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The Language of Empire and The Empire of Language Joyce and The Return of The Postcolonial Repressed
The Language of Empire and The Empire of Language Joyce and The Return of The Postcolonial Repressed
Eoin Flannery and Angus Mitchell. Dublin: Four Courts Press, pages 1601!1
"he #anguage o$ E%pire and the E%pire o$ #anguage: &oyce and the 'eturn o$ the
Postcolonial 'epressed
Eugene ()*rien
Depart%ent o$ English #anguage and #iterature
Mary +%%aculate College
,ni-ersity o$ #i%eric.
"hat language is a structural $actor in the politics o$ identity is -ery %uch a gi-en in the
conte/t o$ postcolonial studies. "he discourse o$ the postcolonial paradig% is one 0hich
is $raught 0ith 1uestions. +n a #acanian conte/t, all sub2ecti-ity is de$ined in ter%s o$
0hat is called the sy%bolic order, and this order is the structural %atri/ through 0hich
our grasp o$ the 0ord is shaped and enunciated.
1
For #acan, the sy%bolic order is 0hat
actually constitutes our sub2ecti-ity 3%an spea.s, then, but it is because the sy%bol has
%ade hi% %an).
4
+t is the %atri/ o$ culture and the locus through 0hich indi-idual desire
is e/pressed: 3the %o%ent in 0hich the desire beco%es hu%an is also that in 0hich the
child is born into language).
5
"he social 0orld o$ linguistic co%%unication,
intersub2ecti-e relations, .no0ledge o$ ideological con-entions, and the acceptance o$ the
1
la0 are all connected 0ith the ac1uisition o$ language. (nce a child enters into language
and accepts the rules and dictates o$ society, it is able to deal 0ith others.
"he sy%bolic, then, is %ade up o$ those la0s and restrictions that control both
desire and the rules o$ co%%unication, 0hich are perpetuated through societal and
cultural hege%onic %odes. #acan condenses this $unction in the ter% the 36a%e o$ the
Father). "hrough recognition o$ the 6a%e o$ the Father, one beco%es a %e%ber o$ a
society or culture. "he sy%bolic is about language and narrati-e. (nce a child enters into
language and accepts the rules and dictates o$ society, it is able to deal 0ith others. "he
sy%bolic is %ade possible because o$ the acceptance o$ the 6a%e o$ the Father, those
la0s and restrictions that control both desire and the rules o$ co%%unication: 3it is in the
Name of the father that 0e %ust recogni7e the support o$ the sy%bolic $unction 0hich,
$ro% the da0n o$ history, has identi$ied his person 0ith the $igure o$ the la0).
8
"hrough
recognition o$ the 6a%e o$ the Father, entry into a co%%unity o$ others is %ade possible.
"he sy%bolic, through language, is 3the pact 0hich lin.s... sub2ects together in one
action. "he hu%an action par excellence is originally $ounded on the e/istence o$ the
0orld o$ the sy%bol, na%ely on la0s and contracts.
9
+n the case o$ the history o$ e%pire, the conse1uence o$ i%perial con1uest is the
gradual control o$ this sy%bolic order by the hege%onic i%perial language, :ree., #atin,
;panish, and, o$ course, English. +n the case o$ +reland, the gradual attenuation o$ the
+rish language, both through i%perial policy and through econo%ic necessity %eant that
in the %id eighteenth century, this sy%bolic order under0ent a paradig%shi$t $ro% the
+rish language to English. "his 0as also true o$ the cultural code o$ the sy%bolic order,
na%ely literature. +n ter%s o$ a <aber%asian social sphere, the language o$ that sphere
4
0as no0 English, and the binary opposition English+rish, 0hich has bede-iled +rish
history, 0as to achie-e $urther -alence in the linguistic idio%.
;ea%us Deane has asserted the i%portance o$ language in the colonial process =
in 0ays it is the ulti%ate +;A, in an Althusserian sense, as it interpellates sub2ects to see
the 0orld in its ter%s and gradually allo0s the% to beco%e enculturated into the culture
o$ that language.
6
As Deane puts it, English is 3not %erely the language o$ a country or
o$ an e%pire or o$ an in-ading culture> it is the language o$ a condition = %odernity).
!
"his o$ course %eans that the colonial and postcolonial encounter is rephrased in ter%s o$
the %odern and traditional encounter. "o be counter %odern is to be allied 0ith the
$orces o$ tradition, and in episte%ological and political ter%s, this is to place the
coloni7ed culture in a classic double bind.
+$ the language o$ the coloni7er is e%braced, there 0ill be a loss o$ di$$erential
indices o$ identity and tradition, and the 0hole concept o$ 3authenticity): i$ the original
language is recuperated, or re-i-ed, then the associated connotati-e i%plications are an
e%bracing o$ the past as opposed to the $uture, o$ tradition as opposed to %odernity, and
o$ ignorance as opposed to instru%ental reason. Either 0ay, the coloni7ed is le$t
dise%po0ered, $ore-er de$ining itsel$ in ter%s o$ the ;y%bolic order o$ the coloni7ed.
