James Joyce Notes - Odt
James Joyce Notes - Odt
James Joyce Notes - Odt
James Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of
the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century. Joyce is best known
for Ulysses (1922), a landmark work in which the episodes of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in an array of
contrasting literary styles, perhaps most prominent among these the stream of consciousness technique he
perfected. Other major works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His complete oeuvre also includes three books of
poetry, a play, occasional journalism, and his published letters. He was born in Dublin – the eldest of ten
surviving children. Joyce was born to a middle-class family in Dublin, where he excelled as a student at the
Jesuit schools Clongowes and Belvedere, then at University College Dublin. In his early twenties he
emigrated permanently to continental Europe, living in Trieste, Paris and Zurich. All his literary
production was involving Dublin, a city he hated and loved. Though most of his adult life was spent abroad,
Joyce's fictional universe does not extend far beyond Dublin, and is populated largely by characters
who closely resemble family members, enemies and friends from his time there; Ulysses in particular is
set with precision in the streets and alleyways of the city. Shortly after the publication of Ulysses he
elucidated this preoccupation somewhat, saying, "For myself, 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."
Joyce Joyce and Nora Barnacle met for the first time on Friday 10 June 1904 on Nassau Street, near Finn’s
Hotel where Nora worked. Children: 1905 – Giorgio and 1907 – Lucia
“Giacomo Joyce”
Not completely prose not completely poem: prose-poem
Highly experimental and autobiographical, 16 pages with large blank spaces between the paragraphs
(clearly separated paragraphs) it is a series of disjointed fragments.
It is about an unreal affair (= forbidden relationship) between Giacomo, an English teacher, and a younger
nameless student from Trieste. The protagonist is a sort of Italian double (=alter ego, doppelganger, avatar)
of JJ. Author and narrator never coincide but here there is a strong relation. The plot is set in Trieste, it is
the only work of JJ not set in Dublin.
The words sometimes recall the desire of Giacomo for the student but other times also the sense of guilt.
Probably in real life the student was Amalia Popper.
-language is fragmented, not only many sentences but also the entire text is disjointed. It is a collection of
different moments/thoughts.
-Language is dense, evocative, telling much more than the single words put together. It also starts to
reproduce faithfully our thoughts, to reproduce our mental paths: actions and thoughts come together and
we perceive perfectly the atmosphere of Trieste and the point of view of the main character.
Ulysses
Ulysses is a groundbreaking novel in which Irish author James Joyce explores realism through stream-of-
consciousness technique and shifting narrative styles. It was published in serial form between 1918-1920
and first published in book form in 1922. The story follows Leopold Bloom through Dublin during the
course of one day: June 16, 1904. The events and characters of Ulysses parallel those of Homer's Odyssey,
with Bloom corresponding to Odysseus. Although the book was the subject of early obscenity
prosecutions, was banned in several countries, and has been considered unreadable by many, it is
nevertheless one of the most important English-language works of the 20th century and is undoubtedly a
masterpiece of Modernist literature.
-JJ’s masterpiece: a very long text in which the stream of consciousness reaches its highest level. It is
mainly composed of associations of ideas and impressions. The punctuation is nearly absent because our
mind does not use it, our way of thinking is not linear.
-The language is honest and crude.
-The events are all set in one day and one place, we do not need long journeys and decades to be grand
and heroes. It is our daily life that is heroic.
-Leopold Bloom is an anti-hero. But it is our way to be incapable of being heroes that makes us heroic.
-It ends with the word YES, that is a weak, ordinary word.