© Université de Mostaganem, Algérie 2008
Desire and Paralysis in James Joyce's Dubliners
and Mohammed Dib's La grande maison
Amar Guendouzi Tizi-Ouzou Universit y, Algeria Résumé :
Cet art icle propose une ét ude comparée du t hème du désir et paralysie chez deux aut eurs appart enant à deux t radit ions lit t éraires dif f érent es. Les œuvres en quest ion sont La grande maison de l'algérien Mohammed Dib et Gens de Dublin de l'irlandais James Joyce. L'hypot hèse de cet t e comparaison est que les deux aut eurs ont écrit dans des cont ext es socio-polit iques similaires, caract érisés par l'oppression. Cet t e af f init é au niveau du cont ext e d'écrit ure a induit des analogies au niveau t hémat ique, où les t hèmes du désir et de paralysie f igurent comme les images les plus marquant es.
Mots-clés :
comparaison, désir, paralysie, Mohamed Dib, James Joyce.
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def init ion of analogy and inf luence st udies, and may help t o vindicat e our choice of t his lit erary cat egory.
According t o Okpewho analogy st udies expl ore t he pol it ical, social, economic, and cult ural cont ext s t hat make possible t he lit erary and ideological convergence bet ween writ ers. As an organised l ine of research, t hey rest on t he school of t hought called "evolut ionism". Okpewho argues t hat writ ers are likely t o produce similar works even if t hey live in societ ies widely separat ed f rom one anot her in space and t ime, provided t hat t hey have experienced similar "enabling condit ions"(5). As regards inf luence st udies, t heir main obj ect ive is t o document t he indebt edness of a lit erary work t o part icular sources and t radit ions. Such t ypes of comparat ive scholarship rest on t he school of t hought t hat Okpewho calls "dif f usionism". The similarit ies are of t en t he result of t he various cont act s bet ween peoples and t heir cul t ure. In our view, analogies in cont ext s and lif e experiences appl y more f orcef ully t han any ot her inf luence st udy on t he comparat ive relat ionship t hat binds Dib’ s "La grande maison" t o Joyce’ s "Dubliners"
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since t he Algerian novelist experienced an int ell ect ual lif e very much like Joyce’ s art ist ic career, and t he colonial hist ory of Algeria reveals a t radit ion of resist ance which is highly evocat ive of t he successive revolt s of t he Irish against t he English invaders.-
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t hey respect ively grew up. They also espoused t he cause of t he nat ionalist s and t ook open side wit h t heir oppressed people.
Finally, t hey also adopt ed a realist mode of writ ing whose ideology is based on t he art of represent ing realit y in all it s ugliness in order t o denounce t he st at e of degenerat ion at t ained by t heir respect ive count ries. In t he subsequent invest igat ion, we shall dwel l on all t hese aspect s of Dib’ s and Joyce’ s lif e experiences and t heir socio-polit ical cont ext s, because t hey are f urt her evidence of t he t wo writ ers’ lit erary af f init y. In t he analysis proper, we shall be concerned wit h t he way Dib and Joyce keep f eeding t heir respect ive narrat ives wit h images of paralysis, f ailure, and inhibit ion wit h t he aims of t ranslat ing t he agonies of t heir peopl e and chal lenging t he est ablished polit ical powers. Our purpose will be t o comment on t he t hemes of desire and paralysis and show t he ext ent t o which t he Algerian realit y under French colonial ism was close t o t he Irish condit ion under t he aut horit y of t he Cat holic clergy. We shall also show t hat t he nat ure of oppression has always t o do wit h t he paralysis of desire, and t hat one of it s universal manif est at ions is t he inhibit ion of t he will.
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reaches art ist ic mat urit y, it is his religious educat ion t hat St ephen sees as a yoke t o cast away in order t o break f ree f rom t he spirit ual shackles of t he Irish clergy. His new belief s and his dedicat ion t o art have prompt ed him t o consider int ellect ual independence as a vit al pre-requisit e f or t he success of bot h his own art ist ic career and any revol ut ionary change in Ireland.
