On Stephen’s Artistic Identity Construction From The Perspective Of Disciplinary Power

James Joyce is one of the greatest Irish writers in the20th century, whose works have enormous influence on world literature. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man successfully creates the image of an artist who has grown up from a simple and naive boy into a relatively mature young man. Since its publication, many scholars have done much research on the novel from the perspectives of feminism, narratology and aesthetics, whereas few systematic research works have been made on the artist identity construction in terms of Foucault’s disciplinary power. Based on the theory of disciplinary power, this thesis focus on Stephen’s identity construction, which deeply analyzes the disciplines Stephen has faced in his growth and his rebellion against the disciplines of family, religion and society to highlight his painful process of pursuing his artistic career.The thesis is divided into four parts. Chapter One reveals the disciplines restraining Stephen’s growth are mainly from family, religion and society. Chapter Two discusses Stephen’s artistic temperament and potentiality showed in his growth and his conflicts with the disciplines in the surrounding environment, which is reflected in his bewilderment and agony in the understanding of himself and the environment and results in his loss of identity. Chapter Three analyzes Stephen’s difficult quest for identity. Chapter Four explores the epiphany Stephen gets from the images of the haw-like man and seabird-like girl that inspire him to have a clear understanding of himself and the environment and fulfill the identity-building through rebellion against the disciplines of family, religion and society. Through the exploration in Stephen’s identity construction, a new point of view can be adopted to the further study of James Joyce and Irish society, and hence can arouse people’s awareness and thoughts of the disciplinary power employed in our modern society.