Joyce's Jewish Complex And Worldview

Based on the textual analysis of Ulysses, the present thesis aims to study James Joyce's Jewish complex and worldview. Except for the preface and conclusion, it is composed of four parts. In the first part, it traces Joyce's life and cultural background, which makes us understand that Joyce must have shown great interest in Jewish problems and learned many things about Jewish cultures. Then it goes on discussing the Anti-Semitism in many European countries, which made Joyce think deeply about the nature of European nations and his motherland and find stronger affectionate identities with Jews. Besides this, the Irish spiritual paralyzation, their self-deceiving, the conservative atmosphere of Dublin, and the out-dated literary forms all forced Joyce to live a long exile life in the Continent, where he has absorbed radical thoughts of avant-guard thinkers and attained his spiritual independence and the freedom of artistic expression. This is what the third part deals with. Summing up the above analysis, the last part tells us that, based on the Jewish complex, Joyce has transcended nationalism and provincialism and went into cosmopolitanism, which showed his wide worldview and the hard road of his spiritual transgression.