prone to becoming tedious if used for longer passages. Hence they admirably match the characteristics of Eumaean prose. In earlier episodes, DIL and reported speech or unmarked direct speech occur only as playful interludes or contretemps to the prevalent marked dialogue. This kind of word game starts in "Scylla and Charybdis" with the musical notation of the Gloria (and the pastiche on the Creed preceding it [197-98/197-98/423]), the blank verse pastiche (203/203/435) and the "play" passage (209-10/209-10/447-51) an anticipation of "Circe." In "Aeolus," oratory has invaded the spoken language as well, yet no formal play has resulted from the fact. With "Wandering Rocks," dialogue becomes more varied in form, and these formal variations are used for specifically ironic purposes. The passages of DIL for the representation of speech are Conmee's conversation with Mrs. Sheehy (218-19/219/471-73), the three boys (219/220/473), and Mrs. McGuinness (220/220/473-75), Jimmy Henry's harangue on the Irish language (246/247/531), and Lenehan's story of Rochford's heroic effort in a case of emergency (232/233/501). It should be noted that DIL in "Wandering Rocks" also occurs for the presentation of thought in connection with Father Conmee, Master Dignam, and M'Coy ( / / ). In the case of Conmee, Joyce seems to have settled for a consistent use of DIL in a revision of the priest's chat with Mrs. McGuinness. 2' In this passage Joyce changed all present tense verbs into the past. The result of this change is certainly very comical, since many of the resulting syntactic idiosyncrasies would not customarily occur in passages of DIL, for these are frequently designed to lessen, rather than increase, the distance between the narrator and his characters, Phrases such as "[He] begged to be remembered to Mr. David Sheehy, M.P." arc artificial as well as naive and effectively mirror Conmee's prevalent traits of character.

10 SO Monika Fludernik The "Sirens" and "Cyclops" episodes stand out from the others also on Account of their treatment of dialogue. In "Sirens" the conversation in the Ormond Hotel is most conspicuously at the mercy of the playful narrator. The 'major themes, or voices" that is, the utterances of the major characters Are allowed to penetrate to the reader without a filter, though they are wrapped in inquit tags, whose playfulness is reminiscent of "Scylla and Charybdis." there are also "answers" by the narrative to questions asked in the dialogue, such as: - Poor old Goodwin was the pianist that night, Father Cowley reminded thew. There was a slight difference of opinion between himself and the Collard grand. There was. (267/268/577)2' Characters' utterances, when treated as minor themes, become engulfed in the narrative's tendency towards overall (musical) patterning. We get extremely brief passages of reported speech or DIL: First gentleman told Mina that was so. She asked him was that so. And second tankard told her so. That that was so. (276/277/599) She [Miss Douce] had a gorgeous, simply gorgeous, time. And look at the lovely shell she brought (279/281/605) Sometimes we encounter direct speech without quotation as part of Bloom's interior monologue or as part of a playful arrangement of acoustic facts by the narrative: Hello. Where off to? Something to eat? I too was just. In here. What, Ormond? Best value in Dublin. Is that so? Diningroom. Sit tight there. See, not be seen. I think I'll join you. Come on. Richie led on. Bloom followed bag. Dinner fit for a prince. (264/265/571) Technically one of the most memorable passages of "Sirens" is the echoing of the Croppy Boy (281-85/282-87/611-19). It is not at all clear whether the text is a rendering of Bloom's thoughts or a rearrangement of Bloom's sensations in the style of the narrative. Yet in its evocative obscurity the passage serves its purpose very well. It succeeds in portraying the artificiality and the bathos of such patriotic songs, while at the same time conceding them to have a fascination not easily resisted. A particularly interesting passage in the middle of "Sirens" also shows how completely the narrative has taken control of the dialogue: - Our friend Bloom turned in handy that night, Mr. Dedalus said. Where's my pipe by the way? I saved the situation, Ben, I think. - You did, averred Ben Dollard. I remember those tight trousers too. That was a brilliant idea, Bob.

