Lawrence, Karen R. “BEGGARING DESCRIPTION’: POLITICS AND STYLE IN JOYCE’S EUMAEUS.'” MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 2nd ed., vol. 38, John Hopkins University Press, 1992, pp. 355-76.
muse.jhu.edu.grinnell.idm.oclc.org/article/244009/pdf.
Lawrence argues that Joyce offers a comprehensive analysis of the complexities of the socioeconomic stratification present in turn of the century Ireland through his usage of political and economic signifiers and comedic literary devices throughout “Eumaeus”. Through an in-depth analysis of dialogue from Bloom and Stephen Lawrence asserts the presence of a “bourgeois common sense” (364) in the tone of their language, despite their “outsider” status; Bloom’s Jewish roots situate him as a cultural outsider and Stephen’s trade as an artist (poet) is not held in high esteem. Lawrence places their outsider status in the context of Ireland as a whole explaining that Britain’s colonization of Ireland situated all of Ireland’s citizens as “beggars” and undermined the existence of a class system in Irish society. She writes: “Rather than be- ing merely a symptom of the isolated bourgeois consciousness, the writing in “Eumaeus” is a kind of diagnosis of the tension of this consciousness in its particular Irish colonial formation.” (358).
Lawrence identifies a fundamental contradiction that runs throughout “Eumaeus,” that is conveyed through the manner in which Bloom and Stephen conceptualize and discuss social and economic status. The contradiction is in the perceived it is through the language in which these contradictions are expressed and the interactions Bloom and Stephen have with other Irish peoples that Joyce lays out “an anatomy of socioeconomic identifications and divisions” (356) for Ireland’s social climate. While they did exist, class divisions between the Irish during this time were minimal and not clearly defined and the Irish were a marginalized community as a whole under British rule. Lawrence uses this distinction to note the “absurdity” of the class system that exists in Irish society.
Lawrence points out the way idioms, clichés, and puns inform and alter the way various words are defined; often adding a political or economic layer to the definition. The strongest aspect of Lawrence’s argument can be found in her unpacking the utility of these comedic literary devices. Lawrence purports that by shrouding darker themes like classism and marginalization in humor the true absurdity of their existence in this particular setting is amplified in a way that allows for what she calls the “materialization of the bottom”: “By a comic process of literalization in the language, bourgeois abstrac- tions for the working classes are demystified and the “bottom” of the social body materializes.” (370).
References
Law, Jules David, Morris Beja, and Shari Benstock. “Simulation, Pluralism, and the Politics of Everyday Life.” Coping With Joyce: Essays from the Copenhagen Symposium. Ohio State UP, 1989.
Obsessions & themes
Native & foreign, performance, the unspoken
