The Artist Body: A study on A Portrait of the Artist as a Youngman by James Joyce

Abstract

The evolutionary process in an individual to become an artist apparently celebrates and explores the mind of an individual for being the source for strewing such qualities within. With the growth of the artistic mind, the body as well grows and it is realized and experienced through the mind in the case of Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of A Portrait of the Artist as a Youngman. It is a Künstlerroman text tracing the growth of Stephen from childhood to an artist. Why Stephen has to push his body and its needs and desires to a hidden zone and he stoically approaches his mind as a medium to express and experience his body has been delved into with particular references from the text chosen. Foucault’s thoughts on the disciplining of the body and Butler’s critique on the regulatory discourses determining one’s body provide the theoretical gloss for the study.