11 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 51 Father Cowley blushed to his brilliant purply lobes. He saved the situa. Tight trou. Brilliant ide. - I knew he was on the rocks, he said. The wife was playing the piano [ Remember? Ben remembered, his broad visage wondering. - By God she had some luxurious opera cloaks and things there. Mr. Dedalus wandered back, pipe in hand. - Marion square style. Bal!dresses, by God, and court dresses. [ ] What? - Ay, ay, Mr. Dedalus nodded. Mrs. Marion Bloom has left off clothes of all description. - What's this her name was? A buxom lassy. Marion. - Tweedy. - Yes. Is she alive? - And kicking. - She was daughter of... - Daughter of the regiment. - Yes, begad. I remember the old drummajor. Mr. Dedalus struck, whizzed, lit, puffed savoury puff after. - Irish? I don't know, faith. Is she Simon? Puff after stiff, a puff, strong, savoury, crackling. Buccinator muscle is... What?... Bit rusty... 0, she is... My Irish Molly, 0. He puffed a pungent plumy blast. - From the rock of Gibraltar... all the way. (267-68/268-69/581) In the latter part of this section the reader has to reconstruct laboriously who is actually saying what. Whereas in former episodes the lack of inquit tags intensified illusions of immediate presentation, it has here the very opposite effect. The reader is made aware of the narrative as the arranging instance. In actual fact it is Ben who asks about Molly's maiden name, but we only reconstruct this from incidental evidence. Cowley, we learn, knew Bloom's address at the period discussed, and thus he was presumably informed about his personal situation. That Cowley is the person who answers is further deduced from the fact that he then has to ask Dedalus to confirm whether Molly is Irish or no. Typically, Ben's question on that point is suppressed by the narrative, effaced by Simon's puffing. One could regard this passage as a parody on the minutely detailed reporting in earlier episodes since it purports to let the reader have all the information available to a person present at the scene while surreptitiously denying him the relevant clues for interpretation. A similar situation, though this time in connection with the garrulous first-person narrator, arises in "Cyclops." The Unnamable One has absolute power over Bloom's utterances. Most of his remarks are either paraphrased or suppressed: So they started talking about capital punishment and of course Bloom comes out with the why and the wherefore and all the codology of the business and the old dog smelling him all the time [ j about I don't know what all deterrent effect and so forth and so on. (302/304/657) - That can be explained by science, says Bloom. It's only a natural phenomenon, don't you see, because on account of the... And then he starts with his jawbreakers about phenomenon and science and this phenomenon and the other phenomenon. (303/304/657)

12 52 Monika Fludernik On account of the first-person narrative, dialogue in "Cyclops" is fundamentally different from that in earlier episodes: we are confronted with an active narrator, for one, whose presentation of the goings-on gives shape and scope to the dialogue. There are no longer blocks of dialogue (a convention already subverted in "Wandering Rocks" and "Sirens" on account of the competitive forms of rendered discourse) except for the natural divisions resulting from the interruption by pastiches. The numerous tags are almost exclusively on the "says Joe" pattern, which is both colloquial and assertive, emphasizing the speaker's presence in the text rather than rendering him unobtrusive. In the pastiche passages dialogue naturally takes the form appropriate to the individual styles parodied. In this respect there are similarities to "Oxen of the Sun," though the dialogue in "Oxen of the Sun" cannot exclusively be said to conform to the historical pattern, possibly owing to the necessity of providing a longer cohesive text. III The forms and function of dialogue in Ulysses as I have presented them are to be seen in direct connection with the subtle modulations of the narrative itself. Let me briefly summarize in chronological order what has so far mainly been presented methodologically. In the early episodes, most particularly in the Telemachiad, dialogue not only serves to structure the chapters but also intensifies the effect of a quasi-authentic report by a minutely detailed description of events. From "Calypso" onwards this basic pattern formally marked dialogue introduced by tags and interspersed with passages of interior monologue and/or narrative becomes slightly modified by the narrative development towards partial distancing from Bloom's point of view. By the time we arrive at "Hades," dialogue passages succeed in being suggestive on their own without much comment in the accompanying interior monologue of Bloom. From "Aeolus" onwards the