Musical Coding and Political Decoding in the Gaze of Empires: The Use of Music and National Writing in James Joyce's <i>Dubliners</i>

WANG Han

doi:10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225309

Volume 5 Issue 3

Sep. 2022

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WANG Han. Musical Coding and Political Decoding in the Gaze of Empires: The Use of Music and National Writing in James Joyce's Dubliners[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(3): 156-174. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225309

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WANG Han. Musical Coding and Political Decoding in the Gaze of Empires: The Use of Music and National Writing in James Joyce's Dubliners[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(3): 156-174. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225309

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Musical Coding and Political Decoding in the Gaze of Empires: The Use of Music and National Writing in James Joyce's Dubliners

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225309

WANG Han^,

Fudan University

Received Date: 2021-12-11
Accepted Date: 2023-03-21

Abstract

Abstract

In the late 19th century, the Irish Literary Renaissance, led by intellectuals such as W. B. Yeats, was on the rise. James Joyce, however, was keenly aware of the nationalistic sentiment that permeated the Renaissance.He believed that the sloppy alliance between literature and politics is easily shaped by the absolute monistic discourse of dominating ideology, and the literary works presented by it will inevitably fall into empty cliches.As a diaspora intellectual in Europe, Joyce dedicated the entirety of his mind for literary creation to his fatherland Hreland. In his early story collection Dubliners, Joyce focuseson hisnational writing by employing abundant musical elements, which both implies the political ecology of that era and presents young Joyce's thoughts on national rejuvenation. In their totality, the multi-dimensional usages of music in Dubliners mark Joyce's deep integration of literature and music. Using music as a signifier to summarize the signified politics of the era, Joyce coalesces the "dualcolonialism" of Irish society into familiar music images, which in turn awaken the paralyzed Irish nationals. This article studies the transcoding resemblance between music coding and political decoding, and explores how Joyce uses these "meaningful" musical symbols to signify politics and social life against a diachronic and synchronic background.
- James Joyce,
- Dubliners,
- musical elements,
- paralysis,
- national writing

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References(45)

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