St ephen’ s / Joyce’ s wit hdrawal f rom t he Irish clergy reveals a Promet hean dimension. In his aut obiographical novel, Joyce alludes t o t he myt h of Promet heus in t he words of his aunt Dant e, who cries af t er young St ephen: "apologise / Pull out his eyes / Pull out his eyes / apologise"(7). These words echo t he same f at e t hat bef ell Promet heus af t er his bet rayal of Zeus. At t he end of t he novel, when St ephen declines priest hood and repudiat es t he Church of Ireland, t he incarnat ion becomes complet e. St ephen has def init ely made t he "heroic crossing" f rom t he world of gods i. e. t he Irish clergy, t o t he world of common humanit y i. e. t he Irish peopl e. His crossing is accompanied by t he wish t o serve his people and "t o encount er f or t he milliont h t ime t he realit y of experience and t o f orge in t he smit hy of my soul t he uncreat ed conscience of my race"(8).
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colonial presence in Algeria.The reasons behind Joyce’ s and Dib’ s repudiat ion of t heir childhood educat ion should be sought in t he social and polit ical cont ext s t hat prevail ed during t heir coming t o art ist ic mat urit y. In 1906, when Joyce complet ed "Dubliners"
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Ireland was st ill an English col ony, and in spit e of all t he nat ionalist agit at ion of t he previous decades, it was not grant ed t he Home Rule st at us. The f ailure of t he Irish nat ionalist s t o engage a new relat ionship wit h England was at t ribut ed t o t he perverse at t it ude of t he Irish Roman Cat holic Church t hat had ret rieved it s support t o t he charismat ic nat ionalist leader James St uart Parnell and undermined t he nat ionalist s’ ef f ort s at achieving t he desired aut onomy. Af t er t he f all of Parnell, t he Irish unit y shat t ered and t he power of t he Church grew increasingly polit ical . Taking prof it out of t he disint egrat ion of t he polit ical part ies, t he religious inst it ut ion worked t o ext end it s inf luence over t he polit ical sphere, and t o prevent t he plant ing of t he seeds of European Enlight enment t hought s on Irish soil. It s f requent int erf erence in polit ical mat t ers compounded t he complex sit uat ion of Ireland, and cont ribut ed t o t he maint aining of a "st at us quo" whereby t he hopes of t he Irish revolut ion became illusions, and t he dream of Ireland’ s unit y, a ut opia.-
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disast rous f or it s overseas subj ect s. In Al geria, t he indigenous populat ions endured harsh living condit ions among short comings in f ood, harvest s, and employment . Besides, t he polit ical scene was closed upon t heir grievances, and prisons t hronged wit h polit ical act ivist s. On May 8t h, 1945, when t he world rej oiced at t he end of World War II, t he Algerian populat ions, t oo, went out celebrat ing t he happy event and claiming t heir own f reedom. Unf ort unat ely, t he demonst rat ors were f aced wit h f ire, and t housands of people were massacred t o deat h(9).
The event s of May 8t h, 1945 massacres clouded t he hopes f or Algerian independence as much as Parnell’ s bet rayal sanct ioned once f or all t he Irish disunit y. Nevert heless, even if t he t wo event s plunged t he t wo count ries in unprecedent ed t urmoil, t hey also impelled t heir respect ive int ellect uals t o t ake t heir responsibilit ies over t he sit uat ions in t he count ries. Joyce and Dib are t hus count ed among t he product s of Irish and Algerian art ist ic Renaissance, who t ook it upon t hemselves t o support t he cause of t he nat ionalist s and t o t ake up t he t ask of f reeing t he count ries. Their early works bear st rong t est imonies of t heir sympat hies t oward t he suf f ering of t heir people and t heir loyal commit ment t o t he nat ionalist s’ ideals. In his def ence of "Dubliners", Joyce int erpret ed his collect ion of short st ories in t erms highly evocat ive of Dib’ s mot ives in writ ing "La grande maison", and declared t hat his int ent ion was "t o give" Dublin t o t he world; a t ask t hat , in his view, had never been achieved bef ore him. Joyce insist ed al so t hat Dubliners was "t he f irst st ep t owards t he spirit ual "liberat ion" of (his) count ry" and added: "Dublin woul d f ind it an unwelcome sight , but Dublin and Ireland woul d be "liberat ed" by it " (my emphasis)(10).