Asserted independence $or% the colonial ;y%bolic order can only be achie-ed by
espousing a nati-ist position, $ro% 0hich the coloni7ed is seen as -oluntarily e%bracing
the %ore bac.0ard conditions o$ the coloni7ed people, de facto 2usti$ying the 0hole
process o$ coloni7ation, 0hich 0as o$ten glossed by ter%s li.e 3protectorate). +$ any
proleptic 3ene%y o$ e%pire) 0as to raise his or her head abo-e the parapet, the issue o$
the language o$ e%pire needed to be ta.en into account.
5
And o$ course, the sa%e is true $or literature. As :auri ?is0anathen has put it:
"he i%portance o$ English literature $or this process could not be
e/aggerated@as the source o$ %oral -alues $or correct beha-iour and
action, it represented a con-enient replace%ent $or direct religious
instruction.
A
<ence, language and literature $or%ed a sy%bolic order $or the coloni7ed, created by the
coloni7er, 0ithin 0hich the de$ault position o$ the coloni7ed 0as to be in$erior. "hus
literature ser-es an Arnoldian $unction by pro-iding a $or% o$ transcendental instruction
that a-oids any direct political charge, but 0hich creates an ideological sy%bolic order
0hich %ust be $aced by the spea.ing colonial sub2ect. +n all postcolonial conditions the
issue o$ language is crucial and +reland, ano%alous state as it %ay be, is no e/ception.
"here is the -e/ed issue o$ 0hether +rishness is intrinsically bound up 0ith the
spea.ing o$ the +rish language, $or e/a%ple. Many o$ the +rish 'e-i-alists sa0 a clear
connection bet0een the +rish language and the essence o$ +rish nationalis% and nation
$or%ation. <o0e-er, i$ +rish 0riting can no0 be enunciated in the English language, the
0hole picture is trans$or%ed. 'ichard Bearney cites a co%%ent o$ PCdraig Pearse)s that
underlines the se%inal nature o$ the %ode o$ enunciation o$ the +rish literary re-i-al.
Driting in An Claidheamh oluis in 1AEE, Pearse said:
Against Mr. Feats personally, 0e ha-e nothing to ob2ect. <e is a %ere
English poet o$ the third or $ourth ran. and as such he is har%less. *ut
0hen he atte%pts to run an G+rishH #iterary "heatre it is ti%e $or hi% to be
crushed.
E
"he in-erted co%%as around the 0ord 3+rish) spea. -olu%es $or the i%perati-e that
under0rites Pearse)s opinions. For Pearse, and $or %any others, +rishness 0as de$ined in
ter%s o$ the +rish language> the use o$ the ad2ecti-e 3+rish) in connection 0ith any %ode
o$ co%%unication 0hose language o$ enunciation 0as English 0as an o/y%oron 0hich
8
could not be tolerated. +$ Feats 0rote in English, then ipso facto, he 0as an 3English
poet) in Pearse)s ter%s. <ence the -itriolic dis%issal o$ Feats as so%eone o$ little
conse1uence, a dis%issal that is undercut, ho0e-er, by the telling $inal -erb in the
1uotation as, i$ Feats is o$ such little conse1uence, 0hy is there a necessity $or hi% to be
3crushed)I Possibly because o$ the i%portance o$ literature in the creation o$ a national
sy%bolic order, a cultural $ra%e o$ re$erence 0as to assu%e ideological and political
i%portance in ter%s o$ naturalising and nor%alising . Dith the con1uest o$ +ndia by the
East +ndia Co%pany, and the English Education act o$ 1A59, the teaching o$ 3English) Jas
opposed to 3literature)K beca%e a political ar% o$ the continuance and nor%alisation o$
e%pire.
"he cultural and educational co%ponent o$ this 3%a.ing), in a colonial society, is
synony%ous 0ith ;ha.espeare. "he teaching o$ ;ha.espeare in +ndia, $or e/a%ple, 0as
predicated on the cultural di%ension o$ "ho%as McCauley)s 3Minute on Education),
published in 1A59 0hich $or%ed the basis $or #ord <arding)s policy, in 1A88, o$ gi-ing
pre$erence to English spea.ers $or 2obs in the go-ern%ent. McCauley)s ai% 0as to
create:
a class o$ persons +ndian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in
%orals and in intellect. L<e also clai%ed thatM a shel$ o$ a good European library
is 0orth the 0hole nati-e literature o$ +ndia and Arabia.
10
+n ter%s o$ this e/$oliation o$ English culture throughout the *ritish e%pire, the teaching
o$ the 0or.s o$ ;ha.espeare 0as o$ se%inal i%portance> indeed, the proper na%e
Dillia% ;ha.espeare $unctions as a transcendental signi$ier, as synecdoche $or all things
English and cultured. "he subtle political %essage that is to be $ound, especially in the
tragedies, na%ely that those 0ho upset the hierarchy o$ institutionalised po0er do so at
9
their and their societies peril, 0as not lost on coloni7ed peoples. Macbeth, Claudius,
'egan and :oneril, (s0ald, politically, and (thello, racially, de%onstrate the $ate that
be$alls such resistance to the gi-en sociopolitical order, both $or the indi-idual
%icrocos% and the sociopolitical %acrocos%. As "erence <a0.es has put it,
3;ha.espeare is a po0er$ul ideological 0eapon)
11
0hich is a central $eature o$ the
discipline o$ 3English), and by e/tension, a $oundational plan. in the i%perial
!eltanschauun". #he #empest, $or e/a%ple, 0ith its routing o$ the bestial Caliban by an
enlightened Prospero can be seen as an allegory, and a 2usti$ication, o$ the coloni7ing
dri-e, and a locus classicus o$ the language o$ e%pire holding s0ay o-er its sub2ects.
