Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity
Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a poet and novelist before becoming world-famous as part of the 1960s and ‘70s counterculture. His two novels, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966), are significant contributions to Canadian literature and to postmodern fictio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Associação Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses
2022-01-01
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| Series: | ABEI Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://www.revistas.usp.br/abei/article/view/192596 |
| _version_ | 1798013772150865920 |
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| author | Nigel Hunter |
| author_facet | Nigel Hunter |
| author_sort | Nigel Hunter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a poet and novelist before becoming world-famous as part of the 1960s and ‘70s counterculture. His two novels, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966), are significant contributions to Canadian literature and to postmodern fiction in general. Cohen himself, and more than one contemporary commentator, claimed for them certain affinities with the work of James Joyce, and the present account reflects on this claim. What in the progress of Cohen’s protagonist Lawrence Breavman, of The Favourite Game, echoes the education in consciousness of Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus? Religion, politics, and sexuality are emphatic presences in both narratives; art too, clearly. But, is Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) simply a template for later autobiographical Künstlerromane, or is it Joyce’s example as an original master of the form that may be more pertinent here? Where are the main points of convergence and divergence between these two artists and their fictions? An attempt to elucidate some answers may contribute to the construction of an early consensus regarding Cohen’s literary status – and to the question of Joyce’s ongoing importance to later generations and later phases of artistic and cultural production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:07:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b14236c5dcb4fe197191acf1e16c9f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1518-0581 2595-8127 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:07:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Associação Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ABEI Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b14236c5dcb4fe197191acf1e16c9f22022-12-22T04:16:44ZengAssociação Brasileira de Estudos IrlandesesABEI Journal1518-05812595-81272022-01-01231151159150554Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in AffinityNigel Hunter0Universidade Estadual de Feira de SantanaCanadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a poet and novelist before becoming world-famous as part of the 1960s and ‘70s counterculture. His two novels, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966), are significant contributions to Canadian literature and to postmodern fiction in general. Cohen himself, and more than one contemporary commentator, claimed for them certain affinities with the work of James Joyce, and the present account reflects on this claim. What in the progress of Cohen’s protagonist Lawrence Breavman, of The Favourite Game, echoes the education in consciousness of Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus? Religion, politics, and sexuality are emphatic presences in both narratives; art too, clearly. But, is Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) simply a template for later autobiographical Künstlerromane, or is it Joyce’s example as an original master of the form that may be more pertinent here? Where are the main points of convergence and divergence between these two artists and their fictions? An attempt to elucidate some answers may contribute to the construction of an early consensus regarding Cohen’s literary status – and to the question of Joyce’s ongoing importance to later generations and later phases of artistic and cultural production.https://www.revistas.usp.br/abei/article/view/192596leonard cohenjames joyceartistic affinitykünstlerromanautobiographical fiction |
| spellingShingle | Nigel Hunter Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity ABEI Journal leonard cohen james joyce artistic affinity künstlerroman autobiographical fiction |
| title | Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity |
| title_full | Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity |
| title_fullStr | Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity |
| title_short | Two Artists, Two Portraits: Cohen/Joyce – A Study in Affinity |
| title_sort | two artists two portraits cohen joyce a study in affinity |
| topic | leonard cohen james joyce artistic affinity künstlerroman autobiographical fiction |
| url | https://www.revistas.usp.br/abei/article/view/192596 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nigelhunter twoartiststwoportraitscohenjoyceastudyinaffinity |