282 Ilaria Natali “A Myriad Metamorphoses of Symbol: Some Remarks on Joyce’s Parallactic Imagery Ilaria Natali Such is the plight of those, like me, who look at the trees, even the leaves, and never see the wood. (Senn, Murmoirs 172) 1 The concepts of parallax and metempsychosis govern the construction of Joyce’s Ulysses, where they are at play on various levels. These mutually constitutive elements often intertwine with each other, as is the case with Molly and Bloom’s parallactic deinitions of metempsychosis: Molly re-interprets the word through a phonetic misreading, whereas Bloom attempts an etymological (but equally confusing) explanation of it. An explicit connection between the two ideas is then established in Bloom’s thoughts: Parallax. I never exactly understood. There’s a priest. Could ask him. Par it’s Greek: parallel, parallax. Met him pike hoses she called it till I told her about the transmigra- tion. O rocks! (U 194.8–11) Actually, textual patterns related to the concepts of parallax and metempsy- chosis characterize Joyce’s writing well before the composition of Ulysses, and can be traced back to the irst testimonies of his literary inspiration. I am espe- cially referring to associations of words and images that bring about a change in perspective by connecting seemingly distant items: in this process, a visual stimulus is interpreted through a metaphorical transformation of sensory ex- perience, so that a ‘concrete object’ is associated with another that it might be thought to resemble. The most representative examples of this procedure are included in Giacomo Joyce, where ‘naked appositions’ are frequently encountered: (1) Long lewdly leering lips: dark-blooded mollusks. (GJ 5) (2) Great bows on her slim bronze shoes: spurs of a pampered fowl. (GJ 8) 1 I am greatly indebted to Fritz Senn for precious teachings, ideas, guidance, support, hu- mor and hospitality over the years. My special thanks also go to Professor Donatella Pallotti (University of Florence), from whose essays on Giacomo Joyce I derived much inspiration for the present work. narr_paparunas_joyce__sl4e.indd 282 13.03.2017 08:50:44