<o0e-er, e%pires, by their nature, are transient and e-en as he e%bodied, in synecdoche,
the 7enith o$ the *ritish e%pire, it is through the 0or. o$ ;ha.espeare that another
colonial sub2ect began to in-ert the language o$ e%pire into the e%pire o$ language.
+n the 0or. o$ &a%es &oyce, the language o$ e%pire beco%es suasi-ely
trans$or%ed into the e%pire o$ language as the traditionally dise%po0ering language o$
the other is deconstructed, in a Derridean sense, in order to beco%e a trans$or%ational
discourse 0hich ree%po0ers the coloni7ed sub2ects as they see the%sel-es 0ithin a
;y%bolic order that is trans$or%ed. +n $lysses, in the Cyclops chapter, 0e $ind the
$ollo0ing list o$ heroes:
"he $igure seated on a large boulder at the $oot o$ a round to0er 0as that
o$ a broadshouldered deepchested strongli%bed $ran.eyed redhaired $reely
$rec.led shaggybearded 0ide%outhed largenosed longheaded deep-oiced
bare.need bra0nyhanded hairylegged ruddy$aced sine0yar%ed hero...Fro%
his girdle hung a ro0 o$ seastones 0hich dangled at e-ery %o-e%ent o$ his
portentous $ra%e and on these 0ere gra-en 0ith rude yet stri.ing art the
tribal i%ages o$ %any +rish heroes and heroines o$ anti1uity, Cuchulin,
Conn o$ hundred battles, 6iall o$ the nine hostages, *rian o$ Bincora, the
Ardri Malachi, Art MacMurragh, ;hane ()6eill, Father &ohn Murphy,
(0en 'oe, Patric. ;ars$ield...:oliath, "he ?illage *lac.s%ith, Captain
6
*oycott, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Colu%bus, ;aint Fursa, ;aint
*rendan, Charle%agne, "heobald Dol$e "one, the Mother o$ the
Macabees, the #ast o$ the Mohicans...6apoleon *onaparte,
Cleopatra...Dar. 'osaleen, Patric. D. ;ha.espeare.
14
"his list o$ 3Irish heroes and heroines o$ anti1uity) is an e/a%ple o$ a speci$ic $or% o$
0riting: that o$ a 3catalogue -erse) 0herein a list o$ entities is used to sho0 progression,
generation or, in this case, co%%onality. "he genre can be traced bac. to t0o o$ Destern
ci-ilisation)s canonical 0or.s: the genealogical list in the %oo& of 'enesis and the list o$
"ro2an Dar heroes in <o%er)s Iliad. +n $lysses, this catalogue is placed in the Cyclops
chapter 0herein +rish nationalis%, in the persona o$ the %onocular 3citi7en), and by
e/tension, the essentialist nationalist ideology o$ +rish identity, is being placed under
criti1ue.
<o0e-er, in $lysses, the trope o$ na%ing is used to create a di$$erent e$$ect as
3Dillia% ;ha.espeare) beco%es 3Patric. D. ;ha.espeare.) <ere, the bard is
appropriated into a ne0 cos%os o$ identi$ication> na%e is trans$or%ed into trope, 0ith a
3turning a0ay) Jthe original %eaning o$ 3tropeK $ro% colonial associations into those o$
the postcolonial. "hat the na%e o$ ;ha.espeare undergoes a chias%ic trans$or%ation in
the ongoing process o$ transcultural Anglicisation that has ta.en place in +reland during
*ritish rule, is sy%bolic o$ &oyce)s pro2ect: na%ely the rede$inition and pluralisation o$
+rish identity. &oyce posits the notion o$ reciprocal interchange bet0een cultures: 2ust as
+rish language and culture beca%e Anglophone, so English, both the language and
culture, 0as li.e0ise altered by the interaction 0ith +reland. "he 3Patric.) in this ne0
no%inal paradig% stresses the -alue o$ ;ha.espeare in the +rish conte/t o$ &oyce)s
aesthetic theories, as 0ell as in his %ode o$ political identi$ication, and it is the
!
contention o$ this paper that this process o$ rede$inition o$ +rish identity is achie-ed under
the auspices o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare.
"he trans$or%ation o$ 3Dillia%) to 3Patric. D.) could, at $irst be seen as a classic
postcolonial re-ersal = the reappropriation o$ the synecdoche o$ Englishness through
2u/taposition 0ith a synecdoche o$ +rishness. <o0e-er, the other non+rish na%es in the
list o$ heroes 0ould see% to undercut this reading. +ndeed, the catalogue -erse in the
Cyclops chapter $unctions as an antiphrasis,
15
0ith the +rish and non+rish heroes
interrogating each other and this econo%y displaces the +rishNEnglish, colonialNpost
colonial binaris%s, the central de$ining $actors o$ +rish identity, and instead places the
na%es o$ both nations in a broader 0orld catalogue o$ -erse. "his catalogue e%phasises
the e%ancipatory $unction o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare 0ith respect to essentialist notions
o$ identity: this troped na%e -alidates neither +%perial Englishness nor nationalist
+rishness> rather 0ill it usher in reciprocality and plurality in ter%s o$ political identities.
