Quiet Existences. The Scandinavian influence in James Joyce´s Dubliners

Abstract

This essay seeks to establish the Scandinavian influence found in James Joyce's short stories “Eveline” and “The Dead” from his short story collection Dubliners. It is comprised of three main chapters. It starts with an introduction to the subject. The first chapter starts with a brief historical look at the use of realism in 19th century Scandinavian literature. For the purpose of comparison between Joyce and a Scandinavian work that employs realism, Herman Bang's Beside the Road will be used as an example. Thereafter the connection between Henrik Ibsen and James Joyce will be discussed, both historically and literary, with references to Ibsen's A Doll's House. In the second chapter, a brief historical summary on Dubliners and the reason for the choice of these particular stories from the collection will be given, followed by an analysis of the short stories, comparing them to the two Scandinavian works previously mentioned. The last section contains a conclusion, followed by a bibliography.