Nationhood and Identiti in James Joyce Modernist Novella "The Dead"

Abstract

Nationhood and identity is a controversial subject among theorists and literary authors. During the Irish Revival that flourished around the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the question of nationhood and identity was the main discourse that created tensions and confusions among sociologists, literary authors, and scientists (Erik Erikson, Charles Taylor, and Ernest Gellner).The scope of the work is twofold; on the one hand, it analyzes the concept of nationhood and identity in Ireland according to the well known Irish modernist author James Joyce’s perceptions and ideologies. On the other hand, it discusses his famous work “The Dead” where issues of Irish nationhood and identity are highly represented. This work analyzes the complexities of Irish identity and the causes of identity loss. Besides, the research aims at analyzing “The Dead” as the fruit of a major philosophical movement, which coincided with the appearance of the short story. Joyce was a prominent modernist figure; he embraced the modernist styles and techniques such as symbolism and the stream of consciousness. This short story is a reflection to Joyce’s own experiences and ideologies concerning Irish identity. Indeed, most of the characters and events in the short story are inspired from Joyce’s private life and career. First, this work introduces the two main concepts of nationhood and identity. It further explains other concepts like nationalism, patriotism, cosmopolitanism, and identity crisis that are related to nationhood and identity. All the mentioned concepts are the key elements to understand the complexities of Irish identity. Then, it discuses James Joyce’s short story “The Dead”, where Joyce sheds light on his identity referring to the Irish revivalist ideas and cosmopolitan views, besides to diving into the Irish society problems in order to criticize the status quo. For Joyce, Irish citizens are paralyzed and spiritually dead because they focus on the past instead of finding solutions to their country’s problems. Lastly, the research handles Joyce’s short story “The Dead” as a modernist