+n this sense, this te/t is deconstructi-e in the technically correct sense:
Deconstruction cannot li%it itsel$ or proceed i%%ediately to a
neutrali7ation: it %ust, by %eans o$ a double gesture, a double science, a
double 0riting, practice an overturnin" o$ the classical opposition and a
general displacement o$ the syste%. +t is only on this condition that
deconstruction 0ill pro-ide itsel$ the %eans 0ith 0hich to intervene in the
$ield o$ oppositions that it critici7es, 0hich is also a $ield o$ nondiscursi-e
$orces. Each concept, %oreo-er, belongs to a syste%atic chain, and itsel$
constitutes a syste% o$ predicates. "here is no %etaphysical concept in and
o$ itsel$. "here is a 0or. %etaphysical or not on conceptual syste%s.
Deconstruction does not consist in passing $ro% one concept to another, but
in o-erturning and displacing a conceptual order, as 0ell as the
nonconceptual order 0ith 0hich the conceptual order is articulated.
18
&oyce sees the no%inal troping o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare as a liberation $ro% that sterile
+rishEnglish binaris%, and as a displace%ent o$ the language o$ e%pire into the e%pire
o$ language. +n (inne"ans !a&e, he re$ers to ;ha.espeare as
A
3;hi.ispo0er...Anony%oses),
19
and later in the telling line 3all the ri-als to allsea,
sha.eagain, ( disasterO ;ha.elose).
16
<ere the na%e o$ ;ha.espeare is being in-o.ed to
e%po0er the sha.ing loose JagainK o$ the nets that &oyce $eels ;tephen %ust $ly by:
Dhen the soul o$ a %an is born in this country there are nets $lung at it to
hold it bac. $ro% $light. Fou tal. to %e o$ nationality, language, religion. +
shall try to $ly by those nets.
1!
+ronically, ;ha.espeare, as the synecdoche $igure o$ Englishness 0ould see% to be an
unusual a-atar in this 1uest, but the 3%irror%inded) %an o$ (inne"ans !a&e
1A
$igures
largely in &oyce)s 0or.. "he changed na%e o$ ;ha.espeare allo0s &oyce to sha.e up,
and sha.e lose the in$luences o$ +rish nationalis% and *ritish i%perialis%> in other 0ords,
the troped na%e o$ ;ha.espeare introduces a political $orce into &oyce)s 0riting, a $orce
0hich liberates notions o$ +rish identity $ro% the %onocular -ision o$ the Citi7en, and
instead introduces a European and 0orldbased -ie0 3anony%oses) o$ +rish identity. "he
co%posite na%e o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare, an e/a%ple o$ (inne"ans !a&e)s -ie0 o$ the
bard)s ability: as 3:reat ;hapesphere puns it),
1E
allo0s hi% to reshape the sphere o$
national identity, and hence is a constituent $actor in the political di%ension o$ &oyce)s
0or..
;o%e literary detecti-e 0or. de%onstrates the place o$ ;ha.espeare in the literary
politics o$ &oyce, and this detecti-e 0or. begins 0ith A Portrait of the Artist as a )oun"
*an. "he na%e o$ 3;ha.espeare) is not to be $ound any0here in this no-el. <o0e-er,
Don :i$$ord has detected a ghostly ;ha.espearean presence in the genesis o$ ;tephen
Dedalus)s aesthetic theory. ;tephen)s aesthetic theory is underpinned by ?ictor <ugo)s
Pr+face to his play Cromwell. <ugo here lays out the tripartite di-ision o$ art in a
%anner si%ilar to that o$ ;tephen:
E
"hese $or%s are: the lyrical $or%, the $or% 0herein the artist presents his
i%age in i%%ediate relation to hi%sel$> the epical $or%, the $or% 0herein
he presents his i%age in %ediate relation to hi%sel$ and to others> the
dra%atic $or%, the $or% 0herein he presents his i%age in i%%ediate
relation to others...Land 0hereM he or she assu%es a proper and intangible
esthetic li$e... "he esthetic i%age in the dra%atic $or% is li$e puri$ied in and
repro2ected $ro% the hu%an i%agination. "he %ystery o$ esthetic, li.e that
o$ %aterial creation, is acco%plished. "he artist, li.e the :od o$ creation,
re%ains 0ithin or behind or beyond or abo-e his handi0or., in-isible,
re$ined out o$ e/istence, indi$$erent, paring his $ingernails.
40
;tephen)s highest $or% the dra%atic 0here each person 3assu%es a proper and
intangible esthetic li$e) is associated by <ugo 0ith the poetry o$ 3;ha.espeare, Dante
and Milton).
41
"his ;ha.espeareaninspired aesthetic is in direct opposition to the 3old
%an) in a %ountain cabin %et by &ohn Alphonsus Mulrennan in Chapter ? o$ A Portrait
of the Artist as a )oun" *an, 0ho e%bodies insularity and reactionary nationalis%:
3there %ust be terrible 1ueer creatures at the latter end o$ the 0orld).