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He also explored nat uralist ic possibilit ies in Dublin urban lif e and borrowed insight s f rom t he phil osophy of Niet zsche and Freud. The result became neit her a romant icisat ion of Irish provincial lif e, in t he manner of t he Irish Revival poet s, nor a surf ace record of mundane local cust oms, in t he manner of local col our writ ers. Joyce’ s achievement was rat her a prof ound dissect ion of personal behaviour and communal condit ion, an exposit ion of social cont radict ions and a denunciat ion of religious ort hodoxy. It has owned his collect ion of short st ories an out st anding place among t he best European nat uralist writ ings t hat have ever succeeded t o describe t he lif e in modern cit ies and it s encroachment on t he individual will and t he collect ive desire.
The process t hrough which Joyce "gave" Dublin t o t he world and comment ed on it s social evil s is not f ar removed f rom Dib’ s rendit ion of t he Al gerian realit y on t he eve of World War II. In "La grande maison"
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t he Algerian writ er relied on a cl oser realist mode of represent at ion in order t o reach a f ait hf ul exposit ion of t he Algerian condit ion and a t rue repl icat ion of it s peopl e’ s suf f erings. His realist mode of writ ing was support ed by a nat uralist st ance t hat recorded t he social lif e in Tlemcen in it s minut est det ail, and scrut inised bot h t he exist ent ial and social t ensions. In t he end, Dib’ s f irst f ict ion became an emancipat ory narrat ive, like Joyce’ s "Dubliners", because it has succeeded t o t hrow insight s int o t he psychology of t he colonised and lend him a voice t o express his plight ; a voice t hat had been denied t o him by t he col onial power, as much as t he voice of t he Irish was silenced by t he ideology of t heir Church.-
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narrat ives were exot ic-like st ories wit h pronounced et hnographic t rait s. Their aut hors are novelist s who evidence what Frant z Fanon has qualif ied in his "The Wret ched of t he Eart h" as "unqualif ied assimilat ed"(11). Hadj Hamou’ s and Ould Cheikh’ s art ist ic endeavours were t he t apping of t he f olkloric aspect s of nat ive lif e f or t he sake of ent ert aining t he met ropolit an craving f or alien cust oms. On t he whole, t he t wo novelist s had so much been int erest ed in recording t he indigenous t radit ions and praising t he nat ional past t hat t hey lost grip wit h t he st ruggle of t heir people and became est ranged f rom t he realit y of t heir count ry.
The underst anding of Joyce’ s and Dib’ s recourse t o t he realist / nat uralist mode of writ ing is crucial t o t he appraisal of "Dubliners" and "La grande maison"
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Writ ing about his piece of f ict ion, t he Irish writ er explained t hat his t ask had been guided by t he desire t o make Dublin sound like "t he cent re of paralysis". In ot her words, paralysis is t he mot if which governs t he reading of all t he short st ories and connect s t hem t oget her. As it of t en involves t he t heme of desire t o which it st ands as t he ant it hesis, t he t heme of paralysis bet rays t he nat uralist propensit ies of early Joyce, and provides t he best perspect ive t o analyse "Dubliners"; nat uralism and myt h are, in Nort hrop Frye’ s "Anat omy of Crit icism" (1957), t he t wo poles of represent at ion, t he one involving a world of bondage and repression, t he ot her t he represent at ion of act ion at t he probable limit of desire(12).-
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Dib’ s "big house" are respect ively held as t he prot ot ypes of Irish and Algerian condit ions, and t he samples of lif e t hey represent are meant t o evoke t he prevailing sit uat ions in t he t wo count ries. Theref ore, any analysis of "Dubliners" and "La grande maison" ought t o st art wit h t he examinat ion of t he set t ings of Dublin and Dar-Sbit ar, t he t wo places t hat lend t heir names t o t he t wo f ict ions.
