James Joyce
Ⅰ．Brief Introduction to the W riter
1．Life Story
James Joyce was an Irishman born into a Catholic family in Dublin in 1882．His father was one time a rather prominent figure so his family was quite well－off at first，but the family was gradually impoverished as James grew up．He received his education at two Jesuit schools，where he received very strict religious education and hewas a good student．In his early youth hewas extremely religious so he was intended for a priest．When he was at college and was asked to take orders he rejected the Catholic faith and gradually became a rebel against the narrowness and bigotry of the bourgeois philistines of Dublin．When he studied at University College as a modern languagemajor，he read books that were forbidden by the Catholic church．He distinguished himself by writing a review of Ibsen's new play When We Dead Awaken．Deeply influenced by Ibsen Joyce regarded exile as the only way to preserve his integrity and to be able to recreate the Dublin life truthfully，completely and objectively．He graduated in 1902 and became acquainted with the well-known figures，such as W.B.Yeats，Lady Gregory，George Moore，etc．
After his brief attendance at the Medical College in Dublin，which was cut short by the inability to pay the requisite fee and expenses by his family，he left Dublin and went to Pairs．He continued hismedical study there and supported himself as a teacher of English．In 1904 his mother's illness called him back to Dublin．During his stay in Dublin，hemet Nora Barnacle，who was an uneduacated peasant girl from West Ireland．It was her liveliness and witty sense of humor that attracted Joycemost．The girlwent to Europe and stayed with him until his death in 1941．They firstwent to Italy and then moved to Zurich，Switzerland，where they remained till 1920．After their stay in Paris for twenty years，theywere forced to leave Paris in 1941 by the war and move to Zurich again，where Joyce died a year later．
Joyce chose silence and cunning as hismode of action，so he exiled himself by living and working in France，Italy and Switzerland formostof his life except a few trips back to Ireland．When he wrote，hewrote about Dublin because the Irish and Ireland were the people and the place he knew best and he believed that he could present the heart of all cities and mankind by writing about Dublin．As an uncommercial writer，Joyce lived a life of poverty．His life became worse by his eye trouble and his daughter'smental illness．He drank a lot and sometimes his drunkenness made him become moody and inspired his imagination．Though life was hard to him，he never gave up writing and never lost his dream as an artist．
2．Literary Career
Joyce is not a commercial writer．In his lifetime，he wrote 3 novels，a collection of short stories，two volumes of poetry，and one play，among which the novels and short stories are all about Ireland，especially Dublin，the Irish people and their life．
Like Milton，Joyce is a self-conscious and self-prepared artist．When he was still a college student，he decided to devote hiswhole life to art．For this purpose，Joyce read widely in history，philosophy，aesthetics，mythology and popular sciences，paying special attention to medicine，psychology and literature．His long search of his identity，his resolute fight for freedom and independence，his conscientious accumulation of knowledge all contributed to his success as an artist．He also learnta lot from many famous people．For example，from the important thinkers in European history he absorbed the quintessence，from Aristotle，Aquinas and Bergson，he derived much of his aesthetic theory，from Flaubert and Ibsen he learnt aboutnaturalism，which all found reflection in his novels．He was also strongly influenced by Vico's theory of history，Nietzsche's atheism and nihilism，and Freud's psycho-analysis．
Joyce's first importantwork was Dubliners，published in 1914，which was a collection of 15 short stories，and written in the traditional style．All the stories are realistic and impressionistic studies of the life，thoughts，dreams，aspirations and frustrations of diverse inhabitants in the Irish capital．Some of the stories are themselves poignant tales of desperate human search for illusory ideals that find fuller expression in Joyce'smature works．According to him，“My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history ofmy country…under four of its aspects:childhood，adolescence，maturity and public life and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the center of paralysis(spiritual poverty)．”The whole unifying development is discernible as sequence of events in a moral drama，an action of human spirit struggling for survival under peculiar condition of deprivation，enclosed and disabled by a degenerate environment that provides none of the primary necessities of spiritual life．All the stories are about incidents and circumstances which seem outwardly insignificant from which deep insights might be gained．This is known as Joyce's theory of epiphanies．
