A Comparative Study Of Mansfield's And Joyce's Short Stories

Katherine Mansfield worked diligently while she was alive, and in her short literary career(1911-1924)she left us more than 80 good pieces of writing. Mansfield is the only writer in the 20th century whose reputation relies solely on short stories. Her exquisite short stories won her an important place in the history of English short stories, and also made her enjoy good reputation of"English Chekov","king of English short stories", and"master of short stories". However, concerning her role as a modern short story writer in English literary history, Mansfield's literary position is sometimes obscure. And when commenting on English and American modern literature, some contemporary critics and literary historians write off Mansfield's contribution to modern literature at one stroke. James Joyce is a great master and an outstanding representative of western modern literature of 20^th century. Joyce has become the embodiment of modern spirit. Some extol him as a prominent leader of the movement of modern literature while others regard him as a giant of the literary world. Hence, through a comparative study of two authors'short stories, this dissertation proves that Mansfield and Joyce have many similar characteristics of modernism concerning theme, characters and techniques. And this dissertation also concludes that Mansfield is a feminine modernist who makes great contribution to the literature of modernism, and her short stories have contributed enormously to modern English literature, and her place in modern literature can't be neglected.On the basis of a close reading, this dissertation will make a comparative study of Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories on a parallel level. In the research, this dissertation will focus on the analogy between the two writers, concerning the theme, characters and the technique shown in their works, and the main purpose is to find similar characteristics of modernism. The viewpoints and terminology of some philosophical and literary theory will be adopted to support the argument of this dissertation and to make it more persuasive.This dissertation falls into five parts: Part one is Introduction, and it mainly discusses the importance and the value of the thesis of the dissertation, introduces and summarizes the research situation of Mansfield's and Joyce's works. It also includes an introduction of research theory and outline in the dissertation.Part Two is Chapter One, and it centers on the comparative study on the theme of Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories. This chapter first focuses on the similarities of the theme in the two writer's works, and then, it contrasts the differences. Through analyzing the ideology of modern literature (i.e. with a strong critical spirit, what modern literature expresses is the alienation existing in man and man, man and society, man and nature, man and material, and also the exploration and reflection of the self.), this chapter shows that Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories reflects their focus on modern men's alienation, disillusion and loneliness. However, the portrait of average men's everyday life of in their respective hometown indicates Mansfield's nostalgia and Joyce's disgust.Part three is Chapter Two, and it chiefly devotes to the comparative study on the characters of Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories. This chapter mainly studies the characteristics of modernism shown by the characters of the two writers'short stories: the alienated and worried self, the focus on the psychology, and characters'symbolic or artistic function. Besides, this chapter explores the difference between the two writers concerning their portrait of the characters: first is the selection of the characters, for Mansfield's characters come from all walks of life while Joyce's mainly from the lower-middle class; female characters takes a large part in Mansfield's characters while they are subordinate Joyce's short stories, so Mansfield's feminism is obvious; second, compared with Joyce, Mansfield is better at giving characters freedom to express themselves, that is, to emerge the narrator's viewpoint with the characters'.Part Four is Chapter Three, and attention is given to the comparative study on the technique of Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories. This chapter focuses on the similarities and differences between the two writers'writing technique of modernism. The application of stream-of-consciousness, the lack of plot and poetic style, and the stress on impressionism and symbolism all indicates their modern aesthetics and artistic feature. However, paragraphs, even whole pages of monologue in Mansfield's short stories is rarely seen in Joyce's; regarding to impressionism and symbolism, Mansfield is better at the former while Joyce is more skillful in the latter; and concerning the tone of their short stories, Mansfield's blue is obviously different from Joyce's darkness.Part Five is Conclusion, and it sum up the results of the research in this dissertation. First, both Mansfield's and Joyce's short stories have the characteristics of modernism: the focus on the alienation of man and the psychology of worry and disillusion, the portrait of character's symbolic or artistic function, the application of stream-of-consciousness, the pursuit of poetic style, and the exploration of impressionism and symbolism all reflects their original spirit as modern writers; second, Mansfield and Joyce lay different emphasis on the selection of the sex and type of characters in their short stories, and moreover, the two writers vary obviously concerning the basic tone of their short stories; last but not the least important, the dissertation concludes that same as Joyce, Mansfield is one of the most important writers in the history of English modern literature and the history of English short story., and she is a prominent pioneer of English modernism, and an innovator who combines modernism with the short story perfectly.