Chapter Six Summing Up

Transcription

1 184 Chapter Six Summing Up -Metempsychosis? -Yes. Who's he when he's at home? -Metempsychosis, he said, frowning. It's Greek: from the Greek. That means the transmigration of souls....that we live after death....that a man's soul after he dies. (64) This conversation between Bloom and Molly Bloom (Ulysses 64) establishes the idea that the soul of Odysseus is reborn as Bloom, an Irish-Jew, and this throws light on the transposition of myth sub specie tempo ris nostri as well. Similarly, in A Portrait, the soul of the classical Daedalus is reincarnate as Stephen Dedalus, the Greek-Christian-Irishman. In Joyce, we have anovelist who, through the ingenious use of myths, builds bridges between the past and the present, and also between different cultures and ages. Thus Homer's hero is reborn as Bloom, an Irish-Jew, while the Greek artificer of the Cretan labyrinth is reincarnate as Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's surrogate. In Joyce's works, what stands out, among other features, is ''anastomosis of antiquity, especially Greek antiquity, with a later age in another country' 1 (The Consciousness of Joyce 10). Joycean demythologization of classical myths is rendered effective by taking the present and the quotidian into account including Dublin's topography. "As the author of novels," remarks Michael Edwards in "Myth in Twentieth-Century English Literature," "at once intensely realist and densely symbolic, he furnishes universal myths with a quotidian site" (295). The realistic and the naturalistic strains blend with the mythical, and the transposition of rnyths sub specie teniporis nostri as exemplilled in Ulysses and A Portrait is remarkable. Bloom and Stephen are not clones of their mythical ancestors; they have not been conceived cleterministically. They have been endowed with an individual identity and character but at the same

2 185 tune llicv are mythological insofar as they imitate the paradigmatic actions of the mythical personages in whose tradition they stand and in whose genealogy they share. The interpretive horizon plays a crucial role in any demythologizing programme for it is this horizon which provides the framework for the transposition of myths from the past to the present and from the classical to the modern tunes. And with the introduction and coining into being of ever new horizons, demythologization acquires different hues and shades, thus affirming the protean character of myths. But'all such emerging horizons eventually blend with the classical or original horizon thus paving the way for a fusion of horizons. Joyce has blended and fused the horizon of the mythical Daedalus and that of Stephen Dedahis, and at another level has synthesized the horizon of Daedalus with his own horizon. Thus there is a concrescence of three different horizons that of Daedalus, Stephen Dedahis and James Joyce. And this coalescence presents a hermeneutical interpretation of Joyce's exile as well which highlights the tenuous relationship between the artist and the city/country which dies unsuccessfully to swamp and force him into subjugation and conformism. In A Portrait, Stephen Dedahis re-enacts the mythical action of Daedalus. Taking his cue from the foundational event of the mythical hero who flew out of the Cretan labyrinth on the wings of art which he himself fabricated, Stephen Dedahis is poised to fly out of the labyrinth of Ireland on the wings of art. As the novel closes, he is all set to fly by the nets of family, religion and country which threaten to paralyze his artistic sensibilities. The theme of exile constitutes the obverse of the flight out of the labyrinth. What enables the re-enactment of the foundational event of the mythical forebear is the hermeneutical character of all foundational events, which, like speech-acts, allow themselves to be re-enacted in various possible ways even while being situated within the same tradition, thanks to the triple distanciation. Joyce's rich mythopoeic imagination underlies the entire hermeneutical operation of the re-enactment of the mythical event from a given horizon of inquiry.

3 186 In any programme of demythologization, the hermeneutieal triad of understanding, interpretation and application (the three subtililates) comes into play Demythologization highlights in particular the third dimension of the triad subtilitas apnlicandi. Leaving aside the question of whether or not A Portrait is Joyce's autobiography, it has to be noted that Joyce brought in a third dimension to the demythologization of the Greek myth of Daedalus. The dimension ul application (subtilitas applicandi) is not confined to Stephen Dedalus but it extends to Joyce as well, or rather through Stephen Dedalus to Joyce, for Stephen is his surrogate. Thus the Greek myth is demythologized twice, though not in two dillerent ways. And the second level of application highlights the exile of Joyce as well. Besides, the second level of application projects, in the Heideggerian sense, a "new' mode of being-inthe-world which suggests that when artists are imprisoned in a labyrinth, they have to fly out of captivity through ingenious means in order to safeguard their artistic vocation. Ultimately, Joyce's demythologization of the classical myth of Daedalus as presented in A Portrait sheds light on his vision of life itself. I ledoes not look at time as fractured and fragmentary but as a unified phenomenon which has simultaneity The past flows into the present, and out of this confluence emerges the future The use of mythological themes and characters undergirds this vision. Grant remarks: James Joyce, in seeking a pattern of organization for his artistic work, obviously employed materials from mythological stories which he fashioned to conform to his own artistic purpose. Implied in Joyce's writing is the idea that man exists in present and past alike, and as man enacts his own life, he, in a sense, relives that of mythical predecessors. (410) This thesis has explored the fusion between myth and hermeneulics in the context of text-interpretation, with special reference to mythological novels. It advanced the thesis that hermeneutics, especially literary hermeneutics, which is a recent entrant to the domain of literary theory and interpretation, can serve as an

