Littoral figures and the language of the sea: A postcolonial study of the protagonists in 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' and 'In the Castle of My Skin'

Portrait and Castle present protagonists who seek the littoral terrain as a physical space in kvhich they can contend with a personal sense of self. Walking the strand, these characters resist liegemonic influences, and in the process, affirm self-actualized identities. They voice this newfound sense of self in creative expression. Through an appreciation of the anti-colonial imperatives exhibited in the text, a person can understand what brings the littoral figure to the "border." The personal transformation that the characters undergo within this space marks the space in-between land and water as an archetype worth investigating. In post-colonial terms, this archetype links these novels sociopolitically and aesthetically.;In occupying the space between the land and the sea, adopting a seaward and inland uaze, Stephen and "G" reflect upon their relationships with the maternal and patriarchal figures in their lives. They also contend with the colonial forces impacting their realities, forces influencing an allegiance to the homeland as well as a desire to travel abroad for access to experiences and resources that cannot be found within the colony. These contemplations allow the reader to derive postcolonial, phenomenological and psychoanalytical understandings of the texts; the concepts and themes can also be defined in terms of border theory. When placed in the shore, these characters imagine the steps they need to take to become artists, and in reflecting on their past and present situations, they discover the language they need to discover their voice and sense of empowerment. When they leave the coast, these characters are reconciled to the limits of their homeland, ready to seek the transformations they will undergo as they mature and strive for independence. The ensuing shape of the novel informs this rising consciousness, representing the aesthetic language that reflects this new awareness and post-colonial drive to be self-determined.;The major problem this dissertation addresses, then, is the tropological significance of the littoral icon, particularly when this icon is contextualized within post-colonialism. Considering the significance of the littoral space as an archetype in Castle and Portrait, this study underscores essential linkages that Joyce and Lamming explore in these novels, issues regarding alienation, the quest for identity, and artistic ingenuity, using the trope to delineate the ways in which literary criticism can explore thematic comparisons between texts that are typically analyzed according to their canonical tradition, this dissertation highlights human commonalities across race and national allegiances.