Analysis of Distortion and Fragmentation in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake

Muhammad Ajmal; Zahida Hussain; Rahat Bashir

doi:10.32350/jcct.61.01

Muhammad Ajmal Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology, D. I. Khan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1085-7046
Zahida Hussain Government College Women University, Faisalabad
Rahat Bashir University of Central Punjab, Lahore

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/jcct.61.01

Keywords: distortion, disruptive narrative structure, fragmentation, linguistic conventions, narrative text, post-modernism

Abstract

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The current study examined the elements of distortion and fragmentation as post modernistic deconstructive techniques in James Joyce’s ‘Finnegans Wake’. He used structurally and grammatically incorrect phrases and sentences in his works to represent the anarchy of traditional literary norms. The current study employed a literary close-reading approach to assess the disruptive traditional narrative structures and linguistic conventions of modern day literary texts. This study demonstrates Joyce’s uses of distortion and fragmentation to convey the themes of cyclical nature of history and the fragmentation in the novel. ‘Finnegans Wake’ by James Joyce is a semantically challenging novel since it is difficult to read and hard to interpret, with many scholars and readers proposing different theories about its semantic significance. The novel seems to be an example of avant-garde experimentation and a well written and recorded commentary on Irish history, culture, and politics. Moreover, the study also draws on critical and theoretical frameworks, including postmodernism and deconstruction, while contextualizing Joyce's use of distortion and fragmentation within broader literary and philosophical traditions and norms. Therefore, this current study contributes to the ongoing critical conversation around the selected novel ‘Finnegans Wake’. Additionally, it also offers new insights into Joyce's innovative and challenging literary style as how masterfully he knits fragmentation and distortion to depict anarchy and chaos in society, particularly, and in world, generally.

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