The image t hat Joyce draws of t he capit al cit y of Ireland is complex, t hough in it s complexit y t here is neit her sophist icat ion, nor ref inement , nor even t he slight est excit ement t hat one f inds, f or exampl e, in Sandburg’ s "Chicago"
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Inst ead, Dublin is described as a "dirt y" (p. 82) cit y, made of "mean, modern, and pret ent ious" (p. 119) suburbs, "ruinous houses" (p. 35), and "dull inelegant " st reet s (p. 79). It s environment smacks of conf inement , gl oom, and dust . For inst ance, in "Araby", t he lit t le boy lives in "high, cold, empt y, and gl oomy" rooms (p. 33); in "Eveline", t he girl looks at t he "lit t le brown houses" (p. 37) and wonders "where on eart h all t he dust comes f rom" (p. 38); in "A Painf ul Case", M. Duf f f y dwells in "an old sombre house" (p. 119). All t hese examples pict ure Dublin as a big prison house, where t he air smells nast y and t he charact ers suf f er conf inement . The prison mot if is also sust ained by t he oppression t hat hangs over t he head of all t he charact ers and t heir cont inuous longing f or escape.-
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t his blazing at mosphere, at t he very back of t he back t own. It is a "big house", not indeed in t erms of space, but in t erms of t he number of people it shelt ers and t he amount of misery and resent ment it bears. It s inhabit ant s have come t o live in it simply because t hey couldn’ t af f ord a decent living elsewhere. Wit h t ime, t hey have come t o see it not as an opport unit y, but a "prison" (p. 115) t hat cont ains al l t heir anger and hides all t heir wret chedness.
The closed set t ing of Dar-Sbit ar of f ers an int erest ing parallel wit h Mrs Mooney’ s pension in Joyce’ s "The Boarding House", f or t he Algerian collect ive residence represent s t he kind and qualit y of social int eract ions in Tlemcen, as much as t he pension epit omises public lif e in Dublin. The love st ory t hat t akes place in t he boarding house bet ween t he educat ed Mr Doran and Mrs Mooney’ s daught er, Polly, expounds many aspect s of Irish social lif e and el icit s it s "code of honour". Thus, t he gossip t hat had f ollowed t he discovery of t he af f air aroused an air of scandal t hat inf orms t he ominous cont iguit y of Dublin’ s f olk lif e and elucidat es it s repressive qualit y - af t er all, as Joyce himself put s it , "Dubl in is such a small cit y: everyone knows everyone else’ s business" (p. 71). Besides, when t he af f air reaches t he proport ions of a scandal, Mr Doran is lef t wit h only t wo alt ernat ives: eit her t o marry Polly or run away. But bef ore t he t urning of t he event s, and bef ore Mrs Mooney’ s shrewdness, Doran dismisses prompt ly t he second opt ion and acquiesces t o marry Polly, t hough he knows t hat his f amily would l ook down at her and scorn his behaviour. In f act , his choice appears t o be no less t han a surrender t o Dublin’ s code of honour and a vow of powerlessness bef ore it s conservat ive values.
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is immune eit her against t he f ol k gossip, or t he evil of t he "bad eye". In addit ion, t he public opinion chast ises pit il essly anyone who dares t ransgress t he rules of "decent " behaviour, even if his / her demeanour has only involved him / her in t he boast ing of a piece of meat or an amount of pot at oes. And when t he breach has t o deal wit h a quest ion of honour, t he of f ender is repudiat ed and driven out of t he communit y. This f at e has bef allen upon Omar’ s cousin who, in her povert y, has had a prohibit ed relat ionship wit h a st ranger in order t o provide f or t he needs of her f amily. Her proscribed behaviour has aroused t he reprobat ion of everybody, and owned her t he scorn of her brot her Mourad who has sworn t o kill her and t o avenge t he honour of t he f amily.
