| James Joyce(1882-1941)is a modernism literature master whose works demonstrate the moral plight and unremitting quest under the influences of colonial violence,economical decay,political corruption and moral paralysis.Their tremendous aesthetic values,creative narrations and rich implications have been acknowledged and studied by many scholars.This dissertation argues that the manifestation of the moral plight and the quest are important aspects in Joyce’s fiction.The theme,the development and the inner structures possess great academic significance.Joycean study,especially concerning the themes are wide and deep,but the philosophical research are insufficient,inconsistent,widely-distributed and theme-oriented while inadequate in developing dynamics.This dissertation argues the thinking in Joyce’s fiction possesses steady existential framework and concepts such as nihilism,re-evaluation of values,will power,complete man,etc.Given the features of consistency,intertextuality and interconnection in Joyce’s fiction,this dissertation chose three works of Joyce:Dubliners,A Portrait,and Ulysses,to elaborate the moral plight of Dubliners and their endless quest from the perspective of Existential Philosophy.These three fiction are written in different periods,connecting with one another while having their respective emphasis.From the existential sense,in Joyce’s fiction,forging the conscience that has perception,will to power and aesthetic values as truth,beauty and kindness are the essence and key for the Dubliners to break away from nihilism,achieve self-realization and become complete.The absence,forge and development of existential conscience in Dublin are the groundwork and embodiment of Joyce’s fiction.In the first chapter,the emphasis is on demonstrating the moral plight of Dubliners and exploring the deep philosophical mechanism.That is,Joyce brings clarity to the moral paralysis in Dublin through epiphany and the paralysis are deeply rooted in the framework of nihilism of the existential philosophy.The moral plight results from the collapse of the highest values after the hostile oppression of family,society,nation,country and religion.It is also the externalization and natural evolving process of nihilism in the definition of Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900).The individuals realize their own authentic reality through aesthetic epiphany while they are being invaded by the phantoms of nihilism and internalized by the moral paralysis.From the perspective of existentialism,the Dubliners generally confuse reality with illusion,present the decaying of life and the falsehood of escaping,and showing the lack of "conscience".The collapse of the highest values and the brutality of reality render the Dubliners into the moral plight.The last phase of nihilism is to abolish the values and orders that denies life,denies reality and values in order to re-evaluate all values.But the Dubliners deep in moral plight cannot reach the finial and complete phase of nihilism.It is almost impossible to go through the illusions,break away from the plight and re-establish the existential conscience of individuals.In the second chapter,a promising turning point in the quest of moral paralysis is emphasized:the exemplary Dubliner Stephen Dedalus makes productive and effective attempts.The young artist applies perception to stay in direct contact with the world.He not only realizes the paralyzing and confining powers of the existing externality(family,country,religion,language,etc),but also actively participates in the revaluation of values through perspectivism,clarifies the reciprocally dependent relationship between individuals and the communities,and establishes his own identity and duties as an artist.The shackles of nihilism is broken,its foundation shaken,and process accelerated.The conscience that Stephen the young artist forges is the affirmation of life and powerful will.He is driven and motivated by the will to power in existential sense and is supported by perception and re-evaluation of values.By creating the conscience that his race does not have yet,Stephen aims to dissolve the barriers between individuals and the community he belongs,recover the vigor of life and open up an ideal,upward existential route to break away from the plight.In the third chapter,the Dubliners continue their existential quest out of the moral plight.The individuals perceive the severity of nihilism and moral paralysis while they make positive progress.The existential attempts are positive,but they can be too idealistically optimistic because Joyce has well-established the impossibility to escape from the moral plight.In reconciliation,the breakthrough in Ulysses is to become the complete man or the divine nobody in existential sense and to establish moral community.Their rootless wander of both body and consciousness in Dublin demonstrate the ambivalence between rancor and nostalgia,reliance and transcendence.The binary opposing between individuals and communities is further deconstructed,promoting inclusiveness and transcendence.The re-valuation of values are further carried out in the leveling of values,which means the boundaries between banality and sublimity,chaos and order are broken down.The three divine nobodies keep their "conscience" intact and establish moral community in the modern context full of chaos,vulgarity and paralysis.In the existential perspective,they get out the the moral plight,maintain their own identity and "conscience",realize the transformative inheritance of traditional heroic spirits.In the process of quest,Joyce’s fiction advocates the freedom and completeness of human existence.Becoming the existential divine nobodies is the result of quest and reconciliation of the complete man in the modern context and the transcending reconstruction of traditional orders,demonstrating positive existential significance.In the conclusion,emphasis is put on the close connection between the different phases and the gradual development of the quest in the moral plight.In Dubliners,the moral paralysis is in clarity.The dissertation tries to elaborate from the perspective of nihilism in existential philosophy,arguing that the collapse of the highest values and the brutality of reality render the Dubliners into nothingness.The impossibility to escape from the moral plight is the intertextuality setting and reference background in Joyce’s fiction.To arrive at the final phase of nihilism appeals the individuals for perception and awakening of personal awareness to re-valuate all values.Stephen the young artist explores the possibility to break the predicament through perception,revaluation and rebellion driven by will power.The "conscience" Stephen wants to forge is the expression of life and will to power in the existential perspective.His attempts are positive and progressive but at the same time idealistic and over-optimistic,because the plight is still severe.The two aspects reach reconciliation and balance in Ulysses.The three "divine nobodies" are complete man who honer the values that transcends the external values nihilism relies on.They affirm life,pursue truth,beauty and kindness,deconstruct nihilism and redefine the meaning of existence.The moral community they build together is the transcendental reconstruction of traditional values.They stick to their own "conscience",the existential humanitarian spirits and the "decency and kindness that triumph over brutality and cruelty." From the existential perspective,in Joyce’s fiction,the moral plight of Dubliners still exists and the unremitting quests to break through are proceeding and progressing effectively. |
PDF Full Text Request