Date of Award
1994
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Abstract
This thesis examines the details of A. M. Klein's interest in James Joyce, as well as Joyce's effect on Klein's major works. Klein's fascination with Joyce's literary innovations is apparent in almost every aspect of his literary career, and there is evidence to suggest that Klein's involvement with Joyce's writing spans almost his entire career as a writer. Klein's attraction to Joyce's writing stimulated his artistic development, and his attempts to write critical essays on Joyce's novel Ulysses ultimately drew him away from his creative writing.;In Chapter 1, the available information on Klein's involvement in Joyce studies is presented in chronological order. This information includes Klein's letters to various correspondents, an application that he submitted to the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and the marginal notes in books from his personal library. Together, these pieces of information form a narrative which may subsequently be applied to critical readings of Klein's criticism, poetry and prose.;Chapter 2 places Klein's three critical essays on Ulysses within the context of the evolution of his Joyce studies. These essays are also examined in the context of Klein's critical apprenticeship, which includes readings in the Talmud and New Criticism. The annotations in books of criticism from Klein's personal library inform the discussion of his Joyce criticism.;Joyce's presence in Klein's poetry is discussed in Chapter 3, beginning with examinations of the three poems that he announced as experiments in Joyce's techniques. The poetry that Klein wrote after these experiments is then considered in the context of his earlier approaches to Joyce's linguistic style.;Chapter 4 examines how the structure of Klein's novel, The Second Scroll, is guided by his studies of Joyce's novel, Ulysses. Klein's third Ulysses essay, "A Shout in the Street," argues that the second chapter of Ulysses employs Vico's cyclical pattern of history to move toward a providential moment. Similarly, Klein's novel follows a cyclical pattern in its progress toward a new age of divinity in Israel.
Recommended Citation
Heft, Harold, "The Presence Of James Joyce In The Poetry And Prose Of A M Klein" (1994). Digitized Theses. 2415.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/2415