However, love bet ween adul t s is not t he only love banished f rom t he world of Dar-Sbit ar and Dublin. Love bet ween children, t oo, is repressed and reprimanded. In "Dubliners", Joyce exploit s t he children’ s eagerness f or f ant asy and romance in order t o implement a number of pl ot s of desire which are al l unf ulf illed and unt oward. For if love is among t he best st imul i of desire in t he world, t he heart s of children are it s best recipient s. The child’ s sense of wonder knows indeed no limit , and his love involves pure and sincere emot ions of af f ect ion, passion, and compassion, whereby t he lover and t he beloved experience great moment s of happiness. And when t his kind of ideal l ove is applied t o a blast ed world such as t he one of Dublin, or any world indeed, t he "unwort hiness" of t he act ual lif e appears in all it s ugliness and meanness.
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imaginat ion is such t hat his resolut ion t o bring her somet hing f rom t he bazaar - somet hing t hat is likely t o st and f or t he t oken of his af f ect ion and/ or adorat ion - t ransf igures realit y f or him int o an "ugly monot onous child’ s play" (p. 33), complet ely removed f rom t hat "east ern enchant ment " cast upon him by his romant ic quest .
As regards "Eveline", t he love st ory is woven bet ween young Eveline and a sailor named Frank. Eveline is a girl beref t of mot her, and t he onl y daught er of her f at her’ s t hree children. Since t he deat h of her mot her, she has endorsed t he responsibilit y over t he househol d, and endured t he harshness of her j ob in Miss Gavan’ s st ores. The rut hlessness of her drunkard f at her has increased her anxiet ies, and given her palpit at ions. But since she has known Frank, t hings are no longer what t hey used t o be. His t ales of dist ant count ries soot hed her suf f erings and provided an out l et f or her imaginat ion t hrough which she want s t o consecrat e her right t o happiness. In her lonely exist ence, Frank has become t he only issue of escape and t he bright est promise of a bet t er t omorrow. Yet when t he t ime t o elope wit h Frank reaps, Eveline relinquishes all her hopes and f orsakes Frank. In f act , her educat ion as well as her religion int erpose bet ween her and her desire and f orce her t o abandon her dreams.
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The prot agonist s of "Eveline" and "Araby" are not wit hout reminding us young Omar in "La grande maison"
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Omar, t oo, is a boy prone t o believe in t he dream world of romance. Act ually, because of his age, neit her t he social conservat ism of Dar-Sbit ar, nor it s crippled environment , nor even his mot her’ s violence can st and bet ween him and his desire. His romant ic impulse is t hus given f ree run t hrough t he out let of his relat ionship wit h Zhor. But his involvement remains a secret af f air, because he is aware t hat boys / girls, as much as men / women, relat ionships are severely reproved in Dar-Sbit ar. In f act , Omar’ s init iat ion t o t he not ion of love is achieved onl y t hrough his mot her’ s secret chat t er wit h Zina about st ories of inf idelit y. This is why in his f irst meet ings wit h Zina’ s daught er he remains circumspect and wary. Dib describes Zina’ s f irst meet ing wit h Omar in t he f ollowing words:Elle lui lança par t rois f ois son appel ; au dernier, il y alla. Elle s’ approcha de lui. Il la sent ait debout cont re son corps, dont la t iédeur l’ envahit . Soudain, elle lui donna un violent coup de genou dans l’ aine. Omar j et a un pet it cri et t omba à t erre en sanglot ant . Zhor se pencha sur lui et lui bâillonnât l a bouche de sa main. Il dut s’ immobiliser pour ne pas êt re ét ouf f é; il se t int t ranquille. La main de la j eune f ille glissa le long du corps d’ Omar sans dif f icult é. . . Puis elle f ut secouée de f rissons. Plusieurs f ois elle essaya de caresser l’ enf ant , mais ses ef f ort s demeurèrent vains : "elle n’ arrivait plus à surmont er l ’ indécision qui paralysait ses mouvement s" (p. 78 my emphasis).
Zina’ s f urt ive and superf icial f lirt at ions wit h Omar at t est of t he ort hodoxy of t he Algerian manners. They are also f urt her evidence t hat love is a t aboo, and t hat t he male / f emale encount ers are proscribed.
