From Gnomon to Parallelogram: A Geometry of Interpretation in Dubliners

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper tries to clarify the concept of gnomon and examine its possibility as an interpretative strategy in reading Dubliners. Gnomon is the part of a parallelogram which remains after a similar parallelogram has been taken away from one of its corners. Gnomon, therefore, is an incomplete parallelogram, a figure that would be whole were it not missing one of its corners. The gaps, ellipses, omissions, absences and silences in Joycean text frequently obstruct reader’s interpretation. Such a textual “uncertainty” can make readers feel frustrated in their deciphering process. A gnomonic reading is an effort to fill in those missing, unwritten parts of the text, trying to discover subtly programmed as well as deftly hidden keys and clues for interpretation. Such a reading, geometrically speaking, can be likened to making complete an incomplete parallelogram, that is, a gnomon. Gnomonic approach can be highly creative, bringing about new, radical, alternative interpretations. It requires on the reader’s part, however, to strike a balance between what is said and what is unsaid in the text. Otherwise a gnomonic reading can simply lead to idiosyncratic and irresponsible misreading. Understanding of gnomon as a narrative concept, as well as its applicability to reading, still remain controversial. But its practicality as a reading strategy is very challenging as well as promising because it could open up different textual interpretations hitherto unknown, as my gnomonic reading of Dubliners would hopefully show.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Schneider, Ulrich, "Titles in Dubliners" 25 (25): 405-415, 1991

2 Ingersoll, Earl G, "The Stigma of Femininity in James Joyce’s ‘Eveline’ and ‘The Boarding House" 30 : 501-510, 1993

3 Suleiman, Susan R., "The Reader in the Text: Essays on Audience and Interpretation" Princeton UP 1980

4 Iser, Wolfgang, "The Implied Reader: The Patterns of Communication in Prose Fiction from Bunyan to Beckett" The Johns Hopkins UP 1980

5 Friedrich, Gerhard, "The Gnomonic Clue to James Joyce’s Dubliners" 72 : 421-424, 1957

6 Norris, Margot, "Suspicious Readings of Joyce’s Dubliners" U of Penn P 2003

7 Joyce, James, "Selected Letters of James Joyce" Viking Press 1975

8 Williams, Trevor L, "Resistance to Paralysis in Dubliners" 35 (35): 437-457, 1989

9 Leonard, Garry M, "Reading Dubliners Again: A Lacanian Perspective" Syracuse UP 1993

10 Burgess, Anthony, "ReJoyce" Norton & Company 1965

11 Chaudhry-Fryer, Mamta, "Power Play: Games in Joyce’s Dubliners" 32 : 319-327, 1995

12 Norris, Margot, "Narration under a Blindfold: Reading Joyce’s ‘Clay.’" 102 (102): 206-215, 1987

13 Herring, Phillip, "Joyce’s Uncertainty Principle" Princeton UP 1987

14 Hodgart, Mattew, "James Joyce" Routledge & Kegan Paul 1978

15 Fish, Stanley, "Is There a Text in This Class?, In Critical Theory Since 1965" UP of Florida 524-533, 1985

16 Albert, Leonard, "Gnomonology: Joyce’s ‘The Sisters" 27 (27): 353-364, 1990

17 Weir, David, "Gnomon is an Island: Euclid and Bruno in Joyce’s Narrative Practice" 28 (28): 343-360, 1991

18 Ingersoll, Earl G, "Engendered Trope in Joyce’s Dubliners" Southern Illinois UP 1996

19 Kenner, Hugh, "Dublin’s Joyce" Indiana UP 1956

20 Werner, Craig Hansen, "Dubliners : A Pluralistic World" Twayne Publishers 1988

21 Joyce, James, "Dubliners" Viking Press 1967

22 Joyce, James, "Dubliners" Penguin 1992

23 Tindall, William York, "A Reader’s Guide to James Joyce" Noonday Press 1965

24 Bašić, Sonja, "A Book of Many Uncertainties: Joyce’s Dubliners" 25 (25): 351-, 1991