dialogue itself becomes modified. Rhetorical ornament increases in "Aeolus" and in "Scylla and Charybdis" still justified by the situations described with additional formal flourishes in the latter episode. DIL (used ironically) in "Wandering Rocks" and reported speech and speech report in "Sirens" (plus unmarked direct speech) appear in connection with a narrative quite openly frivolous and unreliable in its choice of material. Once one arrives at "Cyclops" and "Nausicaa," the authorial (narratorial) forms of dialogue, in particular speech report, assert themselves as competitive forms of dialogue. With the eventual disappearance of realistic presentation criteria in "Oxen of the Sun," the dash of marked dialogue becomes superfluous. "Circe" and "Ithaca" employ nonnarrative dialogue forms, whereas the use of speech report, reported speech, and DIL in "Eumaeus" is a sign of conventional discourse in the same measure as the longish absurd inquit phrases

13 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 53 in that episode, which serve to transform the atmosphere into one of comedy or farce. The final satiric touch is provided by the distortion of Bloom's manner and speech to fit the norms of the narrative. I have also pointed out that the formal properties of dialogue, which correlate with the development of the narrative in Ulysses, are dependent on. the underlying change from realistic to mythic presentation. In effect, the dialogue is in all respects a function or extension of the narrative and hence determined by its development and rationale. IV. This leaves me with a very interesting passage from "Proteus," the mastery of which only becomes clear in the light of an examination of narrative and dialogue techniques in the Telemachiad. The passage is Stephen's imagined visit to Aunt Sara's (44-45/38-39/79-81). The pattern is that of "Telemachus" or "Nestor" only in the first person and in the present tense. There are no inquit tags; the absurd sequence of exchanges explains itself. Towards the end Richie is humming to himself an air which Stephen knows only too well; he remembers Richie's descanting on it hundreds of times before. (So this is remembered discourse in Stephen's interior monologue.) The passage has all the inventory of the narrative in "Telemachus": narrative proper ("They take me for a dun, peer out from a coign of vantage"), interior monologue ("Papa's little bedpal. Lump of love"), marked dialogue, narrated perception 23 ("In his broad bed nuncle Richie, pillowed and blanketed, extends over the hillock of his knees a sturdy forearm"), and even reflected/remembered speech. One can wonder whether this is meant to be a parody of Dujardin's use of interior monologue in Les lauriers sont coupes or of Schnitzler's interior monologue novels, ridiculing the characteristic recurrence of finite verbs for describing actions of the soliloquizing self in these works: "I pull the wheezy bell." In Joyce's text, however, the present tense verbs seem to serve as markers of irreality. Since there were almost no finite verbs in the preceding interior monologue passages, the unexpected appearance of a finite present tense immediately alerts the reader to a recognition of a new situation. The present tense also has the further effect of rendering Stephen's interior monologue in this scene curiously timeless; there is no past tense of report against which it could be measured. Since Stephen both remembers and imagines a typical visit at Aunt Sara's, his perspective and his thoughts determine the entire scene. The "interior monologue" ("Lump of love" and so on) can thus be Stephen's comment on what he is imagining at the time of the fantasy or a repetition of musings customarily indulged in towards nuncle Richie and his family. The "Down at Aunt Sara's Vignette" 24 is thus a simplified version of the technical constellation prevailing in "Telemachus" and "Nestor," only

14 54 Monika Fludernik with the interior monologue serving as a quasi-first-person narrative. 25 The passage does not deviate from the general narrative situation in the Telemachiad: it, too, provides the reader with an illusion of im-mediacy, of authenticity. Notes The only full-length study of dialogue in Ulysses is Mary Pringle Spraggins's "A Stylistic Analysis of Dialogue and Narrative Modes in Ulysses," which provides much statistical data without helpfully evaluating them. More pertinent general insights are attained by Karl Kroeber in Styles in Fictional Structure and by Ben Kimpel in "The Voices of Ulysses." 'For a definition of this device and its extended use in fiction, see Gunter Steinberg and Roy Pascal. Note also the recent study by Ann Banfield, which provides a radically new interpretation of the same phenomenon. German Redebericht. This formally corresponds to Cohn's psychonarration in the presentation of thought. Characters' utterances are narrated by the narrative in its own words and phraseology irrespective of the syntax and diction employed by the characters themselves. 