Georges Bataille and the Transgression of Taboos by Stephan Dedalus

Abstract

James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is not a pornographic novel like Georges Bataille' Story of the Eye; however, the present study attempts to trace Bataille's heterological notions in A Portrait. This paper attempts to see whether or not Stephan Dedalus as the main character of Joyce's literary work, has the potential to carry Batatille's heterogeneous elements which shatter any religious, linguistic, economic and political system. In order to reach this goal, the paper first attempts to establish the powerful dominance of the Catholic discourse, one of the strictest religious systems in the world, over Ireland which is the main setting of A Portrait. In the next part it will trace the authoritarian shadow of Catholicism and its impression upon Stephen Dedalus. Here, the principal aim is to indicate the significance of Stephen's transgressive acts in the novel and to see whether these transgressions have Bataillean nature as they shatter a very strict religious structure. Afterward, Stephen's transgressions as well as the implicit reaction of the religious system toward these transgressions will be investigated regarding Georges Bataille's heterogeneous notions.