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  • Essay / The use of parody in Ulysses

    The word "parody" comes from the Latin parodia, which means "burlesque song or poem", but it has come to designate any artistic composition in which "the characteristic themes and the style of a work, a particular author, etc., are exaggerated or applied to an inappropriate subject for the purpose of ridicule. Parody is used throughout Ulysses as both a form of comedy and criticism. In the episode “Cyclops”, the parody functions as a critique of the grand narrative, particularly in terms of 19th century history and discourse. Parody is further used in order to subvert existing structures and hierarchies, as demonstrated by the elements of Bakhtin's Carnival design present in the episode. In “Nausicaa,” Joyce parodies aspects of popular culture, particularly romantic fiction and the debate over censorship. This technique serves to highlight the relationship between language and consciousness, as well as the way in which discourses are constructed and interact with each other. By using parody, Joyce appears to criticize aspects of society and question the way language is used to convey meaning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe parody in “Cyclops” serves to disrupt conventional notions of storytelling. In particular, Joyce seems to criticize the notion of history as a grand narrative. The elevated language of the episode, as can be seen in the passage describing "a historic and heavy battle", acts as a parody of the literature used by Irish nationalists to idealize Ireland's heroic past. These writers offered popular versions of mythology using writing styles similar to those of 19th century writers such as Carlyle. To the twentieth-century reader, however, these allusions may seem pretentious and exaggerated; Joyce seems to be parodying the passionate nationalists who celebrated the heroic past of the Irish people in this way. The list of names of the heroic rulers in "Cyclops" turns into a complete farce, as it lists characters totally foreign to Ireland, such as "Gautama Buddha" and "Jack the Giant Slayer", as well as some names that are simply made up . Joyce also parodies this idea of ​​senseless nonsense by concluding the narrator's speeches with phrases such as "and so on and so on", "this phenomenon and the other phenomenon" and "the new Ireland and the new this, that and the other.” These parodies reveal that extremist Irish nationalists have seized almost anything to advance their mission. Thematically, Joyce establishes an ongoing dialogue between Bloom's "humanist universalism" and the narrow nationalism of the citizen. The citizen refuses to acknowledge the possibility that Bloom could claim Ireland as his nation while still being Jewish. Bloom, for his part, postulates the humanist vision according to which "force, hatred, history... it is not the life of men and women... love... the opposite of hatred... that’s really life.” Joyce appears to criticize the often fanatical nature of Irish nationalism, particularly the way in which heroism is represented in terms of violence, and the fact that this fanaticism is encouraged at the expense of humanity. Furthermore, Joyce appears to criticize the grand narrative of 19th century discourse. He does this first by juxtaposing familiar passages narrated by an anonymous Dubliner with grandiose mythical passages such as "the nec et le non plus ultra of emotion was reached when the blushing bride-elect burst in... and threw herself on the muscular breast of him which was going to be launched into eternity." THEThe ridiculousness of this grandiloquent style is accentuated by the subject: a wedding of trees. Indeed, the juxtaposition of this language with the narrator's colloquialism "God be good if she is not a clinker" highlights the pretension of the elevated form. Joyce uses an exaggerated multiplicity of adjectives such as "broad-shouldered, deep-chested, strong-limbed, red-haired, free-freckled" to parody an overly descriptive writing style and criticize the imperialist nature of grand narratives which claim to offer a global vision of events. In doing so, Joyce demonstrates that she is aware that certain aspects of 19th century literature cannot be translated. He seems to criticize the extent to which people who sought Irish independence attempted to translate into the 20th century notions that belonged to the past and could not be recovered - especially not through inflated language. There is no clear narrative voice in this episode. , while Joyce quickly moves from one narrative style to another. The shifting narrative also serves as a parody of pretentious 19th-century writing. Like the one-eyed Polyphemus in the Homeric parallel, each narrative presents a unique point of view, providing