The Exploration of Identity in Joyce’s Dubliners (1914) and Barry’s Dark Lies the Island (2012)

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore how Irish identity is constructed and constrained by historical and ideological forces in James Joyce’s Dubliners (1914) and Kevin Barry’s Dark Lies the Island (2012). The Irishness presented in these two books shares similarities and distinctions across almost one century, demonstrating how these comparisons develop a framework linked to history that compels reader to reflect on the evolution of Irish identity from colonial to postcolonial Ireland. In the early 20th century, Dublin as the center of paralysis, still under the depression of the English colonial dominance, is repressed by Catholicism in an ideological term, and by nationalism and imperialism in a political term. The impact of imperialism on colonized countries has a long-term profound repercussion on their cultural identities, economic growth, legal system and political structures, shaping Irish identity paralysis and stagnation. However, in Barry’s age of the 21st century, Ireland liberates itself from imperialism and becomes a political independent nation. In this world, neoliberalism and capitalism replace imperialism and secularism challenges Catholicism while Irish people are still trapped in spiritual stagnation and depression under neoliberal exploitation at home and abroad.

In Jameson’s book The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act (1981), he contends that literature should be read in relation to its social and historic contexts, demonstrating how religious agency and colonial rule create an environment where individuals feel trapped and unable to act freely. Furthermore, this thesis applies Arendt’s concept of totalitarianism from her book The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) to illustrate how the dominance of nationalism and religion morally constrains individuality, leading to a loss of autonomy in early 20th century of Ireland, and how neoliberal ideology exploit people. Thus, in both works we come across characters who try to shed their unfulfillment from stressful work or repressed daily life. Their isolation and depression are long-term recurring themes that transcend Irish identity over the previous century, no matter how much historical circumstance change.