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They reveal t wo communit ies closed on t hemselves, living in a condit ion of bondage, and incapable of any salut ary change. Joyce holds t he religious inst it ut ion of t he Church responsible f or t he wret ched predicament of t he Irish, whereas Dib indict s t he colonial syst em f or t he suf f erings of his people. The short st ory in which t he Irish writ er incriminat es t he t eaching of t he Church is "An Encount er". The l at t er illust rat es how t he religious t eachings of Ireland work t o repress t he imaginat ion of chil dren and t o st ult if y t heir desire. It is narrat ed by a schoolboy who relat es t hat Joe Dillon, one of his schoolmat es, has int roduced t he class t o t he st ories of t he Wild West , such as "The Union Jack, Pluck, and The Half penny Marvel"
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The boy adds t hat t hese t ales of advent ure dif f used a "spirit of unruliness" (p. 18) among t he pupils, and "opened doors of escape" (p. 19) t o t hem. But when Fat her But ler discovers t he af f air, he react s vehement ly and f orbids t he boys t o read such "rubbish" and "wret ched st uf f ", writ t en by some "wret ched f ell ow who writ es t hese t hings f or a drink" (p. 19). Fat her But ler’ s react ion ill ust rat es t he will of all oppressors t o cont rol t he educat ion of children, because t hey are aware of t he subversive result which may st em f rom t heir readings.The t heme of educat ion in "An Encount er" reminds us t he "lesson of moral" in t he school scene in Dib’ s "La grande maison"
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only in so f ar as it allows t hem t o avoid t he big st ick of t he schoolmast er. The violence of t he lat t er appears, t hus, as t he main mot ive which prompt s t he presence of t he pupil s and keeps t hem in t he class. It suggest s t he coercive nat ure of t he colonial educat ion and t he f orce t hrough which it maint ains it s ideological subj ect ion of t he nat ives. It also reads as Dib’ s open denunciat ion of t he colonial f allacies, whose main cat chword was "nos ancêt res les gaullois".
Among ot her examples of paralysis in "Dubliners" and "La grande maison"
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Fat her James Flynn and Omar’ s grand mot her, Mama, are t he st arkest ones.
On account of t heir physical disabilit ies, t he t wo charact ers st and as symbolic f igures t hat evoke t he spirit ual paralysis of t he t wo count ries. To begin wit h, Flynn’ s st ory is one of f ait h and devot ion leading t o disappoint ment and despair. During all his of f ice in t he Church, he had had a st rong bond t o t he ideology of t he Irish clergy, t hough his underst anding of t heology had al ways been superf icial. But when he broke t he chalice which cont ains t he mind of God, his lif e was radically t ransf ormed. In t he simplicit y of his mind and educat ion, he t hought t hat t he sky would f all upon his head. But t o his great disillusion, not hing happened, and no supernat ural power t ook heed of his deed.As a consequence, Flynn became a "disappoint ed man" (p. 16), who coul d no longer reconcile his "sacrilegious" behaviour wit h his lit eral belief s. Because he could neit her bear living in a spirit ual cont radict ion, nor wit hdrawing f rom an ecclesiast ic f unct ion t hat he no l onger believed in, his mind t urned mad. He began, t hen, "t o mope by himself , t al king t o no one and wandering about by himself " (p. 17), and in his endless ret reat s, he was of t en f ound "in t he dark, in his conf ession box, wide awake and laughing-like sof t ly t o himself ".
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and t o init iat e any revolut ionary change in t he count ry. In some respect s, every charact er in "Dubliners" undergoes a crisis similar t o t hat of Flynn and shares somet hing of his inner cont radict ion. For inst ance, Eveline cannot elope wit h Frank because of t he promise she made t o her mot her t o keep t he home t oget her; Lit t le Chandler t oo cannot emigrat e t o London like his f riend Gallaher because he has a wif e and a chil d t o support ; likewise, Gabriel Conroy cannot express honest ly what he f eels f or his aunt s’ part y, because t heir t radit ion and it s prot ocol s are much more powerf ul t han all his orat ory skills. In t he end, like Flynn, all t hese charact ers seem inhibit ed and apat het ic. Of course t hey remain aware of t heir condit ion, but in spit e of t heir awareness, t heir ef f ort s at improving t heir lot are eit her cont inuously delayed or simply doomed. And during all t his t ime, t he only t hing avail able f or t hem, as f or all t he Irish, is self -delusion, or, at best , a deadly rout ine.