the reader with distinct eyewitnesses who interrupt and contradict each other. This allows characters to morph between different narrative frames. The medical journal parody, for example, transforms Bloom's confusing scientific knowledge into an accurate explanation of physiology, turning him into "Herr Professor Luitpold Blumenduft." Through other stories, the reader is given a vision of Bloom as a hero: "O'Bloom, the son of Rory", Bloom the "distinguished phenomenologist", and finally "Ben Bloom Elijah". Joyce also seems to engage in this type of storytelling. in an effort to both define it and limit it to a narrative structure. In doing so, he explores the rupture of narrative. Sometimes this happens in the middle of a sentence, as in the last words of the episode: "ben Bloom Elijah, amid clouds of angels, ascends to the glory of brightness... from an angle forty-five degrees... like a shot". of a shovel." The phrase begins like a biblical epic, shifts to a quasi-scientific journalistic style, and then back to colloquial language. The structure resembles a comic routine, with different voices presenting different points of view, which in turn highlight the unreliability of each individual point of view Interestingly, Homer's Polyphemus is both one-eyed and multi-vocal, echoing the ambiguities explored by Joyce in the episode "Cyclops." can thus be considered as a microcosm of the parody of the novel of Ulysses, that is to say a parody of the epic form. The parody also has the function of overturning the existing structures and hierarchies. Cyclops” echo the festivities of Carnival as conceptualized by Bakhtin underlines the predominance of the “material principle and physical life with images of the body, or eating and drinking, and with the satisfaction of natural impulses”. The pub is a place for informal socializing – the characters are drunk on drink and the environment is conducive to the kind of revelry associated with Carnivale. There is a sense of anarchy in the episode, with characters indulging in excess, "[almost eating] the can and everything", and placing emphasis on lower parts of the body, such as the buttocks. by Molly Bloom and the Hangman's Erection. Joyce seems to stage a verbal carnival, first through the polyphony of voices, notably the alternation of noble and vulgar styles, and then through the play on words which characterizes a large part of the episode. In the episode are examplesantanaclasis (“Good Christ!... Who said that Christ is good?”), etymology (“barber/barbarian/barbarian”), puns (“foul/poultry”), neologism (“codology”). and the non-sequiters (“speaking of New Ireland, he should go get a new dog, so he should”). Parrinder characterizes a carnival as a "world...turned from the bottom up...a ​​forum in which behavior that is normally frowned upon...becomes sanctioned and overt." During a carnival, the highest authority (usually the king) is insulted and beaten by the people. In “Cyclops,” Bloom is presented as this character, his “on duty” image suggesting his superiority, highlighted by his refusal to participate in the drinking party. It is therefore significant that at the end of the episode, he is insulted and attacked by the dogs. Carnival is also a place where religion is parodied, and in this episode, God undergoes a plethora of irreverent metamorphoses: “begob… Christ M'Keown… dog”. Here, the parody functions as a subversion of these authority figures. In “Nausicaa,” the parody serves as a critique of popular culture and highlights the ways in which certain aspects of popular culture seep into our consciousness. Gerty McDowell's language and consciousness are an amalgam of romantic literature, fashion magazines, advertising and folk wisdom. The first half of "Nausicaa" is often read as a parody of the sentimental novel, and particularly of The Lamplighter, written by Maria Cummins in 1864, which features a heroine named "Gertrude". The frequent use of exclamation points, as in "O so alive! O so sweet, sweet, sweet!" and exaggerated use of "O!" parodies the emotional and heightened language of romantic fiction. Joyce himself called the language in this half of the episode "namby-pamby jammy marmalady drawers". Interestingly, many references to fashion magazines and advertising appear in parentheses, such as "(because it was intended in the Lady's Pictorial that electric blue would be worn)", suggesting a sort of "aside ”, as if these aspects of popular fashion culture create resonances that infiltrate our consciousness at particular moments. Gerty herself is a parody of the romantic heroine, one who "[represses] completely all sexual desires and awareness of her own physical being...she must be an object." Gerty, however, is aware of her sexual desires and cannot keep her fantasies pure, imagining that "Bloom's hands and