A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Group

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fabitha
fabitha
Student
College - Senior

What is the narrative technique in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Narrative technique

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Posted by fabitha on Thursday April 10, 2008 at 11:56 AM and tagged with a portrait of the artist as a young man, technique, writing.

Answers:


  1. kwoo1213 Teacher
    College - Junior

    eNotes Editor

    James Joyce is well known for his unique storytelling abilities, and this novel reinforces this. 

    Joyce uses a third-person point of view, but a very unique one.  Events are not told in chronological order, for example.  Also, the narrative focuses on its protagonist, Stephen Dedalus.  What is interesting is that Joyce's diction is directly related to Stephen's age.  For example, at the beginning of the novel, he is very young, perhaps a toddler, so Joyce's diction reflects that. 

    Also,  another unique thing about Joyce's narrative is that "[h]is narrative is narrow and tightly focused; he does not tell what is happening but rather tries to show what is happening without explaining the events that he is showing" (Enotes).

    Finally, Joyce also uses stream of consciousness (writing as one thinks, which can be very fragmented) and interior monologue (a procession of thoughts in one's mind when one thinks to themselves).

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/portrait-artist/style

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    Posted by kwoo1213 on Thursday April 10, 2008 at 8:11 PM