Omar’ s grandmot her / mot her in "La grande maison" f ulf ils t he same symbolic f unct ion as t hat of Fat her / f at her Flynn in "Dubliners"
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Like him, she is st ruck wit h paralysis. Her suf f erings st and f or t he ancest ral suf f ering of Al geria and it s peopl e, probably as back as t he beginning of t he French occupat ion. In one of Mama’ s endless lament at ions, Dib comment s: "ce n’ ét ait pas plus un êt re humain qui se pl aignait , mais bien la nuit ent ière et t out ce qui rodait alent our, mais bien l a lourde, l’ inconsolabl e maison. La voix de l’ aïeule ouvrait un passage a une dét resse immémoriale" (p. 166).-
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provide f or her f ood, nor f or her healt h. She put her in a small cold kit chen room f ar f rom t he room of t he children, and f orsook her lament at ions. The sit uat ion of Mama degenerat ed and her disease aggravat ed t o t he ext ent t hat , one day, a huge number of worms was f ound t hriving on t he f lesh of her leg. The worms are symbolic of t hose parasit ic f orces, which f ed upon t he Algerian people, sucked t heir vit al energies, and inhibit ed t heir desire.
Beside t he symbolic f igure of Fat her Flynn and Mama, t he ot her example of paralysis in "Dubliners" and "La grande maison" has t o do wit h t he mat riarchal order of societ y, whereby t he male charact ers involved in t he t wo narrat ives are degraded, whereas t he women are propelled t o t he posit ion of f amil y mast ers. Dib represent s t he mat riarchal order of t he Algerian societ y t hrough Omar’ s mot her Aini. Aini is a shrewd woman whose port rait has many count erpart s in Joyce’ s st ories, t he best one being probably Mrs Mooney. The t wo charact ers are shrewd charact ers t hat manage f irmly t heir households and run t heir own business. They share a common condit ion of bereavement (Aini’ s husband is dead whereas Mrs Mooney’ s is away), and an unquest ioned aut horit y over t he domest ic af f airs. Their respect ive responsibilit ies are, however, no less t han t he out come of t wo lives of common sacrif ices inherit ed f rom t heir respect ive drunkards of husbands.
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charact ers have somet hing of Fl ynn’ s paralysis, in t he sense t hat t hey are all f ailures t hat lead a lif e f ull of wast e and despair. Their sit uat ion is worsened by t heir int emperance and idleness t hat repress t heir desire and crush t heir aspirat ions.
The f orce of int emperance t hat st rikes Joyce’ s male charact ers inhibit s also t he f ew male charact ers of "La grande maison". Just like Cherrak, t he "Dido Boracho"
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most of Dib’ s masculine f igures are drunkards, compl et ely overwhelmed by t hat "f orce aveugle" (p. 99) which submerges Dar-Sbit ar. For inst ance, Aini’ s husband, Ahmed Dj ezairi, was in her view "un propre à rien" (p. 30), i. e. wort hless, and her brot her is an unwort hy individual , because he spends all his t ime loaf ing in caf és. The t wo charact ers are const ant ly present in Aini’ s curses and vit uperat ions, but remain t erribly absent f rom Dar-Sbit ar.Because men are removed f rom t he world of Dar-Sbit ar, t he pension appears t o be a house f or women and chil dren, a kind of a big harem yet deprived of all sense of wonder and enchant ment . Dib writ es: Les hommes sort aient t ôt , aussi l es apercevait -on rarement . Ne demeuraient là que les f emmes : l a cour, sous les branches enchevêt rées de la vigne, en regorgeait . Elles l’ emplissaient de leurs allées et venues. Elles encombraient la port e d’ ent rée. Dans la cuisine, une cuisine pour Tit ans, elles palabraient à n’ en pl us f inir aut our du puit s. Chaque pièce, ayant recelé durant la nuit une kyrielle de bambins, les rest it uait j usqu’ au dernier au lever du j our: cela se déversait dans un indescript ible désordre, en haut comme en bas. Les marmot s, l e visage luisant de morve, déf ilaient un à un. Ceux qui n’ ét aient pas encore apt es à se servir de leurs j ambes, rampaient , les f esses en l ’ air. Tous pleuraient ou hurlaient . Ni les mères ni l es aut res f emmes ne j ugeaient ut il e d’ y prêt er plus d’ at t ent ion que cela. (p. 82)
