Epiphany as a Mode of Perception.
The Origin of Joyce′s "Ulysses"

von: Barbora Sramkova

Contents

1. Introduction 2

2. Defining Epiphany 3

3. Joyce’s Epiphanies 6

4. The „Verbal“ Epiphanies 8

5. The “Sensual Epiphanies 9

6. The “Visionary Epiphanies 12

7. Conclusion 17

8. Bibliography 19

1. Introduction

How do writers make their figures perceive the world they inhabit? To answer this question would amount to writing a book along the lines of Franz K. Stanzel’s Narrative Situations in the Novel, which is clearly not my ambition. Eve n narrowing the scope down to one writer or even a single book, in the case of Ulysses, it wouldn’t make things much easier. But there seems to be a consensus among Joycean scholars that there is one way typical of Joyce, in which fictional characters can achieve an understanding of their experiences. „Epiphany is the name of the game and there is hardly any reader of Joyce who would not be acquainted with this concept in one way or another. Although no invention of Joyce’s, the word is today associated primarily with him, and has since enjoyed great popularity exceeding the literary context.

In this paper, I will trace the origins of this theory in Joyce’s early writing and examine how it can be applied to Ulysses. I see two approaches to some such undertaking. First, there is the explicit theory that Joyce formulated in what came down to us as the fragment Stephen Hero. Using Stephen as a mouthpiece for his own aesthetic theories, Joyce applies Thomistic aesthetic philosophy to everyday perception of the world surrounding his juvenile alter ego. This theory is later expanded and accordingly modified in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Rather than relating this theory solely to Stephen and following his artistic and philosophic development in Ulysses, I intend to examine moments that correspond with Stephen’s aesthetic notions, even where other characters, or, perhaps, no characters at all, are involved. In this attempt, I deem it necessary to draw on Joyce’s own collection of Epiphanies, a book not published in Joyce’s lifetime, which was, however, later presented to the public, despite the fact that the extant pieces form only a fragment of Joyce’s original notes. Stanislaus Joyce remarks: „This collection served him as a sketchbook serves an artist.“1 Should, or could, these sketches be regarded as Joyce’s theories put into practice? Some motives from the Epiphanies were incorporated into Ulysses, modified accordingly2. Even though the „sketchbook“ was exploited to a much greater degree in Stephen Hero and Portrait, the fact that some of the „genuine epiphanies“ found their way into Joyce′s writing two decades after they had been jotted down, is significant enough for the correspondences to be examined. With this background in mind, many more „epiphanic“ moments can be detected in Joyce’s writing and Ulysses is certainly a most rewarding site for such discoveries. After discussing the concept of epiphany and the possible ways of understanding this phenomenon, I will concentrate on the major points of contention, which could be subsumed under the heading: „subject-object debate“. The most complicated issues are those concerning the validity or verisimilitude of an epiphany, which are connected to the problematic question of the point of view. Comparing Joyce’s Epiphanies, dating from 1901-03, with those to be found in Ulysses (both those deriving from the original collection and those without a traceable model), I will track the development of the Joycean epiphany concept and suggest possible differentiation of what can be described as epiphanic moments. This differentiation will also be carried out with a view to the two protagonists of the novel, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. If epiphany is regarded as a mode of perception, then there must by necessity be differences between two characters as different as Bloom and Stephen. Giving special attention to chapters that have a tendency towards the epiphanic mode („Proteus“, „Hades“), this distinction becomes apparent, as will the fact that there is no such thing as „the concept of epiphany“.

2. Defining Epiphany

Coming to terms with this intricate phenomenon, it is perhaps best to start with the origin of the word „epiphany“ itself. Etymologically, epijneia means „appearance“, or „manifestation“. In Greek mythology, the term expressed the unexpected manifestation of the divine. Similarly, in Greek drama, it signified sudden appearance of a god on stage. Early Christianity appropriated the term for liturgical purposes, retaining the basic meaning of a „visible manifestation of a hidden divinity either in the form of a personal appearance, or by some deed of power by which its presence is made known.“3 Today, the term is most readily associated with the Feast of Epiphany, 6 January, commemorating the arrival of the Magi at the crib.

Joyce’s application of the term is twofold. He uses it in his (or Stephen’s) aesthetic theory, describing the climax of aesthetic apprehension, as well as for the records of moments imbued with special significance, which are, however, not always of aesthetic nature. It should be noted that the concept of epiphany played an important role in Joyce’s artistically formative years, but it does not follow that the lack of explicit reference in his later writing makes the theory invalid. Almost as if to define his artistic program, the young Joyce spoke of „converting the bread of everyday life into something that has a permanent artistic life of its own.“4 This very endeavour to render mundane experience in poetic terms is essential to the concept of epiphany that can be derived from the sketches Joyce was putting down at that time. Probably the most reliable guide to James Joyce’s early artistic development is Stanislaus Joyce’s famous book My Brother’s Keeper. It offers first-hand documentation of the impetus that lies behind Joyce′s first literary attempts, both prosaic and lyrical. Stanislaus was an intimate witness to the creative process of his brother and thus we know today how most of the epiphanies originated. They were genuine observations, dreams and reminiscences, all based on the revelatory capacity of seemingly insignificant, trivial incidents. Stanislaus mentions Joyce’s interest in the subconscious and his pleasure in ironical observations of slips of tongue and other similar gestures that betray the true nature most individuals try to hide, with a higher or lower degree of intentionality. This approach, which we today classify as psychoanalytical, bears conspicuous resemblance to Sigmund Freud’s observations, most notably those in Psychopathology of Everyday Life, a copy of which was an item of Joyce’s library in Trieste.5 Joyce was probably not acquainted with Freud at the onset of his literary career, but, we can assume a good knowledge of Freud’s teaching on Joyce’s part at the time of composing Ulysses.6

In Stephen Hero, Joyce formulated a theory of epiphany, which is expressed partly through the mouth of Stephen, partly through the voice of the narrator. It is the narrator who is first entrusted with precise elucidation of Stephen’s ideas as if to interpret these for the reader: By an epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself. He believed it was for the man of letters to record these epiphanies with extreme care, seeing that they themselves are the most delicate and evanescent of moments.7

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1 Stanislaus Joyce, My Brother’s Keeper, p. 134.

2 For this comparison, Morris Beja’s chart in A Companion to Joyce Studies (p 712 f) is of much help, as it lists all the epiphanies and the corresponding passages in Joyce’s novels.

3 For extensive treatment of the liturgical background to Joyce’s concept see Florence Walzl’s „The Liturgy of the Epiphany Season and the Epiphanies of Joyce“ in PMLA 80, 1965, pp 436-450.

4 Quoted in Richard Ellmann’s James Joyce, p. 169.

5 See Klaus Reichert: „The European Background of Joyce’s writ ing“ in The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce, p. 79.

6 In Joyce in Nighttown, a psychoanalytical reading of Ulysses, Mark Shechner writes: „[ Joyce’s] epiphany is a version of Freud’s parapraxis, the thoughtless gesture that lays bare the hidden motive, though Joyce’s theory revealed in Stephen Hero surely antedates any possible acquaintance he could have had with Freud’s work.“ (p. 17).

7 James Joyce, Stephen Hero, p. 216.