In the first three stories，the writer wrote about childhood and adolescence in a kind of autobiography．The next seven are about people in their maturity，which is closely followed by four stories dealing with public life．The stories progress from simple to complex，from the young，nameless boy through characters of intermediate ages to the older Gabriel．To some extent，each story presents an aspect of“dear dirty Dublin”，an aspect of the city'smoral，political or spiritual paralysis．Each story is an action，defining a frustration or defeat of the soul．The whole sequence represents the whole course ofmoral deterioration，ending in the death of the soul．Everything in the paralysed city stands under the sway of priests．The young may dream of escaping from the narrow confines，but their efforts often end in bitter resignation or fruitless discontent because their dreams of getting away are shaped in the existing surroundings．
The final story in the collection“The Dead”is regarded as Joyce'smasterpiece in the story form，which tells people about angry，frustrated men and women who fight against themiserable condition of Dublin．Gabriel Conroy is the protagonist in the story．After hiswife has told him about her long-cherished loverwho died for her，he comes to realize that no matter how hard they try death awaits each and every human being．At the very beginning of the story，the writer describes death as an inscrutable fact in a small boy's existencewhile at the end of the story death is seen with a vision．It is seen as the condition of the living aswell as the dead，for life and death are interwoven and interchangeable．What Joyce intended to do is tomake the Irish see death and living death in their life in order to evoke the national spirit of the Irish people．
The general impression the readers get from this story and all other stories in the collection is the feeling of pervading gloom over all Dublin．Naturalism and symbolism are frequently used in the story．Themost persuasive symbol in the story，the snow，is used for double service:on the one hand it represents life and Gabriel's view of himself as standing apart from others and on the other hand it is a symbol of Death and of Gabriel included among the living dead．
His first novel，A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man published in 1919，is largely autobiographical．The novel is about Stephen Bedalus，who is a highly gifted young Irishman．The novel describes Stephen's childhood，youth and early manhood．By tracing the hero's physical and mental development，particularly of his spir-itualmake-up and by showing his mental torment and inner conflict，Joyce reveals that Stephen abandons Catholicism and leaves Ireland，making up hismind to devote himself to artistic career in exile，which is exactly thewhys and wherefores of Joyce'swhole literary career．
Ulysses can be regarded as Joyce'smasterpiece，which became a center of controversy on its publication in 1922，and which is a prime example ofmodernism in literature．Broadly speaking，in plot bearing a parallel to Homer's great epic Odyssey，which tells of the wanderings and adventures of the ancient Greek hero Odysseus，Joyce's novel tells of the wandering and adventures of Leopold Bloom，amodern Ulysses．The novel gives an account of Leopold's life during one day，or exactly 18 hours in Dublin．There are three major characters:Leopold Bloom，an Irish Jew，who works as an advertisement canvasser;his wife，Marion Tweedy Bloom，who is an opera singer;and Stephen Dedalus，the protagonist in APortrait of the Artist as a Young Man，who is a writer like Joyce and has been called back by hismother's death．The story is told through recording the characters'mental activities by the use of stream of consciousness method．It shows how Leopold wanders about the Dublin streets on his daily business as an advertising agent．He is tempted by the barmaids and lured by the shop-windows，meets Stephen in drunkenness and sends him home，but is all the time worrying about his unfaithfulwife，who is carrying an affairwith a concertmanager，Boylan．The novel can be divided into 18 episodes in correspondence with the 18 hours of the day．The first three epi-sodes aremainly concerned with Stephen Dedalus，the next14 episodes are largely about Leopold Bloom，and the novel endswith the famousmonologue by Molly，who ismusing in a half-awake state over her past experiences as a woman，whose natural，disconnected flow of thoughts in bed is recorded in 8 unpunctuated pages．Thus Joyce shows people what the inner，mental world of his characters was and what kind of lifemodern bourgeois Dublin lived，for which the author had the strongest disgust and from which he imposed his self-exile．
