Final answer:
James Joyce's stream-of-consciousness technique does not have a singularly-cited influence but is inspired by modernist literature, with contemporaries like Woolf and Proust contributing to the narrative style he developed.
Step-by-step explanation:
James Joyce is commonly associated with the stream-of-consciousness narrative technique, which constitutes a key element in his works, such as A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. This technique delves into the spontaneous and nonlinear thought processes of characters, representing their inner experiences. According to sources, Joyce does not explicitly accredit one single work as his influence for this technique; however, modernist literature as a movement, which includes authors like Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust, has certainly had an inspirational impact on his writing style. While Joyce developed his own distinctive version of the stream-of-consciousness technique, the broader category of modernist writers and their focus on the inner lives and thoughts of characters influenced his approach.