44
"he $act that this
%an spea.s +rish is i%portant: English, 0hich can be seen as the sy%bol o$ colonial
oppression, can, by a chias%ic t0ist, also be seen as a 0orld language, and the gate0ay to
European and 0orld literature through translation. +ndeed, translation is a possible na%e
$or the trans$or%ation $ro% !illiam ha&espeare to Patric& !, ha&espeare.
<ere, ;ha.espeare as trope is a $igure o$ hybridity and syncretisation> he
sy%bolises an e%bracing o$ 0orld literature and also the e%ancipatory aspects o$ the
English language as spo.en in +reland. "he poetry o$ Milton, and translations o$ the
poetry o$ Dante 0ould not be so readily a-ailable to an +rish 0riter 0ere it not $or
coloni7ation, and the process o$ linguistic change that 0as coter%inous 0ith it. +n this
sense, ;tephen)s $light to Europe at the end o$ Portrait can be seen as inspired by the
ghostly presence o$ ;ha.espeare, or as he is signi$icantly ter%ed in (inne"ans !a&e 3that
$a-ourite continental poet, Daunty, :outy and ;hop.eeper).
45
"he troped na%e o$
10
Patric. D. ;ha.espeare sy%boli7es the possibilities that arise bet0een the trans$or%ing
intersections o$ England and +reland in ter%s o$ language and identity. +t is i%portant to
note the trans$or%ati-e dri-e at 0or. here. ;ha.espeare as *ritish national bard has been
trans$or%ed into 0hat is beauti$ully ter%ed in (inne"ans !a&e 3clasp sha.ers Jthe hand
touch 0hich is speech 0ithout 0ordsK).
48
"he na%e is the clasping o$ t0o cultures
together, and the result o$ this clasping is to sha.e the essentialist notions o$ both cultures
=);hi.espo0er).
49
"his troped na%e is both an i%age o$ i%plied potential and a ghostly
$igure redolent o$ the past. "hat the ;ha.espearean presence in Portrait is %ediated
through the theoretical co%%ents o$ the French 0riter ?ictor <ugo $oregrounds the
%acrocos%ic place%ent o$ +rish political identity in the &oycean aesthetic, and re$ers
analeptically to the catalogue -erse at the beginning o$ this paper 0here the list o$ 3+rish
heroes and heroines) contains a %acrocos%ic de$inition o$ +rishness, 0ith %any o$ the
0or.s being a-ailable only through English translations, ghosts o$ the originals,
analogous to the ghostly presence o$ ;ha.espeare in Portrait. #i.e the -ision o$ the artist
in the $inal chapter o$ Portrait, the presence o$ ;ha.espeare re%ains 30ithin or behind or
beyond or abo-e) the te/t 3in-isible, re$ined out o$ e/istence).
"his ghostly ;ha.espearean presence is $oregrounded in ;tephen Dedalus)s
theory o$ ;ha.espeare in $lysses. As *uc. Mulligan puts it: 3+t)s 1uite si%ple. <e
pro-es by algebra that <a%let)s grandson is ;ha.espeare)s grand$ather and that he
hi%sel$ is the ghost o$ his o0n $ather).
46
"his abstract theorising about ;ha.espeare, li.e
the in-isible artist o$ the earlier Portrait 1uotation, allo0s $or the untangling o$ signi$ier
and re$erent. ;ha.espeare is no longer the ob2ect o$ cultural, Anglo;a/on bardolotary>
11
rather he is sy%bolic o$ a brea.ing do0n o$ essentialist para%eters o$ nationality and
language.
"he use o$ 3Patric.) de%onstrates a linguistic and cultural %ediation o$
;ha.espeare in ter%s o$ +rish e/perience. +nterestingly in $lysses, chapter nine, 3;cylla
and Charybdis), there is re$erence to a French production o$ Hamlet:
Hamlet
ou
Le -istrait Pi.ce de ha&espeare
<e repeated to &ohn Eglinton)s ne0gathered $ro0n:
Pi.ce de ha&espeare, don)t you .no0. +t)s so French. "he French point
o$ -ie0. Hamlet ou...
4!
(nce again ;ha.espeare is %ediated through a continental in$luence, this ti%e Mallar%e,
again de%onstrating the protean po0er o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare as an a-atar o$ a
%acrocos%ic place%ent o$ +rish identity. "he -erb 3distraire) has the $ollo0ing
%eanings: 3to distract, a%use, separate, set aside) 0ith the added connotation o$ 3absent
%inded). "he separation o$ ;ha.espeare $ro% his position as national bard, the 3setting
aside) o$ the criteria o$ essentialist identity, the distraction $ro% Englishness, and the
trans$or%ation into Patric. D. ;ha.espeare, spectral presence o-er &oyce)s pluralisation
o$ +rish identity, proceeds a pace 0ith that ter%inal 3ou) J3or)K 0hich lea-es the 0ay open
$or polyse%ic connotations in ter%s o$ %eaning. "he ghostly presence in Portrait has
beco%e a ghostly i%age o$ the trans$or%ing o$ essentialist notions o$ Englishness into
polyse%ic and polyglot i%ages o$ +rish identity. +s Mallar%e)s Hamlet French or
EnglishI +s ?ictor <ugo)s conception o$ ;ha.espeare French or EnglishI Are +rish
14
per$or%ances o$ ;ha.espeare English or +rishI Dhat nationality is the A.ira Burisa0a)s
&apanese production o$ *ac/ethI For that %atter, 0hat is the language o$ &oyce)s
(inne"ans !a&eI
&oyce)s interrogation o$ essentialist attitudes to culture and nationality reaches a
cli%actic point in #eopold *loo%)s ans0er to the 1uestion:
Dhat is your nation i$ + %ay as.I says the citi7en as.ed
+reland, says *loo%. + 0as born here. +reland.