The events of the day in the novel seem to be trivial，insignificant or even banal．Butbelow the surface of the events，the natural flow ofmental reflections，the shifting moods and impulses in the characters'inner world are richly presented in an unprecedentedly frank and penetrating way．Thus all that can be found in the traditional novels such as story，plot，action，characterization in the usual sense，adventure or romantic interest，moral values or significant philosophy to impact etc．can not be found in this novel，which makes Ulysses an uncommon novel and which makes it a modern novel．
Joyce's last important novel is Finnegans Wake，which was published in 1939．It took him 17 years to write and is considered by the author himself as hismasterpiece．The title of the book was taken from an Irish-American ballad about Tom Finnegan，a hod carrier who fell from a ladder and was apparently dead，butwho revived when every one got drunk and some one spilled somewhiskey on him．In a dream language，Joyce attempted to pack the whole history ofmankind into one night's dream and nightmares of an innkeeper Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker(abbreviated as H.C.E.，standing for Here Comes Everybody)and his relationshipswith other characters，such as hiswife，Anna Livia Plurabelle，his daughter Isabel，his twin sons Shem and Shaun，the servants and the customers of the public house．Themajor characters are associated with variousmythical or geographical identities．For example，Earwicker is identified with the great sleeping giant Finn McCool，supposing buried under city Dublin;Plurabelle symbolically stands for the river Liffey that runs through the land of Dublin;the twin brothers，Shem and Shaun，are the dialectical pair of Dionysian，who is a Bohemian artist and Apollonian，who is aman of the world．
Nearly every major chapter of the novel is built around a quest，a trial，a riddle，or an inquisition，which seem to pursue problems of identity．And this quest for identity often turns out to be a childhood curiosity，desire and games，or the form of amemory of historical and cultural events．Rather than developing in a consistent linear plot，the story develops around lots of unconnected plots，which scattered among hundreds of little scenes，episodes，stories，fables，dialogues，songs，and gossips．The theme in the novel is that of death and resurrection，or that of cycles of change in the course of history，which is based essentially upon the cyclical theory of history as put forward by the Italian philosopher and historian Vico．According to him history passes through four stages:theocratic，aristocratic，democratic and anarchic．Individualism and sterility characterize the last stage，in which democracy crumbles into cha-os，but out of which theocracy is restored and the cycle begins renew．Based his tale upon the notion of cyclical pattern Joyce wrote his story，thus the story can be divided into sets of four，corresponding to the four stages of history．
In his creation of this novel，language of thewords and phrases ofmulti-meanings and various suggestions and especially puns produce ambiguities and symbolic significances．All these naturally and inevitably lead to great obscurity and confusion，particularly with the author's great learning and indulgence in his diversified mythical knowledge．One critic wrote，“Joyce had written a collection ofwords，some derived from languages other than English，and many apparently invented，whose significance no single reader can ever hope to gain．”The novel is difficult to comprehend．In such a way，Joyce intended to represent the whole cosmos via Dublin and to depict all humanity through his inevitable self-revelation in this novel．
Jameswas one of themost original novelists of the 20th century．His works show a unique synthesis of realism，the stream of consciousness and symbolism．His masterpiece Ulysses has been called“amodern prose epic”．He is also regarded as the greatest enigma in 20th century literature．In addition，he is praised as“second only to Shakespeare in hismastery of the English language”．
