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"This book was crying out to be written." The Irish Times"Scandalously readable." Literary Review
James Joyce's relationship with his homeland was a complicated and often vexed one. The publication of his masterwork
Ulysses - referred to by
The Quarterly Review as an "Odyssey of the sewer" - in 1922 was initially met with indifference and hostility within Ireland. This book tells the full story of the reception of Joyce and his best-known book in the country of his birth for the first time; a reception that evolved over the next hundred years, elevating Joyce from a writer reviled to one revered.
Part reception study, part social history, this book uses the changing interpretations of
Ulysses to explore the concurrent religious, social and political changes sweeping Ireland. From initially being a threat to the status quo,
Ulysses became a way to market Ireland abroad and a manifesto for a better, more modern, open and tolerant, multi-ethnic country.
List of contents
Chapter One "An Odyssey of the Sewer": Ulysses in Ireland 1922-1940
Chapter Two Post-Mortem: Joyce in mid-century, 1941-1961
Chapter Three The beginnings of the Joyce Industry in Ireland, 1962-1982
Chapter Four Joyce goes mainstream: 1982-2022
Bibliography
Index
About the author
John McCourt is Professor of English Literature, Head of the Department of the Humanities at the University of Macerata, Italy and President of the International James Joyce Foundation. He is the author and editor of numerous books on Joyce and on Irish literature more in general.
Summary
"This book was crying out to be written." The Irish Times
"Scandalously readable." Literary Review
James Joyce's relationship with his homeland was a complicated and often vexed one. The publication of his masterwork Ulysses - referred to by The Quarterly Review as an "Odyssey of the sewer" - in 1922 was initially met with indifference and hostility within Ireland. This book tells the full story of the reception of Joyce and his best-known book in the country of his birth for the first time; a reception that evolved over the next hundred years, elevating Joyce from a writer reviled to one revered.
Part reception study, part social history, this book uses the changing interpretations of Ulysses to explore the concurrent religious, social and political changes sweeping Ireland. From initially being a threat to the status quo, Ulysses became a way to market Ireland abroad and a manifesto for a better, more modern, open and tolerant, multi-ethnic country.
Foreword
The first full history of Joyce's, and his magnum opus' 'Ulysses'' reception in Ireland looks at how the author was rejected, tolerated, and finally acclaimed in academic, literary and popular circles.
Additional text
McCourt's remarkable new opus reveals to what extent Joyce's ambivalence towards his native country has been fully reciprocated. The complex and tortuous road towards the canonization of Joyce as Ireland's most famous writer is here narrated with an impressive wealth of information.
