Exploring Psychological Development and Education of the Bildungsheld in James Joyce’s: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Abstract

The intellectual, theoretical and philosophical plenitudes of literature and literary theory have explored the phenomenon of identity, its development and constitution. The reality and phenomenon of identity have been one of the prominent engagements of creative as well as critical ideas. The philosophical ideas of Empiricism, Cognitivism and Pragmaticism have made some serious attempts of analysing and explaining the process of the formation and constitution of identity, its growth and development. Empiricism locates identity within the socio-pragmatic and aesthetico-spiritual realities of the world (Castle, 2005). Further, the philosophy of Cognitivism underlines the importance of human mind, cognition, reason and rationality in the constitution of one’s identity. Furthermore, the philosophy of Pragmaticism argues the fact that identity is the result of both empirical and cognitive realities. In the early phase of nineteenth century, Bildungsroman a literary form evolved in Germany which traces the growth and development of one’s character. The Bildungsheld or the protagonist traverses through the conduits of material as well as cognitive realities. The complex texture of the cognitive processes determines the psychological development of the character and its controls the constitution of one’s consciousness and ideology. The rubric of consciousness and ideology which is determined by the ‘stream of consciousness’ forms the identity of the character. Apart from the cognitive processes, the education of the character also entails profoundly upon its making or epistemological growth. The present paper intends to explore the role of psychological development and education in the constitution of the identity of the Bildungsheld or the protagonist in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916).