3．Features of His Novels
All Joyce's works have the same setting:Ireland，especially Dublin，and the same subject:the Irish people and their life．When Joyce writes，he concentrates on revealing in his novels psy-chic being of the characters，so he is regarded as the most prominent stream of consciousness novelist．Joyce adroitly weaves into the text complicated mythic and symbolic patterns．For example in the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man the use of the Greek myth of Dedalus，themaster craftsman，which ismainly embodied in the hero's name，Stephen Dedalus．The use of religious symbolism is another important feature of the novel．Also in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man the use of symbolism supports the novel's theme of the artist as a“priest of the imagination”，and is in keeping with Joyce's theory of artistic“epiphany”．
Another remarkable feature of Joyce'swritings is his style．One of his styles is straightforward，lucid，logical and leisurely．His standards can be described as subtlety，economy and exactness．Butwhen he tries to render the so-called stream of consciousness，the style changes to incomplete，rapid，broken wording and fragmentary sentences．This is especially true in Joyce's description of Molly's final soliloquy in Ulysses，in which people can find short words organized into long flowing phrases in a mixture of practical and poetic rhythmswithout punctuations．
He also uses a kind ofmock-heroic style in his novel creation．The essence of the style lies in the application of apparently inappropriate styles．In the creation of hismodern mock-Odyssey in the novel Ulysses Joycemakes every effort to elaborate his style into parody，pastiche，symbolic fantasy，and narration by question and answer from an omniscient narrator．
Ⅱ．Brief Introduction to the Selected Literary Work
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
1．Brief Summary of the Novel
Stephen Dedalus is a middle-class Irish boy who was highly gifted and lived at the end of the 19th century．As a young boy，Stephen's Catholic faith and Irish nationality heavily influence him．He attends a strict religious boarding school．At first，Stephen is unsympathetically treated by his fellow schoolmates and his masters，against whose brutal and unjust punishment he struggles valiantly，so he is lonely and homesick at the school．But as time passes he finds his place among the other boys．He enjoys his visits home，even though he sees how his elders are bitterly divided and quarrelwith one another over the Church and the Irish patriot Parnell at the family's Christmas dinner．When his family can not afford his study at former school，Stephen starts attending a prestigious day school called Belvedere，he grows to excel as a writer and as an actor in the student theater．In adolescence the sensitive boy becomes conscious of the oppressive pressure from themoral，political and spiritual environment，so he turns to savage physical desire as an outlet．His first sexual experience，with a young Dublin prostitute，unleashes a storm of guilt and shame in Stephen，as he tries to reconcile his physical desires with the stern Catholic morality of his surroundings．For a while，he ignores his religious upbringing， throwing himself with debauched abandon into a variety of sins—masturbation，gluttony，and more visits to prostitutes，among others．Consequently，he is tormented with his sense ofmoral sin and frightened by the terrors of the last judgment and the punishment in Hell described in the sermons．
In order to remove the restless agony hemakes a confession of his sins and throws himself into the embrace of the church．His religious devotion is so pronounced that the director of his school asks him to consider entering the priesthood．After briefly considering the offer，Stephen realizes that the austerity of the priestly life is utterly incompatible with his love for sensual beauty．Especially when Stephen goes for a walk on the beach，where he observes a young girl wading in the tide，he is struck by her beauty，and suddenly realizes that the love and desire of beauty should not be a source of shame and the artistic vocation is his truemission．Stephen resolves to live his life to the fullest，so decides to cast off all those boundaries of his family，his nation，and his religion that try to tie him down．
