James Joyce

Question 1

James Joyce background

Answer 1

• 1882-1941
• both an Irish and European writer, although being often seen as British
• middle-class, eventually became lower-class due to alcoholic father who spent their money
• attended UCD, studied temporarily in Paris at medical school
• music played a huge role in his life
• very much valued artistic integrity and freedom of speech
• priest of the imagination, creating a ‘Gospel’ of art, had European connections and national self-determination
• not buried in Ireland as the Cardinal refused… seen as a controversial figure

Question 2

Cultural Nationalism period

Answer 2

• 1890-1922
• Revivals included: Irish Literary Revival, Gaelic Revival, Cultural Revival, Celtic Twilight
• Declan Kiberd: “Inventing Ireland”

Question 3

Binaries of Cultural Revival

Answer 3

• Dual traditions and inheritance (is Ireland Gaelic or Anglo Irish?)
• Celt vs. Anglo-Saxon, Gaeilge vs. English, oral vs. written, wild vs. civilized, rural vs. urban, tradition vs. modernity, Catholic vs. Protestant, spirituality vs. rationality

Question 4

“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”

Answer 4

• Joyce’s semi-autobiographical novel
• describes his image of his place in Ireland, cultural nationalism, 20th century attempts at recuperation and creation of a new identity
• questions the “cultural nationalist project”

Question 5

Henrik Ibsen influence

Answer 5

• Norwegian playwright, shone a light on the dark side of Norwegian society
• Joyce was inspired, wanted to write realist dramas, impacted how he authored “The Dubliners”

Question 6

Joyce and authority

Answer 6

• valued artistic integrity and freedom of speech, was a supporter of Yeats’ premiere even though the play was said to “besmirch Irish morality”
• pushed against authority figures
• defied “Irish Ireland” movement, which celebrated a version of Ireland that was very ethno-nationalist/fascist
• rejected a singular Irish identity

Question 7

Dublin, Ireland circa 1904

Answer 7

• DP Moran had ideas of nativism and a SINGULAR Irish identity
• Joyce wrote essay in 1907 describing society as a “tapestry”, built of a variety of threads and colors woven together
• threads were all mixed, there did not exist a “pure”, uninfluenced Irish thread
• Dublin was a city of contrasts at the time, with areas of wealthy (who had a second home in the country), and very impoverished slums
• overpopulated, incredibly poor/of ill health, worst in UK, highest infant death rate and prostitution in Europe

Question 8

Joyce’s love of Dublin

Answer 8

“I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin, I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal”

Question 9

“Dubliners”

Answer 9

• Dublin chosen as a scene of writing moral history as Joyce viewed it as a “center of paralysis”
• city of contrasts, was deprived, culturally absent, and stuck
• book was a celebration of the people themselves as well as a biography of the city
• written through 4 stages of man, childhood to adult life
• paralysis (social paralysis, rest, stasis), movement (circular repetition and linear escape), and epiphany (manifestation, transformation, moment of clarity)
• broke tradition by shifting to an Irish modernism (utilized symbolism, forging a new language and process of writing)

Question 10

“Two Gallants”

Answer 10

• story in The Dubliners, about Stephen’s Club (elite/exclusive club)
• harpist plays/busks outside, musician is male, and the harp is female
• gendered negative power dynamic, harp is being prostituted
• discusses modernity (city noises and atmosphere)
• harpist and poet/bard once had high status in society, now have been reduced to prostitution in the street (paralysis)

Question 11

“The Dead”

Answer 11

• The Dubliners
• Gabriel goes to grandaunts’ house for family dinner
• he is distasteful of the West, Galway (is bourgeoisie, certain view of Irish Ireland and is interested in the rest of Europe)
• novel acknowledges the dead/the past
• Gabriel sick of his own country, Irish “not his language” (Joyce is sick of the single-mindedness he has been seeing)

Question 12

“Ulysses” and Walking Dublin

Answer 12

• published at the same time as foundation of a free state
• Joyce tended to publish over a lifespan that bridged both Irish and world history PIVOTAL moments
• key character: Dublin working class Jewish man (purposefully about being an outsider)
• discussed risks of ethno-fascism, called for more inclusivity and multiculturalism
• controversial, not seen as a “moral writer”