| In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,Stephen’s identity has undergone a transformation from the follower of family,nation and religion—the beloved of family,national hero and pious catholic,to the rebel,and finally to an artist.Through the transformation of Stephen Dedalus’s identity,James Joyce completes the writing and criticism of the parochialism of nationalism,and the restriction of religion and family in Ireland,and explores the possibilities of Irish revival.In this thesis,the transformation of Stephen’s identity is analyzed,and the following problems are expected to be solved:Firstly,under the gaze of various authorities,how is Stephen’s"perfect" identity constructed?Secondly,how is his "perfect" identity disillusioned,and how does he rebel against disciplinary gaze of various forces?Thirdly,how does he construct his identity as an artist to escape the discipline of gaze and what is his purpose of exile?This thesis analyzes the transformation of Stephen’s identity based on Jacques Lacan’s gaze theory.Under the gaze from various authorities,Stephen internalizes the standards and rules of gaze from family,nation and religion as his own requirements,thus constructing "perfect" identities.However,in this process,Stephen imagines the gaze from others as a perfect and flawless existence,and the perfect identity based on this imagination is actually a kind of fantasy identity.In addition,the original"perfect" identity is actually self-alienation under the gaze of authority,and Stephen is only an object of discipline.With the awakening of subjective consciousness,he finally finds that the "perfection" he imagined is actually an illusion,and the formation of the "perfect" identities is based on the suppression of his own human nature.The disillusionment of "perfect" identities and the awareness of the suppression of his human nature eventually cause Stephen’s resistance and the antagonistic attitude toward the gaze,that is counter-gaze,is formed.Besides,Stephen begins to consciously construct his real self-identity.Through the pursuit of art,he constructs his identity as an independent artist.Through the transformation of identity from the follower under disciplines of the gaze to a free artist,Stephen escapes from the shackles of various forces in Ireland.Finally,through exile,he pursues the universal value of art and creates the "uncreated conscience" of Irish nation.By discussing the transformation of Stephen’s identity,this article draws the following conclusions.First of all,the "perfect" identity that Stephen constructs through imaginary gaze is a fantasy,and his family,the Irish nation and religion the object on which his identity is based are imperfect.Secondly,with the gradual maturity of Stephen himself and the awakening of subjective consciousness,Stephen re-examines his family,nation and religion by counter-gaze and gradually sees the unreasonable factors of them that have become a constraint of his growth,and the gap between reality and imagination has caused Stephen’s identity crisis.In order to escape the shackles of various forces and liberate his repressed nature,Stephen becomes a rebel to revolt against the forces of various disciplines.Meanwhile,he also consciously constructs his identity as a free artist through the pursuit of art.Besides,through exile,Stephen tries to fly out of the Irish environment that binds him,so as to keep a distance from the constraint of gaze,to re-examine himself better and to treat the logic imposed by gaze with a more objective attitude.At the same time,as an artist deeply concerned about his own nation,Stephen’s pursuit of art also implies the exploration of the way of national revival.Through exile,Stephen pursues the universal value of art,and creates the uncreated conscience of his race.He scrutinizes Irish religion,nation and family with an open vision for the future for the possibility to realize national revival. |