When Stephenmoves on to the university，where he develops a number of strong friendships．In a series of conversations with his companions，Stephen works to formulate his theories about art．While he is dependent on his friends as listeners，he is also determined to create an independentexistence，liberated from the expectations of friends and family．At the end of the novel Stephen decides to leave his family and friends behind and goes into exile in order to become an artist．
2．Analyses of the M ajor Characters
Stephen
Stephen is a sensitive，thoughtful boy．In APortrait of the Artist as a Young Man，though Stephen's large family runs into deepening financial difficulties，his parentsmanage to send him to prestigious schools and eventually to a university．As he grows up，Stephen grapples with his nationality，religion，family，and morality，and finally decides to rejectall socially imposed bonds and live freely as an artist．
All through the novel，Stephen undergoes several crucial transformations．During his first years as Clongowes，he changes from a sheltered little boy to a bright studentwho understands social interactions and can begin tomake sense of theworld around him．Then when Stephen sleepswith the Dublin prostitute，he changes from innocence to debauchery．Further then when Stephen hears his father's speech on death and hell，he changes from an unrepentant sinner to a devout Catholic．Finally，Stephen changes from near fanatical religiousness to a new devotion to artand beauty．This transformation continues through his college years．By the end of his time in college，Stephen has become a fully formed artist，and his diary entries reflect the independent individual he has become，in the process of which，Joyce shows people the physical and spiritual development of a young artist．
Simon
Simon，Stephen's father，symbolizes the bonds and burdens that Stephen's family and nationality place upon him as he grows up．He likes spending a great deal of his time reliving past experiences，lost in his own sentimental nostalgia．He is a nostalgic，tragic figure for he has a deep pride in tradition，buthe is unable to keep his own affairs in order．To Stephen，his father Simon represents the parts of family，nation，and tradition that hold him back，and againstwhich he feels hemust rebel．The closest look we getat Simon is on the visit to Cork with Stephen，duringwhich Simon gets drunk and sentimentalizes abouthis past．Joyce paints a picture of a man who has ruined himself and，instead of facing his problems，drowns them in alcohol and nostalgia．
3．Theme of the Novel
3.1 Novel of Education(Bildungsroman)
Like other novels of education which is about development of a sensitive youngman who is at first shaped by excessively powerful and oppressive forces of his environment but gradually realizes the pressure and rebels against it and tries to find his own identity，A Portrait of the Artistasa Young Man can be regarded as a naturalistic account of the bitter youthful experiences and final artistic and spiritual liberation of Stephen，who is actually Joyce．The novel is a study of the vanity of rebelliousness，an examination of the self-deception of adolescent ego，a revelation of personal betrayal of the gestation of an artistic soul．In addition，in the novelwriting，Joyce manages to incorporate into his text different kinds of symbols borrowed from Greek mythology，Western literature，and Roman Catholic liturgy which impact both artistic unity and universality of meaning to the story．
3.2 The Development of Individual Consciousness
Joycemakes a wide and innovative use of stream of consciousness in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by directly transcribing the thoughts and sensations thatgo through a character'smind，rather than simply describing those sensations from the external standpoint of an observer．His use of stream of consciousnessmakes the novel a story of the development of Stephen'smind．At the very beginning of the novel the very young Stephen is only capable of describing hisworld in simple words and phrases．The sensations that he experiences are all jumbled together with a child's lack of attention to cause and effect．Later，when Stephen is a teenager obsessed with religion，he is able to think in a clearer，more adult manner．Paragraphs aremore logically ordered than in the opening sections of the novel，and thoughts progress logically．Accordingly Stephen'smind ismoremature and he is now more coherently aware of his surroundings．Nonetheless，he still trusts blindly in the church，and his passionate emotions of guilt and religious ecstasy are so strong that they get in the way of rational thought．With the development of the story，when Stephen is in the university he seems truly rational．By the end of the novel，Joyce renders a portraitof amind thathas achieved emotional，intellectual，and artistic adulthood．
