Original scientific paper
The Virgin's Chamber: The Litany Of Loreto In Joyce's A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man
Vladimir Vujošević
; Faculty of Philology, Donja Gorica University
Abstract
In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the Litany of Loreto is evoked during the Christmas dinner scene, when little Stephen, faced with enigmatic, ''elliptical'' conversations of the adults concerning the topic unfit for children's ears (the question of C. S. Parnell's adultery), abruptly turns to the interpretation of the Litany. This peculiar development is not merely a ''peripheral,'' innocent expression of ''self-censorship'' – as if the sensitive topic of the Christmas dinner conversation is abolished, subverted in the child's mind by a repetition of the Catholic devotional text concerning Mary's virginal innocence. Rather, it is a scene of great symbolic significance since it summarizes the content of the novel itself and ''repeats'' its thematic structure. The analysis of Stephen's interpretation of the Litany allows us to examine what critics have long recognized as the novel's three main themes: (i) Catholicism, (ii) sexuality, and (iii) Stephen's vision of artistry. Thus, for example, ''ivory,'' a frequent motif in A Portrait, is nothing but a ''fragmented'' litanic sequence (Turris Eburnea). Initially, ''ivory'' is (i) a Catholic metaphorical content referring to Mary's virginal purity, which is subsequently, through a series of Stephen's personalized readings and peculiar associations, decontextualized, semantically transformed into (ii) a subversive sign of excess, ''effeminacy,'' and opulence. Finally, once this (formerly litanic) sequence is ''enriched'' with this transgressive, contradictory significance, it can become (iii) a metaphorical expression of Stephen's distinctive vision of art and artistry as a medium of reconciliation, as a vocation capable of providing a synthesis of his inner, intimate contradictions (between spiritual aspirations and more mundane appetites). A similar transformation affects the well-known Joycean motif of ''rose,'' which has the same litanic origin (Rosa Mystica). Stephen's interpretation of the Litany of Loreto in the first chapter of the novel could thus be seen as a hermeneutic ''axis'' of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Keywords
James Joyce; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; The Litany of Loreto; Blessed Virgin Mary; Tower of ivory; innocence; transgression
Hrčak ID:
260723
URI
Publication date:
22.7.2021.
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