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which haunt s t he building, hunger and f ear which assail it f rom every part and absorb it s most vit al energies: "Dar-Sbit ar vivait à l’ aveuglet t e, d’ une vie f ouet t ée par la rage ou la peur
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Chaque parole n’ y ét ait qu’ insult e, appel ou aveu ; les bouleversement s y ét aient support és dans l’ humiliat ion, les pierres vivaient plus que les cœurs" (p. 116).Finally, one way t o conclude t his comparat ive st udy seems t o quot e once again Joyce, who once decl ared t hat t he course of civilisat ion in Ireland would be ret arded if his collect ion of short st ories was not published. Whet her t his pret ent ious prophecy is t rue or not , it is a mat t er of discussion. But in t he case of "La grande maison", we t hink t hat t he emancipat ion of t he Algerian people would cert ainly have been delayed if novels such as t his one and ot hers by ot her Algerian writ ers, such as Kat eb, Mammeri, and Feraoun, had not been published. Today, t he publicat ion of t he novel st ands as a hallmark in t he Algerian cult ural st ruggle against colonialism. This out st anding place is due t o t he art ist ic achievement of t he novel and it s polit ical commit ment . In f act , t o paraphrase a proverb in Arabic which says t hat t he diagnosis of t he disease is half t he cure, we can say t hat Dib’ s f irst novel point ed direct ly and accurat ely t o t he disease. This was colonialism which st if led t he most f undament al human impulses t owards happiness and well being. Colonialism had, t heref ore, t o be resist ed. It is no wonder t hat t wo years af t er t he publicat ion of t he novel, t he Algerian people had engaged in a long armed st ruggle against t he f oreign presence and, a decade lat er, t hey won t heir independence.
Notes :
1 - Mohammed Dib, La grande maison, Paris : Le Seuil, 1952. Ref erences t o t his novel will be indicat ed bet ween bracket s wit hin t he body of t he t ext .
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4 - Isidore Okpewho, "Comparat ism and Separat ism in Af rican Lit erat ure", World Lit erat ure Today, 8, 1981, pp. 26 - 31.
5 - The concept of "enabling condit ions" does not belong t o Okpewho’ s t ext . We have borrowed it f rom Mikhail Bakht in in The Dialogic Imaginat ion, t rans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist , Aust in: Universit y of Texas, 1974.
6 - James Joyce, A Port rait of t he Art ist as a Young Man, 1916, London: Penguin, 1994.
7 - Ibid. , p. 8. 8 - Ibid. , p. 288.
9 - The slaught ers of May 8t h, 1945 were among t he bloodiest massacres in t he pre-war period of Algerian hist ory. One of it s consequences was t he growing consciousness of t he unavoidabilit y of t he armed st ruggle f or independence. The massacres inspired also a lot of art ist s, among whom we can ment ion Kat eb Yacine, whose mast erpiece Nedj ma was part ly writ t en during his det ent ion.
10 - Quot ed in Seamus Deane "Joyce t he Irishman", The Cambridge Companion t o James Joyce, ed. Derek At t ridge, 1990, Cambridge: Cambridge Universit y Press, 1997.
11 - Frant z Fanon, The Wret ched of t he Eart h, t rans. Const ance Farringt on, 1961, London: Penguin, 1967.
12 - Nort hrop Frye, Anat omy of Crit icism, 1957, London: Penguin, 1990.
Pour citer l'article :
Amar Guendouzi : Desire and Paralysis in James Joyce's Dubliners and Mohammed Dib's La grande maison, Revue Annales du pat rimoine, Universit é de Most aganem, N° 08, 2008, pp. 31 - 50.