From the development of Stephen's consciousness people can see his development gives us insight into the development of a literary genius．Stephen's experiences hint at the influences that transformed Joyce himself into the great writer he is considered today: Stephen's obsession with language;his strained relations with religion，family，and culture;and his dedication to forging an aesthetic point of his own show people how Joyce related to the various tensions in his life during his formative years．
3.3 The Role of the Artist
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man exploreswhat itmeans to become an artist．Stephen's decision at the end of the novel—to leave his family and friends behind and go into exile in order to become an artist—suggests that Joyce sees the artistas a necessarily isolated figure．In his decision，Stephen turns his back on his community，refusing to accept the constraints of political involvement，religious devotion，and family commitment that the community places on itsmembers．
However，though the artist is an isolated figure，Stephen's ultimate goal is to give a voice to the very community that he is leaving．In the last few lines of the novel，Stephen expresses his desire to“forge in the smithy ofmy soul the uncreated conscience ofmy race．”He recognizes that his community will always be a part of him，as it has created and shaped his identity．When he creatively expresses his own ideas，he will also convey the voice of his entire community．Despite his desire to steer clear of politics，Stephen constantly ponders Ireland's place in the world．He concludes that the Irish have always been a subservient people，allowing outsiders to control them．Stephen's perception of Ireland's subservience has two effects on his development as an artist．First，itmakes him determined to escape the bonds that his Irish ancestors have accepted． Second，Stephen's perception makes him determined to use his art to reclaim autonomy for Ireland．Using the borrowed language of English，he plans to write in a style that will be both autonomous from England and true to the Irish people．
4.Features of the Novel
In the novel Joyce shows people the three-dimension growth (physical，spiritual and artistic)of a sensitive boy to young manhood．With the development of the story，people can see the hero experience his inner crises of his growing physical desires and broken-hearted first love which is resulted in his carnal sin，of his religious piety and disillusion of repellent Church life that gives rise to his rejection of the holy order，and of his artistic research and rebellious struggle against the oppressive forces that try to tie him down，which finally leads to his self-willed exile．In order to expand Stephen's growth at different levels，Joyce adopts some new techniques of presentations，such as subjective realism，limited stream of consciousness，a series ofmontages，and the alternative means of dialectic and cyclic patterns of progression．
Joyce regards the inner-reality as themost real thing，his realism is a kind of subjective one，so he tries to portray the undisturbed flow of thought including its subconscious impulses，inhibitions and buried urges that pour through the restless mind of his character．Joyce describes Stephen's outer and inner world at the same time．That is to say when readers read the novel they could read the vivid，immediate，realistic and concrete description of the hero on the one hand，and on the other hand readers could watch the hero's growth of inner consciousness and thought processes．Thus by using this subjective realism and the stream of consciousness technique，Joyce creates a natural pattern of Stephen's growing-up:physically from infancy tomanhood，intellectually from ignorance to scholarship and in language from simple to complex，and at the same time Joyce presents a picture of Stephen's spiritual development from disillusion to overt rebellion and symbolically，an exploration of the evolution of his artistic soul from the early stage to maturity and finally to the newly-born artist．
Ⅲ．Latest Critical Commentary