face were working and a tremor was overcoming her." She is further aware that she is being watched and seems to enjoy being seen, deliberately "[revealing] all her graceful, beautifully formed legs" to Bloom. This awareness of her sexual potency contradicts the stereotype of this type of heroine and, as such, Gerty becomes the antithesis of the romantic heroine. The parody also serves to criticize the censorship debate. The idea that young women were vulnerable to moral deviance in works of fiction was particularly highlighted by the sensational fictional outrage of the 19th century. These “sensational” novels were considered dangerous because they “made readers read with their bodies.” Gerty is a virgin who is aware of her own sexuality because she reads - exactly what the defenders of sensation novels feared. Joyce's irony, however, is that Gerty read a romance novel with a typically asexual heroine, rather than "sensational" fiction, apparently mocking the whole censorship debate. Joyce is perhaps criticizing the eagerness with which people vilify literature in order to create a scapegoat for society's problems. The problems facingIrish society faced in Joyce's time are revealed through the virgin/whore dichotomy. On the one hand, Irish Catholicism posited the doctrine of Mary-olatry, but on the other, Ireland had a large population of prostitutes. In The Lamplighter, Gertrude models herself on the Virgin Mary. Similarly, in the "Nausicaa" episode of Ulysses, Gerty tries to see herself in this light, as the "refuge of sinners... the comforter of the afflicted" - allusions to the Blessed Virgin. However, her sexual awareness means that she must fail in this figure. The juxtaposition between Gerty's sexuality and that of the Virgin Mary takes on a comic element as the gap between Gerty's view of herself and what she actually is widens. Joyce's parody of the future virgin seems to allude to the hypocrisy of societal attitudes of the time. The doctrine of Mary-olatry also suggests transubstantiation. It is therefore interesting that Gerty's stockings are a diaphanous object, recalling the motif of the diaphanous which permeates the previous episodes of Ulysses. Aristotle spoke of the diaphanous as a medium which allows things to show themselves only in the light, raising the question of where the light source is. This goes back to the question of where the source of creativity - and in particular the creation of language - is found. This question is explored through parody, as it highlights the relationship between language and consciousness. This is first considered through the construction of character-specific discourses. Gerty may be a typical example of the “attractive Irish girl,” but that is because she is a composite of the discourses that construct the ideal Irish woman. The parody occurs through Joyce's subversion of this ideal construct, in which Gerty appears to deceive herself into believing that she is this ideal. There are several images in the episode that suggest Gerty's narcissistic delusions, including her placement, like Narcissus, near "the little pool by the rock", and the mirror in her bedroom, in front of which she "[smiles] at the lovely reflection that the mirror gave her!" Gerty seems to deliberately construct this image of herself, perhaps to mask her insecurities about her role as a woman, and it is therefore significant that we discover that she is lame, as we realize she is not the ideal female form that she Gerty thinks of Bloom in terms of male stereotypes: "her dream husband... [who] would kiss her gently, like a real man, crushing her soft body on him." She is depicted as a "typical" woman, who imagines the possibilities of marriage and children, while Bloom is the "typical" man, who sees Gerty simply as an object of desire. This sense, Bloom's narrative is integral to his character. It raises the question of linguistic determination and whether we can think outside of our own language. Bloom recognizes this issue when he describes his erotic communication with Gerty as "a kind of language between us." He is aware that something has happened and wonders if it is language or not. Joyce seems to be interested in these points of connection between thought and language, and leads the reader to wonder if it is possible to document them. The two voices in this episode create an intratextual parody. Gerty observes Bloom as he observes her, and as such the characters function simultaneously as representative and as object of representation. Bakhtin claims that this dialogic relationship can be considered a parodic relationship, stating that "in parodic discourse, two styles, two 'languages' meet...the language that is parodied...and the language that parodies." Likewise, the two voices of Gerty and Bloom criticize each other and, 1994