On The Theme Of Faith In A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

The Irish writer James Joyce(1882-1941) is honored as one of the giants of the 20th-centruy modernism. Published in 1916, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an autobiographical work of Joyce written before Irish War of Independence. Through the track of the hero‘s development, the novel recreates the specific history of Ireland and portrays a complex Irish society in a whirlwind of religious, po litical and cultural issues during the transitional period. In this work, the religious problem concerning Catholic tradition is especially prominent, and the transmutation of the hero‘s faith condition runs throughout the story. For decades, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man has drawn much attention from foreign and domestic researchers, but it is still meaningful to explore its social meaning in terms of faith.Faith is a key concept in theologian and philosophical studies. It refers to a kind of conscious act to transcend beyond one ‘s finite being. Taking ―ultimate concern‖ as a key concept, religious philosopher Paul Tillich explains a true condition of faith with spiritual concerns like political, aesthetic ones related to human‘s existence. Further, he discusses three kinds of distortions in terms of faith from the aspects of cognition, will and emotion. Tillich‘s theory of faith can provide support for analyzing the different conditions of the hero ‘s faith. Combined with the specific historical b ackground of Ireland and its social context in the transitional period, the analysis of the work can profoundly highlight the Irishmen ‘s predicament of faith as well as their appeal for recovering the national faith.By virtue of Tillich‘s theory of ―ultimate concern‖, this thesis aims to probe into the theme of faith in the work with focus on the transformation of the hero ‘s faith condition by the thread of ―idolatrous‖, ―paralyzed‖ and ―transcendental‖ faith, along with a change in his attitudes towards the Catholic tradition from passive acceptance, unwilling compliance to positive reflection. First of all, the introduction reviews the previous studies, gives a brief introduction to the theory and points out the feasibility of the paper. Besides, the following questions will be raised. Influenced by the emotional connections of family, how does Stephen passively accept Catholic traditional doctrines in his childhood? With his will reinforced in the college education, what kind of faith has Stephen formed? As his rational thoughts emerge, how does the young Stephen suffer from a conflict between his inner query and external commitment? And how has his world of faith fallen into a paralyzed condition under the influence of such a conflict? After Stephen enters into his early manhood, what kind of political concern has taken shape in his mind? And how has he showed an appeal for transcendental faith through his artistic ideal? To be specific, the first chapter is about the Stephen‘s idolatrous faith in his childhood. Lack of rational thoughts, Stephen in this part is too young to know much about the world. Influenced by the indoctrination from family and college education, Stephen passively accepts Catholic tenets and rituals and hence loses himself in idolatrous faith. The second chapter focuses on Stephen‘s paralyzed faith in his youth. Under the constant oppression of Catholic authorities, Stephen‘s rational thoughts have gradually emerged. Nevertheless, with a failure to eliminate inner conflicts, Stephen falls into a depth of paralyzed faith in compliance with the tradition. At last, the third chapter is concerned with Stephen‘s transcendental faith in early manhood. After awakening Stephen in early manhood begins to reflect on the limited tradition in a trans-rational way and starts a journey of seeking for the ultimate faith. Based on the above analysis, the conclusion replies the questions and further manifests that through the change in the hero ‘s state of faith, the tension between the religious tradition and the modern society well unfolds in the work. With the tension Joyce expresses his criticism and reflection of traditional limitations in Ireland as well as his expectation and aspiration in recovering the Irish national faith. In terms of the theory of ultimate concern, we can know that it is of great significance for today‘s society in absence of true faith to seek its essence of ultimate concern. If the religious tradition can be appropriately inherited and reformed in a rational and dialectic view, faith will become an impetus to fulfill people‘s spiritual uplift.