Elvis Meets James Joyce

When I read Joyce...I sense the moment of epiphany. When I listen to Elvis...the beginning of 'Devil in Disguise'...I hear 'You walk like an angel' and I get a shiver down my spine. When I read 'Ulysses' I see quotes like this and get a shiver down my spine: 'Every life is many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows (Priscilla), brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves (Elvis impersonators).'

When I write here, I feel epiphany. I listen to Elvis. I feel epiphany. To understand the Joycean term 'epiphany', it is fundamental to acknowledge the role which Thomas Aquinas plays in its beginnings. In the famous speech that Stephen Dedalus gives to Lynch in 'Portrait', he explains the Thomist theory of art, in which the term 'epiphany' relates to Stephen and Aquinas' theory of the apprehension of beauty. I like to see the beauty of all things. Looking at Elvis' face is surely the apprehension of beauty. I like to see the beauty and truth in the clarity of thought in the writing on these blogs. I like to learn about others. We all learn about Elvis from his words, the words written about him, the words other people thought they heard him say. But what kind of stream-of-consciousness was really going through his head? I hope he had some epiphanies in his life. He gave the screaming crowd moments upon moments of joy. He was a mirror of beauty. Almost God-like, ethereal, other-worldly. Un-natural in his beauty. Enough to take your breath away. I like to trace the art with my eyes. Art in the face of Elvis and art on the page of Joyce. To Stephen, the art of beauty is akin to truth (what is the truth about Elvis' death? Even today there is a news item about a reward for his whereabouts)truth is approached through intellect (people don't give Elvis credit for his intellect)and beauty and art through apprehension. We all look at the iconic images of Elvis. We all study his face. We all study the text. Everything is a text to be deconstructed. To understand beauty itself, there has to be a knowledge of aesthetic comprehension. It is here that Stephen explains the three stages of apprehension. Firstly, there is 'integritas', the 'esthetic image is first luminously apprehended as selfbounded and self contained upon the immeasurable background of space or time which is not it.' Think of the timeless Warhol images of Elvis. You apprehend it as one thing. You see it as one whole. You see Elvis' face.
The object is therefore perceived as one perfect whole before the backdrop of all time and space (his face on a photograph, painting, image, magazine, the World Wide Web).

Secondly, there is 'consonantia' by which you 'apprehend it (Elvis) as a balanced part against the part within its limits; you feel the rhythm of its structure. Think of those fantastic images of Elvis with that slightly turned foot. The leg-stance. The rhythmic pulses of his movement. The unbelievable Elvis moves that many try to copy...but few can pull off. The object is now not just one thing but 'a thing', something in proportion and harmonious in its environment, since it is complex, multiple and divisible - how many images of Elvis are available to us now? Millions. You can read anything into an image or blog...a veritable feast for me!

Finally, the term which relates specifically to the Joycean epiphany is 'claritas' or 'the artistic discovery and representation of the divine purpose (how many fans view Elvis as 'The King' or the 'God' of Rock 'n' Roll? Some of his tracks come close to perfection...)in anything or a force of generalisation which would make the esthetic image a universal one, make it outshine its proper conditions.' Elvis is indeed a universal icon. And he certainly does outshine his 'proper conditions'. This is the whatness of a thing - the comprehension of the object in the imagination. C'mon...who hasn't imagined him in some form or another...? He is 'that thing' and no other, he is beautiful, clear and more importantly radiant. This sense of radiance is the basis for the Joycean epiphany. The only other person who has this effect on me...is Marilyn...and perhaps Judy too.

Even though the theory of Aquinas is foregrounded in 'Portrait', the actual concept of the epiphany is expounded in the earlier draft, 'Stephen Hero'. Isn't Elvis such a hero...think of the poignant photos of him in his army uniform, waving. Here, Joyce sets down exactly what the terms of epiphany are. On hearing the following dialogue, Stephen is touched by the impression it leaves on his sensitiveness despite its triviality.

The young lady (drawling)...O, yes...I was...at the...cha..pel...
The young gentleman (inaudibly)...I (again inaudibly)...I
The Young Lady (softly)...O...but...you're..ve...ry...wick...ed...

When we think of when Elvis first 'arrived' he was viewed as 'wicked' too. He was seen to be the devil, contrasting with the God-like status he later had. Stephen hopes to collect such trivial moments as 'epiphanies' - screaming girls' faces...mindless interviews...photo-shoots. Some might view his 'pop' as trivial...but it has touched so many people and represents the universal truths of life...love, laughter, joy, family, heartache. Interestingly, Joyce himself wrote some twenty-two epiphanies between 1901-1904, none more than a page long (cor! think of the perfect 4 minute Elvis pop song!). These epiphanies, Stephen explains, are a 'sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in in vulgarity of speech or gesture (some would argue that Elvis' words are vulgar and his dancing too...but oh, how lovely I think) or in a memorable phase of the mind itself' The epiphany is 'delicate and evanescent' therefore a moment of exact focus. When Elvis was on that stage...he lived for the music, but still retained that delicate, fragile edge like Marilyn and Judy. This is not unlike Shelley's 'visitations of the divinity' or Wordsworth's 'spots of time', thus taking on Romantic implications (God, Elvis was THE Romantic!).

I am the voyeur with Joyce and Elvis. I observe the object (the writing, the icon) this being, in Thomist terms, 'integritas'. Elvis and Joyce are one thing in themselves, but symbolically, they are images of freedom and creativity for me, separated from the desperation of real life, alone and still. The metaphorical or symbolist technique of singing/writing/being an icon is not only important to me because it renders the experience of pain to magical or possibly a spiritual manifestation in the real world. It is also reminiscent of the European Symbolists such as Flaubert and Baudelaire who stated that common objects (oh...let me be...your teddy bear..)can be expanded to 'infinite possibilities'. We notice the form and structure of Elvis' face and body (wahey!) and the form and structure of Joyce.

The final epiphany of Stephen in 'Portrait' shows that he has to learn 'what the heart is and what it feels'. I have learnt to know of my heart through late night listening to Elvis...late night readings of Joyce. I think that Elvis and Joyce explored the heart...finding reality, exploring the limits of their existences through tragedy (think of the death of Rudy in 'Ulysses' and Elvis' tragic death)and through their interaction with others. In a moment of revelation...I realise that they had more in common than I thought. I think about human existence in relation to the real, the vital and the dynamic.