Setting in James Joyce's 'An Encounter'

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 3,0, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Introduction to Literary Studies II, language: English, abstract: The Irish born author James Joyce was one of the most important representatives of modernism (Kreutzer 2005: 171). His first literary works appeared in a collection called Dubliners. The short stories in this collection deal with the everyday life in Dublin. Joyce's intention was to reveal the situations of people being trapped and thus 'betray the soul of that [...] paralysis which many consider a city' (Gilbert 1966: 55). Although one can read the short story 'An Encounter' on its own, it fits into the pattern of Dubliners. This is because it portrays a boy who is looking for 'doors of escape' (Joyce 1976: 20) to get out of that wearisome world. A significant element of the artistic form of 'An Encounter' is the setting because it could have more functions than only providing a context for the short story to occur in. During reading that short story, a reader may have the impression that the setting is fulfilling the additional function of supporting a certain atmosphere. The reason for that is that it seems to be important for the general mood of several episodes. Furthermore, the setting appears to be very relevant for understanding the character of the protagonist since it is the background for his action. In conclusion, the setting could perform the function of characterisation as well. Because of that, this term paper deals with the questions of whether the setting is used to contribute to a certain mood and whether it is exerted to characterise the main character of the short story.