권력관계로 읽는 「죽은 사람들」: 약자에게 힘을 부여하기

Abstract

When a text is read from a critical literacy stance, the emphasis is placed on how to criticize power relations embedded in the text. The reading methodology aims at constructing “more egalitarian, equitable, and ethical educational and social environments.” To English literary works accepted and taught as canons in school, critical literacy needs to be applied in order to stop those works from endorsing the interests of the powerful. “The Dead,” in which power is given to the powerless, can be read as an alternative text to those English works. By presenting the tradition of hospitality as a strong point of Ireland, Joyce demonstrates his positive view of Ireland. Gabriel, who feels superior to guests invited to Misses Morkan’s Christmas party, is humiliated by three women who are associated with the West of Ireland, the symbolic place of Irish independence. Women, in general, and disadvantaged women, in particular, are empowered in the work. By setting Lily, a housemaid, as the first character to appear in the story, Joyce points out that a housemaid is strong enough to defy Gabriel, an Irish intellectual. And though Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia are treated as two old ignorant women by Gabriel, they evince that they are not weak and ignorant. Minor characters such as Freddy, Browne, and D’Arcy are presented as more positive characters than the main character, Gabriel. Though marginalized for different reasons, Freddy and Browne contribute to the success of the party. D’Arcy, though he was not recognized as a good tenor by the guests, was influential enough to move Gretta. As implied by the title of the story, the dead are more important and influential than the living. Gretta is immersed in the memory of Furey, while other characters praise the dead Italian singers. In “The Dead” Joyce empowers people who are powerless or voiceless in Irish society. As one of the best texts that can be read from a critical literacy stance, it presents power relations very different from those of many English literary works.