Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Date of Award
8-2001
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Farhat Iftekharuddin
Second Advisor
Dr. Jose Marcelo Garza
Third Advisor
Dr. Charles Dameron
Abstract
This study puts James Joyce's Dubliners and Rolando Hinojosa's The Valley in a common context and shows how colonialism impacts the lives of the archetypal protagonists as they move from childhood through adolescence and into mature adulthood. This reveals not only the destructive nature of colonialism that so concerns Joyce and Hinojosa but also shows clearly how cooperation of the church, the colonizer, and of some of the colonized makes the imposition of a colonial culture possible. In light of findings from the study, a new reading of "Eveline" is offered.
After establishment of a common historical background, the focus falls on the young Irishman as protagonist in Dubliners with a brief look at the same boy when he appears as Stephen in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Also, several women, including Gretta Conroy, Lily the caretaker's daughter, Eveline, and Mary Jane Morkan serve as typical examples of adult members of Irish society. In The Valley the protagonist appears primarily as Jehu Malacara, but additional characters including a group of women serve as subjects here also.
The study reveals striking similarities in the ways these characters from different racial backgrounds, geographical locations, and time periods relate to parents, teachers, and other authority figures, raising questions about traditional critical interpretations of the works at hand as well as others that take colonial society as subject matter.
Granting Institution
University of Texas at Brownsville
Comments
Copyright 2001 John Clark Owen. All Rights Reserved.