Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

English

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

David Galef

Committee Member

Jeffrey Gonzalez

Committee Member

Adam Rzepka

Abstract

Reading the works of James Joyce poses a question of what constitutes a national identity. My paper examines the different facets of creating an Irish identity, which were rejected by Stephen Dedalus and, by proxy, James Joyce. Examining self and country is one of the main themes in these works. The problem Stephen encounters is the strife between creating a postcolonial identity that either recognizes the effects of the British Empire or dismisses them entirely. Through Stephen’s development, he aligns himself with hybridity, whereas the Irish Nationalists and the Revivalists want to establish an identity stripped of all English influence. Hegel’s process of negation also helps solidify Stephen’s rejection of Ireland's political and religious institutions. Stephen’s journey into self-creation is not complete, but Joyce’s is. I argue that Joyce successfully defines his Irish by his medium, using Hiberno-English and Dublin’s topography to help craft his vision. Though Portrait and Ulysses are my primary texts, I use Dubliners and Joyce’s essays as secondary texts as commentary to help determine how he viewed his Irish identity.

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