4A
"his is the ulti%ate e%ancipatory ai% o$ the in-ocation o$ Patric& !, ha&espeare: the
pluralisation o$ identity 0hich allo0s a <ungarian &e0 to clai% +rish identity as al%ost an
accident o$ birth. "he troped na%e allo0s the disse%ination o$ the singular, colonial
i%age o$ 3;ha.espeare) into the polylinguistic and %ulti charactered i%age o$ pluralis%
and di$$erence. As Mr Deasy in $lysses as.s 3*ut 0hat does ;ha.espeare sayI) and then
ans0ers his o0n 1uestion, 3Put but %oney in thy purse), ;tephen %a.es this -ery point
by %ur%uring 3+ago).
4E
"here is not one ;ha.espeare but rather, as &oyce notes in
(inne"ans !a&e 3%yriads o$ dri$ting %inds),
50
and these dri$ting %inds, these polyse%ic
characters, allo0 $or a ne0 politics o$ +rish identity, as epito%ised by #eopold *loo%)s
assertion o$ +rishness. *loo% e1uates such pluralistic identity 0ith a certain -ie0 o$
language, pre$iguring the postnationalist language o$ (inne"ans !a&e, and he again cites
;ha.espeare as a source o$ such a -ie0: 3*ut then ;ha.espeare has no rhy%es: blan.
-erse. "he $lo0 o$ the language it is).
51
"his $lo0 o$ language, inhabited by the ghostly
$igure o$ Patric. D. ;ha.espeare, is centri$ugal in direction, and is the precise opposite o$
0hat has been -alori7ed in the na%e o$ 3;a/on ;ha.espeare).
54
"his $urther co%plicates
postcolonial notions o$ a si%ple binary oppositional discourse bet0een coloniser and
15
colonised. +$ ;ha.espeare, as a supposed -ehicle o$ ideological colonial hege%ony is
no0 being used to deconstruct and sha.e lose the %oti-ated connections bet0een English
literature and English i%perial po0er and instead he no0 ser-es as a synecdoche o$ the
e%pire o$ language as opposed to the language o$ e%pire.
"his -ie0 o$ literature as a speci$ic linguistic discourse 0hich deconstructs the
ideological construct o$ language as do%ination, is $urther e/plored in ;tephen Dedalus)s
theory o$ ;ha.espeare, 0here the spectral $igure o$ ;ha.espeare is $oregrounded:
it is the ghost, the .ing, a .ing and no .ing, and the player is ;ha.espeare
0ho has studied <a%let all the years o$ his li$e 0hich 0ere not -anity in
order to play the part o$ the spectre.
55
+n &oyce)s A Portrait of the Artist as a )oun" *an, and in his other 0or.s, the de$initi-e
synecdoche o$ Englishness, ;ha.espeare, dissol-es into a spectral presence, a process that
has its cul%ination in (inne"ans !a&e. <ere ;ha.espeare $unctions as a database o$ the
language 0hich the &oycean -irus 0ill in$ect and turn $ro% te/t to hyperte/t. Each 0ord
beco%es a point o$ departure $or a linguistic -oyage as signi$ier leads to signi$ier and
%eanings, li.e histories and identities, beco%e plural in a commodious vicus of
recirculation. "his boo. cuts the u%bilical chord bet0een language and nationalistic
insularity by $reeing the +rish reader $ro% the $eelings o$ alienation in English
e/perienced by ;tephen in the $unnelNtundish episode: 3<is language, so $a%iliar, and so
$oreign, 0ill al0ays be $or %e an ac1uired speech.)
58
<ence, the boo. e%bodies the
$uneral 0a.e o$ a nationalist linguistic ideology, and an a0a.ening to the possibilities o$
language as a gate0ay to pluralis% and heterogeneity: through narration $ro% nation to
internation and thence to international.
18
+n ter%s o$ the troped na%e o$ ;ha.espeare, there are nu%erous di$$usions o$ this
na%e in (inne"ans !a&e. De see such trans$or%ations as De see such trans$or%ations
as 3;hi.espo0er)>
59
3bacon or stable hand)>
56
3sha.eagain)>
5!
3sha.ealose)>
5A
3Chic.speer) >
5E
3*ragspeer)>
80
3sha.espill and eggs)>
81
3clasp sha.ers)>
84
3slo0spiers)>
85
3;ha.hisbeard)>
88
3;ha.e hands)>
89
3as ;ha.e$or. %ight pitch it)>
86
3As great ;hapesphere
puns it)>
8!
3the curly bard)>
8A
3;hi-ering Dillia%).
8E
"his is not an e/hausti-e catalogue:
the list goes on, as does the episte%ological $oundation underlying both this list, and that
0ith 0hich 0e began this discussion. "hat episte%ology in-ol-es the troped na%e o$
;ha.espeare, present and not present, ghost and nonghost, English and nonEnglish,
re$ined out o$ e/istence, pairing his $ingernails as he presides o-er the &oycean pro2ect
0hich in-ol-es the sha.ing lose, and sha.ing again o$ essentialist notions o$ the politics
o$ +rish identity.
