Palgrave Pivot

Quests of Transcendence and the Sin of Separation

By: G. Atkins

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Hardcover | 2 December 2013 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
80 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.4 x 16.0 x 1.2

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Consisting of six essayistic chapters, this book centers on two seminal yet not often associated Irish texts: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726) and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1916). Practicing a comparative way of reading indebted to T.S. Eliot, Atkins traces the patterns of response the protagonists of these works show in leaving home and separating themselves from family and friends. Both Lemuel Gulliver and Stephen Dedalus flee from the messy burdens of ordinary life, seeking a transcendent existence, which Gulliver finds in the Flying or Floating Island, Laputa, whereas Stephen in art. Atkins also shows how Swift and Joyce both stand opposed to their characters, joined in the understanding that an ordinary life and an extra-ordinary one are often inseparable. Thus, Gulliver's Travels and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man can appear as essential critiques of modern misunderstandings.

Industry Reviews

"In an engaging, accessible manner, G. Douglas Atkins re-examines Gulliver's Travels and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in light of Atkins's understanding of the Christian concept of the Incarnation, an understanding deeply influenced by his study of T.S. Eliot. Atkins' well-written study will likely appeal to a wide audience including Swift, Joyce, and Eliot scholars, as well as academic readers more generally." - Bruce Bashford, Associate Professor of English Emeritus, Stony Brook University, USA

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