《一个青年艺术家的画像》(以下简称《画像》)是现代主义文学的杰出大师、爱尔兰籍作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯写的自传体小说，也是西方文学史上第一部用意识流手法创作的自传的“成长小说”。在这部小说中，作者从不同层面和角度艺术地再现了主人公斯蒂芬·迪德勒斯(即作家自身的影子)由儿童到青年的成长过程，以及他逐步摆脱家庭、学校、宗教和社会的束缚，最终意识到自己未来艺术家的神圣职责和使命的心路历程，勾勒出主人公斯蒂芬童年—少年—青年的成长画卷。小说包含了斯蒂芬自己和人物社会化的完整意义:童年、少年和青年是他们的社会化的主要阶段;家庭、学校和社会施加给他们社会化影响;他们生理和心理的成长、语言和逻辑思维能力的发展、审美意识的发生、包括政治态度、宗教观和道德观在内的信仰体系的建立、人生道路的选择，这些形成了他们精神成长史上一系列里程碑。同时，《画像》自始至终反映了作者和人物社会化过程中的离轨行为，尤其是人与社会的双向偏离这一冲突，对青少年成长造成的心理障碍和精神困惑。在小说的创作过程中乔伊斯除了继承传统的现实主义外，首次尝试了意识流写作技巧，运用象征、梦幻、回忆、自由联想、内心独白等手法。
该书于1916年一经出版，立即就以其独特的风格和新颖的形式引起批评界的极大关注。意大利批评家Diego Angeli将乔伊斯视为“一名具有新形式和新目标的作家，这使他的小说成为新艺术的第一道曙光”。许多西方学者纷纷加入到乔伊斯作品的研究工作中，从不同角度，用不同方法深入挖掘它的社会意义和艺术价值。而且，对乔伊斯作品的研究成为一门专门的学问，被称为“乔学”，形成现代西方文学研究中的一大奇观。在国内，也有许多专家学者对“乔学”做过研究，同时，也有许多文学评论家从不同角度对小说中成长的意义和内涵进行剖析。学者们对于这部作品的研究大致可以分为以下几个方面:成长主题研究、《画像》与发展小说研究、民族宗教观研究、创作手法研究和语言风格研究。
成长主题研究
作为一部描述年轻人内心历程的成长小说，乔伊斯的《一个青年艺术家的画像》深刻地描述了青年艺术家斯蒂芬从婴儿朦胧时期到青年成熟时期的心理成长过程。(李维屏，1996)学者们指出在20世纪追溯年轻人内心历程的“成长小说”之中这部小说可以说是最有深度的一部。小说各章的故事均围绕斯蒂芬成长过程中的重大事件展开，各个部分环环相扣，一步步循着这些事件的发生和发展，读者就可清晰地看到斯蒂芬从幼儿到青年艺术家的成长轨迹，真切地感受到他的痛苦和欢乐。(袁德成，1999)有的学者提出斯蒂芬的精神成长充满了痛苦，认为可以将其漫长而痛苦的心理旅程分为5个阶段:无知→堕落→忏悔→复活→流亡。(尤洪芸、朱荣杰，2002)这些学者们试图在发掘小说主人公心灵与外部现实的冲突中，追寻他的个性阶段性的线性发展轨迹。
还有学者从人物性格的二重组合原理出发，认为任何一个人的性格都是由相反两极构成的，例如高傲与谦虚、懒惰与用功、疏忽与心细等，它们互相依存并在环境的作用下不断发生变动，使性格呈现出复杂而有序的运动状态。(刘再复，1986)学者们尝试从这一视角解读《画像》的主题，他们认为小说中处于不断矛盾运动之中的主人公的情感与理智、服从与反叛等因素此消彼长推动着主人公的个性发展，使其人生倾向越来越明显。(朱宾忠、张正平，2004)情感与理智、顺从与反抗这两组矛盾的斗争是推动斯蒂芬个性发展的基本力量。随着他的成长，情感逐渐取代理智主宰了他的选择和行动;服从的倾向越来越让位于反叛的倾向，并导致了他的最终的叛逆行为。情感与理智的每一次斗争、顺从与反抗心理的每一次较量都使他在成为一个有独立思想的艺术家的道路上往前迈进了一步。而理智对情感的制约、顺从对反叛的制约也使他在追求符合自然人性的生活和否定戕害性灵的宗教文化时不免有所保留，不敢毅然决然公开地表现出来，不敢对教会和腐朽的传统文化作正面的反击，而只能选择逃避的方式作消极的反抗。斯蒂芬身上这些矛盾的品质使他成为一个圆形的而非扁平的，独特的而非类型化的人物。其个性的矛盾运动令人信服地展示了一个有思想的青年知识分子由一个孱弱、顺从、虔诚的幼儿成长为一个蔑视宗教和传统文化的反叛艺术家的必然性。透过他的成长历程，读者不仅可以获得对于人物个性发展的规律性认识，而且也能清晰地了解当时令人窒息的爱尔兰天主教文化、爱尔兰人民的精神危机以及爱尔兰社会所面临的种种问题。
更有学者借助社会心理学中的“社会化”理论探讨《画像》这部自传体小说，研究社会对青少年成长造成的精神困惑与心理障碍。(朱望，2007)在文章中朱望运用社会学中的社会化理论实证了乔伊斯的《画像》这一自传体成长小说的社会化意义，以跨学科理论的洞见深化了对这一文学作品的理解。指出乔伊斯用文学手法在《画像》中生动地展示了青少年的社会化过程，他以丰富的生活阅历、社会良知和文学家的艺术匠心阐述了青少年生理和心理成长的方方面面。小说中作者展示了主人公经历了复杂社会化的“真正的知识分子”，并“记录下”其思想，使我们看到“这些思路”在他的文学作品中“发展和充实起来。”《画像》全面涵盖了青少年社会化的过程和内容，是成长小说中非常具有社会心理学意义的文学作品。
《画像》与发展小说研究
Cuddon(1979:79)在其《文学术语词典》中对“发展小说”这一文学术语是这样解释的:“‘发展小说’是一种叙述一位男主人公或女主人公成长过程的小说。”这一术语来源于德语，曾被德国文学批评家广泛使用。“发展小说”是德国文学的一种传统小说，含有较强的自传性质，主要叙述作者本人的诸多儿时至成人的成长经历。在这类小说中，主人公常常是一个敏感的孩子，备受周围环境的压迫，后来逐渐变得反叛起来，努力找到自我。
有的学者把《画像》这部成长小说与其他成长小说进行对比，发现乔伊斯在创作时不仅继承了这一文类的基本特征，还大大地发展了这一传统文类，他们还指出乔伊斯扩展了成长小说的叙事范围，更新了传统的成长观，强调成长的连续性和流动性，在个人与社会的关系上选择逃离和自我放逐。乔伊斯在《画像》中利用过去的文学遗产，并用一种更丰富的现代形式和时代内容把这一遗产传达到未来。(唐旭，2007)从结构上看，成长小说的兴趣主要放在主人公的个人发展上，故事的发展往往是由松散的片断组成。在乔伊斯的《画像》中，小说叙事线索的跌宕起伏特别突出了小说主人公斯蒂芬发展道路的崎岖不平。从成长小说所关注的内容看，小说对主人公的行为、思想和反思给予同样的关注，并试图为人们展示出一个完整的人格，包括物质的、情感的、道德的和文化上的一致性。与此略有不同的是，乔伊斯在《画像》中似乎更着重于发展的时间感，认为成长是一种建立在有机整体基础之上的、接近自然过程的成长和变化，“真实的现在只不过是其发展过程的一个阶段而已”。从成长小说的价值取向看，成长小说似乎保持着社会与个人、主观与客观、理性与感性之间的独特平衡并探索二者之间的交互反应。正是这种双重关照使成长小说中的主观与不利的客观现实之间存在着不可避免的相关性。与此不同的是，在乔伊斯的《画像》中，当小说主人公斯蒂芬面临着在宗教生活与经验世界之间的选择时，他采取的却是“逃避的态度”，并最终选择完全逃离他所知道的这个世界，拒绝成为这个社会所认可的一员。从人文主义的传统看，在成长中寻找精神家园是人类的永恒追求和共同经历，因此成长小说是人们认识自我、认识社会，建立个人身份、实现人生价值的一个有力的切入点。然而，作为20世纪现代主义作品的《画像》在探寻精神家园的过程中发现的却是异化、隔膜和自我流放。
对上述观点学者邓永忠(2007)表示赞同之外，在对《画像》与欧洲“成长体”小说传统进行对比研究后，他表示该书不仅是一部“开疆拓域”的作品，也是传统文学的典范之作，对欧洲成长体小说传统既有传承也有超越，同时指出“旧衣新穿”是乔伊斯创作的一大特点。邓永忠在他的文章中指出与传统“成长体”小说相比，乔伊斯这部小说在结构和写作技法上的创新之处在于:第一，自我流放的结局。小说的结尾在斯蒂芬经历了剧烈的思想斗争之后，他终于摆脱社会、宗教、家庭以及传统势力的桎梏，准备到欧洲大陆自我流放，实际上这是对成长体小说传统所提倡的将主人公融入现实生活的结局的一种间接的批评。在主人公看来，他离开所处的社会是成就其艺术目标的首要条件。第二，独特的叙事手法。除了在内容上的革新，乔伊斯将间接内心独白的叙事手法引入成长体小说，该叙事手法彻底将叙事者本人从小说中隐去，整个小说都化作了主人公斯蒂芬的意识内容。对此有学者表示赞同，认为《画像》是西方文学史上第一部用意识流手法创作的“发展小说”，独特的叙事风格是奠定其文学地位的重要因素之一。(游巧荣，2002)第三，大胆的文体实验。在《画像》中，乔伊斯精心设计了一种“模仿”文体。乔伊斯在创作时充分发挥其模仿天才，通过变化的丰富的遣词造句，使小说文体与主人公心理和智力发展的各个阶段相吻合。开始简单后来复杂，文体的变化可以使人目睹主人公的成长过程。这种模仿性文体成为乔伊斯对成长体小说的又一大创新。第四，精彩的文字游戏。在小说中乔伊斯通过使用音调、节奏、打断、变异、误用、混合等，同时诉诸于听觉和视觉的效果进行“双重叙事”，为读者演出一幕幕精彩的语言戏法，使语言不再是连接读者与作者的媒介，而是作者要达到的目的，是物质本身。由于《画像》不再是一个连贯而完整的故事，而是由一些松散的片段组成，因此造成了文本上的不连贯。为了使小说主题保持连贯，作者用了“顿悟”及神话以及一系列的主题意象在小说中反复再现，来连接、深化主题。
民族宗教观研究
在《画像》中，乔伊斯多次提到爱尔兰民族独立运动及其代表人物，目的在于表达他的态度，为了证实在追求民族独立的过程中，那些奉献自己成为民族独立事业的烈士的重要性。出于对自己祖国现状的不满和失望，斯蒂芬最终选择了逃离民族之网，去欧洲大陆寻求自由。这一情节与作家本人的人生经历相吻合，乔伊斯一生大部分时间并不在爱尔兰度过，而是选择了自我放逐。乔伊斯选择了欧洲大陆，身居国外的乔伊斯并没有忘记自己的民族身份。在他看来必须写自己血液里的东西，而不是脑子里的东西，各国的文学巨匠首先是民族主义者然后最终成为国际主义的。(刘丹，2007)
《画像》中，自始至终可见纷争复杂的宗教问题与纠纷对斯蒂芬的影响。小说一开始，斯蒂芬接受启蒙教育的学校是一个宗教氛围很浓厚的场所，小斯蒂芬经历了种种考验:在学校里无故受罚、被同学戏弄，这些揭示了教会教育制度的冷漠和无情，也预示了斯蒂芬将来的选择。小说第三章更是以自然主义的笔调详细记录了神父的说教，在神父进行关于地狱、救赎、刑法的长篇布道时，斯蒂芬在精神上承受了巨大压力，在恐惧中痛苦反省自己犯下的过失。在向神父忏悔之后，斯蒂芬开始虔诚修炼，获得了教会学校忏悔神父的赞扬，并鼓励他将神职作为终生为之奋斗的职业。然而颇具讽刺意味的是，斯蒂芬能够诚心忏悔，并非出于对宗教教诲的信奉，而是出于对地狱的恐惧。在斯蒂芬进行人生选择之际，小说第四章以非常优美的抒情手法，刻画了在海边嬉戏的少女形象，在那一刻斯蒂芬顿悟到神职工作并不是他的人生理想，他终将拒绝神的召唤，而投身至对艺术的追求，这才是他梦想的自由生活。在那一刻，斯蒂芬逃脱了宗教之网。(刘丹，2007)
创作手法研究
为了恰到好处地展现出主人公的性格特点及思想变化，乔伊斯在这部小说中运用了多种创作方法，主要有:主观现实主义手法、意识流手法、顿悟和象征手法等。作者所运用的文体风格自始至终极具变化，非一种风格所能概括。乔伊斯在对主人公不同年龄段生活的叙述使用了不同的叙述文体，使文体风格呈现出不连贯的特点。学者们认为作品在结构、风格和技巧上复杂多变的特点是与其主题相适应的。(周洁，1999)