Perhaps the %ost interesting conclusion that can be dra0n $ro% &oyce)s pro2ect is
that there can really be no si%ple eitherNor choice underlying the postcolonial paradig% i$
that paradig% is to per$or% any sort o$ trans$or%ati-e criti1ue o$ current and past
colonial enterprises. As Ania #oo%ba notes, the 1uestion is no0 being as.ed o$
postcolonial theory as to 0hether, in 3the process o$ e/posing the ideological and
historical $unctioning o$ such binaries, 0e are in danger o$ reproducing the%)I
90
+nstead
o$ this eitherNor choice, 0hat is needed is a %ore nuanced $or% o$ interaction bet0een
sel$hood and alterity, bet0een coloni7er and coloni7ed. "his is a $or% o$ criti1ue 0hich
has been ad-ocated by Derrida, 0ho, spea.ing about his early neologis%, di$$Prance,
notes that it is 3neither this nor that> but rather this and that Je.g. the act o$ di$$ering and
o$ de$erringK 0ithout being reducible to a dialectical logic either).
91
+n ter%s o$ an
19
in-estigation o$ postcoloniality, one can loo. no $urther than &oyce to proble%ati7e the
episte%ological status o$ the postcolonial 0hile at the sa%e ti%e enhancing the -alidity
o$ postcoloniality as an in$or%ed %ode o$ criti1ue.
;o, to 1uote another 0riter 0ho has ta.en the language o$ e%pire, notably the
earliest poe% in the English canon, %eowulf, and %ade it part o$ the e%pire o$ language,
0riting can co%plicate the si%plistic binary o$ the language o$ the coloniser as opposed
to the language o$ the colonised.
"here is not one ;ha.espeare but rather, as &oyce notes in (inne"ans !a&e 3%yriads o$
dri$ting %inds) J19E.0!K, and these dri$ting %inds, these polyse%ic characters, allo0 $or a
ne0 politics o$ +rish identity, as epito%ised by #eopold *loo%)s assertion o$ +rishness,
&ac1ues Derrida)s deconstruction o$ the certainties o$ identity and ;ea%us <eaney)s
desire to go his o0n 0ay and beco%e, as he puts it in #he Cure at #roy:
GallthroughotherH.
Driting about translating %eowulf, <eaney %a.es a speci$ic connection bet0een
his o0n 0or. o$ translation and the episte%ology o$ &a%es &oyce:
My sense o$ the hierarchical distinction that applied bet0een the sounds o$
the sounds o$ #atin and o$ English ob-iously related to the distinction
;tephen Dedalus intuits bet0een the English spo.en by an Englishborn
&esuit and his o0n Dublin, or rather Dru%condra, -ernacular. "he &oyce
passage is pro%pted by ;tephen)s %o%entary $eeling that his o0n speech is
being de%eaned. "he Dean o$ studies is be%used by his use o$ the Dublin
ter% GtundishH instead o$ the ;tandard English G$unnelH, and as $ar as
;tephen is concerned, the be%use%ent do0ngrades not only his speech but
also his nation. <e $elt, &oyce 0rites, N G0ith a s%art o$ de2ection that the
%an to 0ho% he 0as spea.ing 0as a country%an o$ *en &onson. @ My
soul $rets in the shado0 o$ his 0ords.H N At the end o$ &oyce)s no-el,
;tephen Dedalus is GcuredH o$ his G$retH 0hen he loo.s up the 0ord
GtundishH in his dictionary and disco-ers that it is not an +rish
pro-incialis%, as the Dean o$ studies had i%plied, but an English 0ord,
and, as he notes subse1uently in his diary Ggood old blunt English tooH.
Adding, postcolonially ahead o$ his ti%e, GDa%n the dean o$ studies and
16
his $unnel. Dhat LsicM did he co%e here $or to teach us his o0n language or
to learn it $ro% us. Da%n hi% one 0ay or another.H
94
"his ca-eat, that language is both si%ilar and di$$erent, Heimlich and $nheimlich, part o$
the sel$, and part o$ the other, is central to the politics o$ 0riting that 0e ha-e traced here
through the 0or. o$ &oyce as he deconstructs the language o$ e%pire 0ith the e%pire o$
language.
Derrida, too, is part o$ such a pro2ect. ;uch notions o$ displace%ent and
e%igration also $igure in Derrida)s notion o$ sel$hood. <e, too, could be seen as a type o$
the colonised sub2ect, li-ing as he did in Algeria, but spea.ing French, and, as the
$ollo0ing passage 0ill indicate, this constitutes a $urther connection bet0een the thought
o$ both o$ these 0riters. +n Points, Derrida spea.s o$ si%ilar notions o$ being pulled in
t0o directions, na%ely those o$ place and those o$ culture. Dhile li-ing in the %idst o$
an Arabic culture, Derrida 0as raised in a %onolingual JFrenchK milieu. <ence, French
0as his only language. <o0e-er, in the 3culture o$ the French in Algeria and in the
&e0ish co%%unity o$ the French in Algeria) he points out that 3France 0as not Algeria@
the authority o$ the French language 0as else0here.) <e goes on:
And in a certain %anner, con$usedly, 0e learned it. + learned it as the
language o$ the other=e-en though + could only re$er to one language as
being %ine, you seeO And this is 0hy + say that it is not a 1uestion o$
language, but o$ culture, literature, history, history o$ French literature,
0hat + 0as learning at school. + 0as totally i%%ersed, + had no other
re$erence, + had no other culture, but at the sa%e ti%e + sensed clearly that
all o$ this ca%e $ro% a history and a %ilieu that 0ere not in a si%ple and
pri%iti-e 0ay %ine.