4 This scale becomes relativized by the influences of characters' diction on the presentation. Thus, reported speech can sometimes, in the manner customary of DIL, adopt peculiar expressions by some characters for its record of their utterances. On the other hand, DIL may adapt to the style of the narrative, which is frequently a sign of ironic presentation. Compare for these two possibilities: "Barrow wanted to know whether it wasn't pretty risky going out with girls here" (my emphasis) (Dos Passos 262), and He [Dr. Middleton] left the table a little after eleven o'clock. A short dialogue ensued upon the subject of the ladies. They must have gone to bed? Why, yes; of course they must. It is good that they should go to bed early to preserve their complexions for us. Ladies are creation's glory, but they are anti-climax, recoil, cross-current; morally, they are repentance, penance; imagerially, the frozen North on the young brown buds bursting to green. What knew they of a critic in the palate and a frame all revelry! And mark you, revelry in sobriety, containment in exultation; classic revelry. Can they, dear though they be to us, light us candelabras in the brain, to illuminate all history and solve the secret of the destiny of man? They cannot; they cannot sympathize with them that can. So therefore this division is between us; yet are we not turbaned, Orientals, nor are they inmates of the harem. We are not Moslem. Be assured of it in the contemplation of the table's decanter. Dr. Middleton said: 'Then I go straight to bed.' (George Meredith, The Egoist 246) Banfield's study does not account for these facts. See below and note 9. 6 The percentages given derive from a statistical analysis of Ulysses with the quarter-line as its basic unit. For a complete account of the results of this analysis, see Fludernik "Erzdhler- und Figurensprache in James Joyces Ulysses" and appendix. 1 Examples of these types are (the tags are printed in italics): He [Mulligan] sputtered to the air

15 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 55-0, the chinless Chinaman (215/215/463)1 - Irish, Buck Mulligan said. Is there Gaelic on you (21/14/27)? - The ghost walks, professor MacHugh murmured softly, biscuitfully to the dusty windowpane (125/123/255). For the original classification and further categories see Fludernik, "Erzahler- und Figurensprache" References are to the Penguin paperback edition first, then to the Random House paperback, and finally to the new critical edition of Ulysses. In rare instances, where one or two particular lines of the text are referred to but not quoted, line numbers are added, separated from page references by a period. 8 Mr. Kernan added: - The service of the Irish Church, used in Mount Jerome, is simpler, more impressive, I must say. Mr. Bloom gave prudent assent. The language e?f* course Was another thing. (107/105/ 215; my emphasis) The italicized passage is either an oblique rendering of what Bloom prudently answers, or of what he thinks while nodding assent. It is thus DIL, though one cannot with certainty determine whether speech or thought processes are rendered by it. 9 Characters' actual utterances remain frequently unidentifiable in both "Circe" and "Ithaca" or get lost between the lines. In "Circe" this is due to the disappearance of an identifiable fictive reality. As has recently become apparent in critical discussion, "Circe" can no longer be readily split up into "fantastic" and "realistic" parts. (See Fludernik, "Erzahler- und Figurenrede" , as well as Gottlieb Gaiser "A Note on the Principle of Dramatization in 'Circe' "; Peake 268; and Kimpel 300. See Ellmann " See "the heavenborn earth" (625/704/ ), "the heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit" (619/698/1537), and the Sinhad the sailor and roc's auk's egg passage at the very end of "Ithaca." ' 2 "To what inconsequent polysyllabic question of his host did the guest return a monosyllabic negative answer (616/695/1531)?" ' 3 Variation in inquit tags can bes(ffected by choice of different and sometimes unusual verbs of saying, or by striking a verbs detailing a character's manner of speaking, accompanying gestures and the like. 14 It is of course a critical commonplace that most scenes serve to contrast Bloom positively with the rest of the Dubliners. "His [Bloom's] had took his hat from the peg over his initialled heavy overcoat and his lost property office second hand waterproof' ("Calypso" 58/56/111). 16 "He [Power] glanced behind him to where a face with dark thinking eyes followed towards the cardinal's museum. Speaking" (103/101/207). ' 7 104/102-03/ (Ned Lambert's chat with Simon Dedalus), and / / (Menton's talk with Ned Lambert and the ensuing exchange with the caretaker).

