Framed Images as Counterpoints in James Joyce's 'The Dead'
ISSN: 0210-6124
Año de publicación: 2011
Volumen: 33
Número: 2
Páginas: 61-74
Tipo: Artículo
Otras publicaciones en: Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos
Resumen
This article aims to analyse the images presented within frames in James Joyce's 'The Dead' as if they were descriptions of works of art, or ekphrases. It will be shown that the four main framed images reproduce a certain design established by the initial set, underlying once again the perfect structure as well as the complex intertwining between all the narrative elements of the text. Examining ekphrases involves a symbolic reading of the textual images, often leading to unexpected associations, which, at the same time, reinforcelike counterpointscentral aspects of the story. This analysis has also made it possible to focus on elements usually overlooked by Joycean criticism, such as the waistcoat that Gabriel's mother made for him. Since all the framed images may be considered as exploring and exhibiting Gabriel's inner conflicts, Lacan's psychoanalytic theory has provided an invaluable tool for understanding both the main character's epiphanic experience and the intense dynamics of those around him, including the spectral presences of his mother and Michael Furey. The two ekphrastic descriptions of unframed imagesthe supper table and the snowwill also be considered.
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