95
"he si%ilarity 0ith <eaney)s earlier points about being part o$ a culture and yet not part
o$ it, are %ar.ed. Derrida)s notions o$ diff+rance, and his brea.ing do0n o$ see%ing
unities and totalities, has %uch in co%%on 0ith <eaney)s -ie0 o$ poetry as the
1!
articulation o$ di$$erent $orces 0ithin so%e $or% o$ structure 0hich can re-eal %ore
aspects o$ the sel$ to the sel$. +n the passage 2ust cited, Derrida tells o$ ho0, despite
spea.ing French, and being i%%ersed in French literature and culture, 3the French%an o$
France 0as an other).
98
Much o$ his 0riting stresses this $eeling o$ being at ho%e, and
yet not at ho%e, in French culture. +n #he 0ther Headin", he spea.s o$ hi%sel$ as
so%eone 3not 1uite European by birth) 0ho no0 considers hi%sel$ to be 3a sort o$ o-er
acculturated, o-ercoloni7ed European hybrid).
99
<e sees his cultural identity as 3not
only European, it is not identical to itsel$).
96
And it is this notion o$ an identity that is
plural, spectral and $loating that is the connecting thread bet0een the thought o$ the
0riters e/a%ined here = &oyce, Derrida and brie$ly <eaney = and the contested discourse
that is postcolonialis%. "hey all de%onstrate that there is another choice apart $ro% the
binary o$ spea.ing the language o$ the coloniser or espousing a nati-ist position. +nstead,
the choice is there to appropriate the language and use it to create alternati-e notions o$
identity that are not ideologically structured as hege%onic
&oyce and <eaney ha-e both de%onstrated the decentring and disrupti-e po0er o$
language and sy%bols to disrupt and dislocate $i/ed i%ages o$ identity and o$ ho%e. +n
co%%on 0ith the 0ritings o$ Derrida, these 0riters ha-e trans$or%ed notions o$ identity
and language = they ha-e %ade the language o$ e%pire subser-ient to the e%pire o$
language, and gestured to0ards alternate +relands, 0here plurality and di$$erence are no
longer e/cluded $ro% the centre. As <eaney has resonantly put it, spea.ing o$ ;tephen
Dedalus and his o0n linguistic discussion 0ith the Dean o$ ;tudies:
*y $inding that his Dublin -ernacular is related to the old English base,
;tephen disco-ers that his o0n linguistic rights to English are, as it 0ere,
prenatal. <e %ay not be a true born English %an, but he is the ne0born
English spea.er. And at this %o%ent, he is also born as a 0riter, liberated
1A
$ro% sub2ectpeople status, $reed o$ the language 1uestion to beco%e part o$
the language issue. <e realises that his -ernacular possessions are buried
treasures, that his o0n 0ordhoard is the artist e1ui-alent o$ a gold hoard.
9!
Dor.s Cited:
1E
1
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#acan, 1crits, p.!4.
5
#acan, 1crits, p.115.
8
#acan, 1crits, p.6!.
9
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E
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15
Antiphrasis %eans the ironic use o$ a 0ord to indicate the opposite o$ its le/ical %eaning.M
18
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1!
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1A
(inne"ans !a&e, p.9!6.48.
1E
(inne"ans !a&e, p.4E9.08.
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A Portrait of the Artist as a )oun" *an, p.455
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(inne"ans !a&e, p.95E.9E.
48
(inne"ans !a&e, p.1!8.0E10.
49
(inne"ans !a&e, p.8!.1E
46
$lysses, p.15.
4!
$lysses, pp.195198.
4A
$lysses, p.508.
4E
$lysses, p.45.
50
(inne"ans !a&e, p.19E.0!.
51
$lysses, p.1A5.
54
$lysses, p. 18E.
55
$lysses, p.189.
58
A Portrait of the Artist as a )oun" *an, p.40A,
59
(inne"ans !a&e, p. 8!.1E.
56
(inne"ans !a&e, p.181.41.
5!
(inne"ans !a&e, p.185.41.
5A
(inne"ans !a&e, p.185.44.
5E
(inne"ans !a&e, p.189.48.
80
(inne"ans !a&e, p.194.55.
81
(inne"ans !a&e, p.161.51.
84
(inne"ans !a&e, p.1!8.E.
85
(inne"ans !a&e, p.1!8.4A.
88
(inne"ans !a&e, p.1!!.54.
89
(inne"ans !a&e, p.48A.45.
86
(inne"ans !a&e, p.4!8, note 8.
8!
(inne"ans !a&e, p.4E9.58.
8A
(inne"ans !a&e, p.869.4A.
8E
(inne"ans !a&e, p.90!.59.
90
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96
#he 0ther Headin", pp.A4A5.
9!
3"ranslating *eo0ul$), p.19.