The sundering before reconciliation : Joyce, Shakespeare, and postcolonialism in Scylla and Charybdis

The purpose of this study is to reexamine the relationship, artistic and political, between James Joyce and Shakespeare from a postcolonial perspective. More specifically, I wish to explore how the complexity of this relationship can be seen in action in "Scylla and Charybdis," chapter nine of Joyce's Ulysses. Through a close reading of the chapter and the usage of theoretical work currently being forged in the fields of Joyce and postcolonial studies, I show how Joyce is finally able to embrace Shakespeare as an artistic partner and literary forefather but only after destroying and recreating the monolithic image of "the Bard." It is Stephen Dedalus who performs this theoretical demolition and reconstruction with his dialogue in the library in "Scylla and Charybdis." Stephen builds his image of Shakespeare by pulling the legendary playwright out fi:om under the shadow of myth and contextualizing him within the realm of history and, to borrow of phrase from Seamus Deane, "squalid fact." Paradoxically, Stephen's next move is to create a new, more approachable Shakespeare within this historic context. Finally, I show how Stephen is able to launch his audacious reading of Shakespeare through the use of an oral performance that allows him to stand temporarily outside of the hierarchies of power and knowledge established by the postcolonial economy. By tracing the development of Stephen's dialogue on Shakespeare, one can see, I argue, how Joyce is able to come to terms with Shakespeare, the literary mascot of England, while still retaining his Irish identity.