From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies
Abstract
The modernist novel broke sharply from the moral and formal certainties of the Victorian era, a break that registered the social and psychological dislocations deepened after the First World War. This paper examines that shift through two texts rarely placed in direct dialogue: James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954). Drawing on precarity theory, principally Judith Butler’s Precarious Life (2004) and Frames of War (2009) and Isabell Lorey’s State of Insecurity (2015), precarity in both novels is not an incidental theme but a structural principle that shapes how narrative form and character construction work. Joyce builds individual precarity from the inside out, fragmented consciousness, nonlinear time; Golding stages collective vulnerability from the outside in, through the gradual failure of symbolic authority. Neither selfhood nor social order, the texts together show, rests on stable foundations. Twentieth-century fiction was preoccupied with exactly that.
Keywords
Supporting Institution
This research received no institutional or financial support.
Ethical Statement
This study does not involve human participants, personal data, or animal subjects. Therefore, ethical approval was not required.
Thanks
The author would like to thank Assist. Prof. Dr. Asım Aydın for his valuable guidance and support throughout the preparation of this study.
References
- Attridge, D. (2000). Joyce effects: on language, theory and history. In D. Attridge (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (pp. 1–21). Cambridge University Press.
- Beckett, S. (1953). Waiting for Godot: A tragicomedy in two acts. Faber and Faber.
- Baker, J. R. (1965). William Golding: A critical study. Faber & Faber.
- Bourdieu, P. (1998). Acts of resistance: Against the tyranny of the market (R. Nice, Trans.). The New Press.
- Boyd, S. (1988). The novels of William Golding. Harvester Press.
- Bradbury, M., & McFarlane, J. (Eds.). (1991). Modernism: A guide to European literature 1890–1930. Penguin Books.
- Butler, J. (2004). Precarious life: The powers of mourning and violence. Verso.
- Butler, J. (2009). Frames of war: When is life grievable? Verso.
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section
Research Article
Early Pub Date
August 11, 2026
Publication Date
-
Submission Date
May 13, 2026
Acceptance Date
August 5, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Number: Advanced Online Publication
APA
Uçar, E., & Aydın, A. (2026). From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, Advanced Online Publication. https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL
AMA
1.Uçar E, Aydın A. From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. EJELL. 2026;(Advanced Online Publication). https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL
Chicago
Uçar, Ece, and Asım Aydın. 2026. “From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, no. Advanced Online Publication. https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL.
EndNote
Uçar E, Aydın A (August 1, 2026) From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature Advanced Online Publication
IEEE
[1]E. Uçar and A. Aydın, “From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies”, EJELL, no. Advanced Online Publication, Aug. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL
ISNAD
Uçar, Ece - Aydın, Asım. “From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature. Advanced Online Publication (August 1, 2026). https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL.
JAMA
1.Uçar E, Aydın A. From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. EJELL. 2026. Available at https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL.
MLA
Uçar, Ece, and Asım Aydın. “From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, no. Advanced Online Publication, Aug. 2026, https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL.
Vancouver
1.Ece Uçar, Asım Aydın. From Individual Precarity to Collective Collapse: A Comparative Study of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. EJELL [Internet]. 2026 Aug. 1;(Advanced Online Publication). Available from: https://izlik.org/JA63UU77LL