Symbolism of light and darkness in «Dubliners» by James Joyce
Keywords:
James Joyce, symbolism, symbolism of light, epiphany, insight, light, darknessAbstract
The article deals with the symbolism of light and darkness in «Dubliners», a short story collection by James Joyce. It has been proved that the concepts of «light» and «darkness» are present at both philosophical and poetic levels of the texts; their role in the context of the genre of epiphany has been revealed. The symbolism of light and darkness helps the author to reveal the psychological state of his Irish contemporaries. Special attention is paid to the moment of insight as a state of transition from darkness to light. Different ways of rendering light and darkness in Joyce’s texts have been discovered (words with the semantics of light, suggestion, associations, leitmotifs, chronotope, urban landscape, contrast, chiaroscuro, colours, rhythm, etc.). The symbolism of light and darkness is a meaningful manifestation of Joyce’s urge towards artistic synthesis: it helps to create pictorial, graphic, cinematographic and musical effects in a literary text.
References
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