Joyce's Modern World

In the modern literature, Joyce is an original writer. This original spirit give his literary works the characteristics of idelological, aesthetic modernity. The modernity of his literary text is closely related with the modern transformation of Irish society in the late 19th century and the early 20th century . In Ireland, social modernization and transformation during the colonial era, secular ethics and religious ethics, mainstream and marginal, individual freedom and identity anxiety, male and female gender roles reconstruction and many other prominent factors were emersed. Joyce with rebellious spirit hated the ignorence of Irish and built his own modern world, in which Joyce rebelt the tradition and showed totally unique modern values. This showed the modernity of Joyce's works. In addition, he also described that the modern people were at a loss when they selected their life during the social transition ,formed a paradox with the modern values and began to seek new depositum . All of this showed the parodox between Joyce's woks and the modernity."Ulysses" thought and written in the late 19th century early 20th century, showed Joyce's aesthetic and ideological values during this period. Therefore, the author attempts to take "Ulysses" for an example to prove that Joyce's modernity. The thesis consists of three chapters:Chapter I, "Joyce's rebellion against tradition," analyzes the politics, culture, religion during the transition period of Irish, and Joyce denied this and tried to view the Irish social orders and historical reality from a new prospective, explored the unique cultural psychology of the middle-class, outlined the picture of the modern Irish spirit and reconstructed the modern consciousness of Irish. Joyce determined to smash the spiritual shackles which set on the Irish, and let them see the true face of religion and wake them up from it. Rebeling the traditional religious thought reveals the modernity of Joyce's thought. Joyce consciously accepted the ideas of modern art which didn't have any constraints of traditional standards or intrinsic mode. According to his own unique aesthetic principles, Joyce created the modern doctrine of the classic - "Ulysses", which reflected the modern consciousness and modern experience and subverted the traditional creation mode, revealing modernity of the literary discourse .Chapter II, "Joyce's modern values" ."Ulysses" is a rare transitional product in the history of Western literature.In transition period the traditional values were disappearing and the new values were emerging. After he denied and subverted the old ideology ,Joyce with innovative spirit began to search for the modern humane values which conformed to humanity.He hoped that modern people could achieve true freedom and liberation . In this chapter the author demonstrates the value of his new concepts– to keep the individual subjectivity, to promote humane sexual morality, and to establish mechanisms for human sex, to establish equal modern marriage with true love .All of this reflect a valuable spirit of modernity.Chapter III,"The paradox between Joyce's works and modernity",which disscusses the modernity's development is not smooth, but full of paradox in the development process . Joyce made the explorement and thought about modern people's life to show the modern people's selection of modern life's way, and the dilemma and paradox of the selection: modern people had a set of new values during the period of social transition, which demonstrated valuable modern spirit. However, the new values didn't mean that modern people had been completely transformed .They were still full of contradictions and often fell into the painess of ideological struggle , which formed the paradox of modernity. In addition, Modern people who abandoned traditional religious thought lost the spiritual sustenance and often fell into confusion. They hoped to find a new spiritual sustenance to save themselves. Joyce endowed ordinary people divinity which made modern people find a new spiritual sustence and receive salvation . This also formed a parodox with modernity which rebelled divinity and boosted reason.