Finding Artist’s True Path in Life (Stream of Consciousness in Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)

Abstract

The literature at the beginning of twentieth century becomes totally different. Now the writers are fascinated with the inner lives of teeming impressions. The novel of Irish writer James Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as Young Man is distinguished by its use of various techniques; most remarkable “stream of consciousness” which is an attempt to describe the inner thoughts and memory of the hero. This article is an effort to research the “stream of consciousness” as a technique used in Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as Young Man (1916) which is one of the greatest of modern novels. Joyce created his novel in five chapters which describe the protagonist’s life, from childhood to manhood.

 Keywords: stream of consciousness, technique, artist, narrative technique, inner life.