主观现实主义手法:
在研究乔伊斯的创作手法时，学者们的研究表明《画像》描述了斯蒂芬从童年到青年在爱尔兰首府都柏林道德和宗教普遍“瘫痪”的状态中的精神发育和心理发展过程。由于题材是传记性的，这就要求用现实主义的方法来处理题材，以达到真实。但另一方面，由于传记所表现的是极其主观的材料，这就又迫切需要以一种抒情诗方式而不是戏剧方式来处理它们。(Harvey，1977)为了解决客观真实与主观真实之间的矛盾，乔伊斯采用主观现实主义手法。主观现实主义在《画像》中最突出的两个表现是审美中心的内移和有限意识流技巧的运用。(尤洪芸、朱荣杰，2002)乔伊斯在《画像》中第三人称叙述者自始至终采用的是主人公斯蒂芬的视角，记录的是斯蒂芬的经历片段，小说中几乎没有超出斯蒂芬意识之外的任何解释、判断和评论。这种叙述形式几乎把作为主体的叙述者本人从小说中驱逐了出去，小说中的世界是斯蒂芬眼中的世界，化作了斯蒂芬意识的内容，这种审美视角的内移使非常主观的内容客观化了。乔伊斯正是通过采用第三人称内在视角叙述形式做到了叙述手法上的客观性和叙述内容上的主观性的高度统一。
意识流手法:
审美中心的内移直接对小说的形式产生影响，这样《画像》在技巧上呈现出自己的特点。具体表现为意识流手法在作品中的运用。小说中乔伊斯将创作的焦点集中于人物的精神世界，将人物的精神世界与心理活动作为小说的重要内容来表现，使读者更多地领略到人物错综复杂的意识活动。这种新的创作技巧旨在通过对主人公的心理感受和直觉以及潜意识冲动的描写，刻意表现一股流动不已飘忽不定的混沌、模糊的思绪。《画像》中乔伊斯运用意识流手法，使斯蒂芬的脑海里时常浮现出一些词语和回忆的片断，这些片断均来自于他的过去或他所经历过的世界，而且大多缺乏连贯性。对于这样一种变化多端、稍纵即逝的意识活动，乔伊斯采用了不同风格的语言来展现人物性格发展的各个阶段中不同的思维特点、感觉方式及说话的口气等等。除此之外，风格的变化还表现在大量象征手段的综合运用上，凭借意象、内心独白、自由联想等技巧以增强小说的艺术表现力和感染力，并且形成了一种独有的乔伊斯式的逻辑性。用有限的时间展示无限的空间，同时又巧妙地使结构完全服从于斯蒂芬的心理成长过程。(Gorman，1928)在乔伊斯看来直接表现人物的意识，可以使“作家退出小说”，这样艺术家就可以像创造万物的上帝一样“使自己升华而失去存在”。学者们认为这种客观的呈现，比起传统小说里作家现身说法具有更高的美学价值。(尤洪芸、朱荣杰，2002)
顿悟手法:
“顿悟”指的是一种突然之间的精神感悟，不论是通俗的言辞，还是平庸的举动，或者是脑海中难以忘怀的片断，都可以引发顿悟。这些十分微妙的且极易消逝的时刻可以将平常变为特殊，而这种细微的改变无须神灵的操纵即可以发挥作用。换句话说，“顿悟”首先是指某个特殊的时刻，经过作家的艺术加工和处理，使得某些平常最不起眼的人、事、物突然在那一时刻迸发出玄妙的灵光，同时也将读者导入精神感悟的状态之中。乔伊斯首次将该术语引入了小说创作领域，并对之赋予了崭新的内容。有学者归纳总结了《画像》中的几个顿悟场景:从妓女到对于圣母玛利亚的皈依;从地狱到对于死亡的恐惧;从涉水少女到对于生命归宿的追寻。(余陈乙，2007)
象征手法:
象征手法被广泛地用在现代主义文学作品中，学者们指出《画像》中乔伊斯运用象征手法，表现主人公斯蒂芬试图摆脱周围的压迫，追求自我，找到人生奋斗目标各个不同阶段的内心冲突，生动地再现了人物的痛苦、觉醒、叛逆和作出人生重大抉择时的复杂心路历程。(游巧荣，2007)在这部小说中，主人公的姓迪德勒斯具有的神话象征意义在于，他要像希腊神话中克里特国王的迷宫里囚禁的能工巧匠代达罗斯那样，依靠自己的智慧和创造获得自由，他要用艺术的手段铸就逃离迷宫的蜡翼，经过努力抗争，摆脱来自家庭、社会、宗教、民族的多重压迫和束缚，成功逃离爱尔兰，实现自己的梦想，成为一名艺术家。主人公的名斯蒂芬具有的宗教象征意义是，就像圣·斯蒂芬成为基督教第一个殉教士一样，书中的斯蒂芬把自己看成是殉道的艺术家，是不被爱尔兰人理解的牺牲品。
除此之外，静态和动态形象也具有象征意义。例如，那些具有象征意义的静态形象是由“街道”与“噪音”构成的，它们对斯蒂芬的成长起着阻碍作用。每当斯蒂芬心情沮丧的时候，他常常在外部世界的街道上穿行，都柏林街道通常是肮脏而狭窄的，他的所见所闻对他的成长产生了严重的负面影响。“噪音”象征着旧的价值和道德观念，它不仅使他身心疲惫，而且阻碍他心理的健康发展，这些声音从他儿童时代到长大成人一直伴随着他。作者还运用由“大海”与“飞鸟”构成的动态形象来象征斯蒂芬意识的觉醒，以及他摆脱周围环境去追求自己的理想，离开祖国去欧洲大陆成为艺术家的命运。“飞鸟”象征着斯蒂芬意识的觉醒和对自由的向往，也象征着斯蒂芬要离开祖国，远走他乡实现自己理想的命运。(游巧荣，2007)对此魏亚辉也表示赞同，在他看来“飞鸟”和“水”等意象象征着现代艺术家的命运中最关键的因素，即“飞离”与“束缚”。作者还用“水”象征死和生。某种颜色及某些地方也被赋予了象征意义。
还有学者指出《画像》也是乔伊斯关于人生的一次探索。它神秘的神话色彩、深刻的象征意义已使它成为一部现代艺术家的神话。在年轻的斯蒂芬身上，乔伊斯表现的是堕落的现代西方社会中，艺术家们不可避免地走向流亡的共同命运。(魏亚晖，1999)
语言风格研究
关于小说的语言风格，学者们在研究中指出从整体上看，小说的语言由简单趋向复杂，文风由朴实趋向华丽，这一变化过程和斯蒂芬从幼稚到成熟的感情变化曲线相吻合。不同风格的语言、文体的使用，为小说增添了不少亮色，读来更显真实、亲切，同时进一步深化了主题。(孙汉云，2000)为了全面描述人物思想意识的发展历程，尤其是为了深入挖掘人物的内心世界，小说中的叙事者不仅与故事主人公斯蒂芬保持一定的距离，而且他们之间的距离在不断地变化:既有内心独白中的零距离，又有明显具有讽刺意义段落中的大跨度。此外，叙事者同斯蒂芬一样随着时间的流逝也在发展和变动，而且随着故事的发展，叙事者的语言和声音特征也在变化。第一章中的句子既缺乏句法上的从属关系，又缺乏复杂的表述现实世界的例证，一系列的简单句体现孩童的话语特点，形象、生动但不精确;第二章中的句子虽然在风格上仍然质朴，但结构较复杂，展示了主人公思维的发展过程;最后几章，句子则充斥着拉丁语的繁杂和华丽的修辞，句法上的并列关系被从属关系所替代，这些深奥、理性的话语刻画出一位未来艺术家语言流动的成长过程。斯蒂芬就是这样一个通过这种语言成长以及变化建构起来的人物。(唐旭，2007)
学者余爱霞(2006)选取父亲为研究对象，用Halliday的及物性理论对其进行分析，分别从言语、心理和物质过程的角度分析，指出小说中从句类型以及人物在从句中所处的位置就能直观地感受到他们关系的微妙变化，揭示斯蒂芬是如何从孩提时代起一步步走出父亲这一权威人物的束缚，追求自己作为艺术家的人生使命的心理成长过程。分析发现，作者乔伊斯在表现主人公斯蒂芬的心理成长过程时运用了语言和结构技巧:孩提时斯蒂芬心智不成熟，一直处在父亲的权威之下，作者较多采用物质过程和言语过程的从句来体现，并且通过把斯蒂芬始终置于句子的中间或末尾而父亲稳居句首的结构来体现;等到斯蒂芬心理逐渐成熟，作者多采用心理过程的从句，而斯蒂芬与父亲在句中的位置也前后互换。
参考文献
［1］邓永忠，欧洲“成长体”小说传统视角下的自画像——《一个青年艺术家的画像》与欧洲“成长体”小说传统［J］．云南师范大学学报，2007(4):118－121
［2］金梅，《一个青年艺术家的肖像》表现手法与主题的关系［J］．武汉化工学院学报，2005(6):62－64
［3］李汝成，论《青年艺术家的画像》的语言艺术［J］．国外文学，2006(3):52－60
［4］李维屏，英美意识流小说［M］．上海外语教育出版社，1996．
［5］刘丹，民族、语言和宗教——解读《一个青年艺术家的画像》的三个关键词［J］．湖北大学学报(哲学社会科学版)，2007(4):69－72
［6］刘再复，性格组合论［M］．上海文艺出版社，1986．
［7］孙汉云，《青年艺术家的肖像》:语言与文体特色［J］．江苏教育学院学报(社会科学版)，2000(4):75－79
［8］唐旭，成长小说与乔伊斯的《青年艺术家的画像》［J］．衡阳师范学院学报，2007(2):100－103
［9］魏亚晖，艺术家的现代神话——《一个青年艺术家的肖像》的象征意义［J］．外国文学研究，1999(1):13－17
［10］文洁若，鲁迅和乔伊斯［N］．文汇报，2004－04－28
［11］余爱霞，《一个青年艺术家的画像》的父亲形象与及物性［J］．解放军外国语学院学报，2006(3):101－104
［12］游巧荣，乔伊斯《青年艺术家的画像》对“发展小说”叙事风格的革新［J］．华中师范大学学报(人文社会科学版)，2002(6): 134－138
［13］游巧荣，乔伊斯《青年艺术家的画像》中的象征手法［J］．江汉论坛，2007(10):118－120
［14］尤洪芸、朱荣杰，《一个青年艺术家的肖像》与主观现实主义［J］．解放军外国语学院学报，2002(4):100－104
［15］朱宾忠、张正平，论《一个青年艺术家的画像》中主人公的成长［J］．外国文学研究，2004(6):24－29
［16］朱望，论乔伊斯《一个青年艺术家的画像》中的社会化意义［J］．解放军外国语学院学报，2007(4):100－104
［17］周洁，文体转换在《一个青年艺术家的画像》［J］．山东矿业学院学报，1999(2):81－84
［18］朱宾忠、张正平，论《一个青年艺术家的画像》中主人公的成长［J］．外国文学研究，2004(6):24－29
［19］袁德成，詹姆斯·乔伊斯:现代尤利西斯［M］．四川人民出版社，1999．
［20］余陈乙，从《画像》看乔伊斯的两种创作手法［J］．宁波教育学院学报，2007(2):35－38
［21］Daiches，David．James Joyce:The Artist as Exile．College English，1940(2):3
［22］Suchsmit h，Harvey Peter．James Joyce:APortrait of the Artist as a Young Man．London:Edward Arnold，1977．
［23］Gorman，Herbert．“Introduction”in A Portrait of the A rtist as a Young Man．New York:Modern Library，1928．
［24］J．A．Cuddon．A Dictionary of Literary Terms．Pengu in Books，1979．