Modernity and Religious Issue in James Joyceâ...

Modernity and Religious Issue in James Joyce’s Selected Works

Author Name : Mr. Arif Mahammad Chaprasi

ABSTRACT

Religion is one of the burning issues in the modern era and forms the backbone of most literary works. Religion as a theme is seen to influence the operation of those who believe in it. It forms the functional framework that predetermines ones actions and behavior. Furthermore, social identity decides on the status of the social class and their material life situation. Social identity relates to how we identify ourselves in relation to others according to what we have in common. All these issues are interrelated since they all cooperate and construct a social and cultural materiality. Joyce explores similar entrenched anxieties to condemn the virtually unshakeable grip of religious rituals on the mind of reverential Dubliners. In Dubliners (1914) this struggle becomes especially apparent in regard to Catholicism. However, The Church of Joyce's day demanded absolute obedience and total subjection of self to the powers above, both spiritual and temporal, and frowned on any acts of overt individuality within its massive community.  Joyce captures the spirit of an Ireland on the verge of vastly important political and philosophical change, and one of the main ways he did this was by highlighting how Irish attitudes towards Catholicism were changing in the face of modernity. The aim of this paper will be to examine how the notion of religion as a cultural practice functions in James Joyce’s narratives within the framework of Cultural Materialism, and how modernity has deflected the religion and ethical value.

Keywords: Religion, Modernity, Dubliners, Catholicism, Cultural Materialism, Church.