James Joyce
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Major Issues Major IssuesJames Joyce has been described as an indispensable bridge between the realist fiction of the 19th century and the modernist and postmodernist modes of the 20th century. Literary historians trace Joyce’s influence on European, American, and Latin American writers. Joyce scholars have examined the importance of Dublin as the central setting for Joyce’s fiction and as an important symbol of the fragmented, multifaceted, contemporary urban landscape. Joyce’s evolution from a realist to an impressionistic modernist has been analyzed, as has his increasing experimentation with and eventual rejection of all prose conventions, such as plot and even standard grammar and syntax. One constant which critics have observed throughout his work, however, is his thematic investigation of the search for identity, and the complex, conflicted relationships between an individual and his family, community, and culture. Author LinksWork in Progress
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