16 56 Monika Fludernik "In the first part of the episode (up to the arrival at Glasnevin), dialogue frequency is on the average nine utterances a page, with Bloom talking 2.5 times a page, which is just as much as Cunningham. (This is counting only pages on which these characters speak at all.) For the whole episode Bloom, Cunningham, and Dedalus have the same speech frequency, namely 2.3. '9 Mulligan takes up 64% of the conversation in "Telemachus," talking more frequently than either Stephen or Haines, and more volubly at that. Stephen's attitude is described as passive throughout, as becomes clear from the adverbs and adjectives used in the inquit tags: "quietly," "gloomily," "with bitterness," "depressed," "very coldly," "gravely," "listlessly," "drily," "with grim displeasure." " The quotation in full is: "Merciful providence had been pleased to put a period to the sufferings of the lady who was enceinte which she had borne with a laudable fortitude and she had given birth to a bouncing boy" (403/406/875). 21 See Groden 9. " See also "He was" (260/261/ ), "He had" (261/262/ ), and "He would" (269/270/ ). " That is, narrative adopting a character's own idiom in describing the perceptions of that character. This form is very frequently found in the whole of Ulysses. (See Fludernik "Narrative and its Development in Ulysses") See the articles by Bernard Benstock and Shari Benstock. See Casparis for the frequency of such narratives in twentieth-century works of fiction. A good example for this would be Margaret Atwood's Surfacing. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing. Toronto: General Publishing Co. Ltd., Bauer, Gerhard. Zur Poetik des Dialogs: Leistung und Formen der Gespriichsfahrung in der neueren deutschen Literatur. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Banfield, Ann. Unspeakable Sentences: Narration and Representation in the Language of Fiction. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Benstock, Bernard. "What Stephen Says: Joyce's Second Portrait of the Artist." 'Ulysses' cinquante ans apres: Temoignages franco-anglais sur le chef d'oeuvre de James Joyce. Ed. Louis Bonnerot. Paris: Didier, Benstock, Shari. "The Dynamics of Narrative Performance: Stephen Dedalus as Storyteller." ELH 49 (1982): Casparis, Christian Paul. Tense Without Time: The Present Tense in Narration. Bern: Francke, Cohn, Dorrit. Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction. Princeton: Princeton UP, Dos Passos, John. U.S.A. Harmondsworth: PenAuin, Ellmann, Richard. Ulysses on the Liffey. London: Faber, Fludernik, Monika. "ErzAhler- und Figurensprache in James Joyces Ulysses." Diss. U of Graz, 1982.

17 Form and Function of Dialogue in Ulysses 57 "Narrative and its Development in Ulysses." Journal of Narrative Technique 16.1 (1986): Gaiser, Gottlieb. "A Note on the Principle of Dramatization in 'Circe.' "J/IQ 16 ( ): Groden, Michael, et al. Ulysses: 'Wandering Rocks,"Sirens,"Cyclops,' & Wausicaa': A Facsimile of Manuscripts and Typescripts for Episodes The James Joyce Archive 13. New York & London: Garland, Joyce, James. Ulysses. Harmondsworth: Penguin, Ulysses. New York: Random House, Ulysses: A critical and synoptic edition. Ed. Hans Walter Gabler, Wolfhard Steppe, and Claus Melchior. New York & London: Garland, Karpf, Fritz. "Die erlebte Rede im alteren Englischen und in volkstiimlicher Redeltise." Die Neueren Sprachen ns 36 (1928): Kenner, Hugh. Joyce's Voices. London: Faber, Ulysses. London: Allen & Unwin, Kimpel, Ben. "The Voices of Ulysses." Style 9 ( ): Kroeber, Karl. Styles in Fictional Structure: The Art of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and George Eliot. Princeton: Princeton UP, Meredith, George. The Egoist. Harmondsworth: Penguin, Pascal, Roy. The Dual Voice: Free Indirect Speech and its Functioning in the Nineteenth Century European Novel. Manchester: Manchester UP, Peake, Charles H. James Joyce: The Citizen and the Artist. London: Edward Arnold, Spraggins, Mary Pringle. "A Stylistic Analysis of Dialogue and Narrative Modes in Ulysses." Diss. U of Minnesota, DAI 38 (1977): 3490 A. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International. Cat. No Stanzel, F. K. A Theory of Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Steinberg, Giinter. Erlebte Rede: Ihre Eigenart und ihre Formen in neuerer deutscher, franzosischer und englischer Erzahlliteratur. GOppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik GOppingen: Alfred Kummerle, 1971.