4 187 effective tool in furthering our understanding and appreciation of literature. The hernieneutical theories and insights of savants like 1 leidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur when grafted onto literary theories can help us acquire a better understanding of literary artefacts. This thesis has contended that demylhologiznlion is an indispensable ami invaluable tool not only in the realm of myth hermeneutics but also in literary henneneutics. Demytliologization, which aims at decontextualizing a classical myth and subsequently recontextualizing it in a given context taking into consideration the given horizon of inquiry, is fraught with wide ramifications. It highlights that application (subtilitas applicandi) to the present and to the interpreter's horizon of inquiry which is characterized by his historically and prejudices are the cardinal issues in any demythologizing programme. As part of its objective, this thesis examined Joyce's hernieneutical credo of transposition of myths sub specie temporis nostri which is basically a demythologizing enterprise. It studied Joyce's credo using the grid fabricated with the theories of Heidegger, Gadamer, Bultmann and Ricoeur, and found that Joyce in A Portrait has skilfully demythologized the classical myth of Daedalus. This thesis has reiterated the argument that literary artelactu'specially those endowed with a mythical substratum as A Portrait, have to be demythologized so that they may come alive and interact with the readers in relevant and meaningful terms. Demytliologization aims at salvaging myths from the dangers of fossilization. Particularly in today's world where multicultural and cross-cultural readings of literary texts are necessary and demanded as well, demytliologization which focuses on the sustained dialogue between the horizon of the text and the horizon of the interpreter, and the subsequent fusion of horizons, is a valuable hernieneutical tool. Such demythologizing programmes are on-going processes, for the potential meaning of texts is brought to realization by the readers- -each in his own way-- -who enter into a dialogue with the texts. Relativism and subjectivism are caicfiilly avoided because

5 188 there exists a recipiocal relationship between the text and the reader which is marked by a "back and forth movement" till there is a fusion of horizons. '['lie first section of the thesis presented the theories of various myth scholars from Cassirer to Frye. It approached myth from anthropological, phenomcnological, structural, religious, philosophical and literary standpoints. Among other issues, it highlighted the protean character of myths which has been made possible by the semiological structure of myths wherein there is a shift from the first-order to the second-order of signification. The second section of the thesis furnished an overview of the hermeneutic tradilion from Ast to Ricoeur. It encapsulated the theories of the intenlionahsts and the anti-intentionalists. And it highlighted that understanding, interpretation and application (the three subtilitates) are always historical and personal. It also upheld the thesis that understanding is fuelled by the reader's prejudices and that understanding is a dialectical encounter between the horizon of the text and the horizon of the reader culminating in the fusion of horizons. The third section of the thesis synthesized the various theories of myth and hermeueutics in the context of text-interpretation, especially mythological novels. It shed light on the interfacing of myth and literature, and discussed myth hermeueutics and literary hermeueutics. It laid emphasis on the programme of demythologization which aims at investing classical myths and literary artefacts with a contemporary and personal dimension. The last section of the thesis examined Joyce's A Portrait from a hermeneutical angle. It embarked upon an exegetical study of the novel and built on it a hermeneutical reading of the novel, thus blending exegesis and hermeueutics. Among other issues, it brought to light the symbolic analogy between the mythical Daedalus and his literary counterpait. It also highlighted the nelwnik of coiiespoikleiuvs that underlies the mythical Daedalus, Stephen Dedalus and Joyce. In sum, this thesis has discussed the hermeneutical programme of demythologizing which is essentially an inter-disciplinary project, and has critically

6 189 studied Joyce's attempt at demythologizatiou in A Portrait, a mythological novel ll has brought to light Joyce's decontcxtualizatioii ol'lhe tireek myth and its subsequent recoiitextualization in personal and conleinporaiy terms, and Ins existential appropriation of it. Ricoeur's comment in his dialogue with Kearney as presented in Dialogue with Contemporary Continental Thinkers provides the summation: Myths are not unchanging and unchanged antiques which are simply delivered out of the past in some naked original state Their specific identity depends on the way in which each generation and reader] receives or interprets them according to their needs, conventions and ideological motivations. (403)