James Joyce's Ulysses

The course is dedicated to one of the most famous novels of the 20th century: James Joyce’s Ulysses, which was first published a little over one hundred years ago, in 1922. Without a doubt, it is a confusing, challenging, and difficult novel, on account of its courage to experiment with the conventions of the novel and the traditions of (epic) storytelling, as well as the complex situatedness of its plot in Irish culture. At the same time, due not least to the sheer ebullience of its characters, its richness in detail, and its humour, the novel makes space for a deeply satisfying reading experience.

At the very beginning, we meet Stephen Dedalus, a young author. Somewhat later, the reader gets to know Leopold Bloom, the novel’s central character; he is 38 years old, of Jewish descent, and works as an ad canvasser for a newspaper. The novel’s third protagonist is Bloom’s wife Molly, an opera singer. In contrast to the classical epic hero Ulysses (i.e., Odysseus), all of them are everyday heroes. The novel, although quite bulky, covers only one single day in the lives of these characters. It is set in Dublin, and Dublin, surely, is the fourth major protagonist. The action (if you want to call it that) sets in at 8 a.m. on 16 June 1904; it finds its conclusion at some stage after 2 in the early morning hours of the following day. In the seminar, we will find out how the three of them spend this one day, and how all of it connects to everything else.

Please purchase the following edition of the novel (and not any other edition):
Joyce, James. Ulysses: Annotated Student Edition. With an introduction and notes by Declan Kiberd, Penguin, 2011. [ISBN 9780141197418]

As introductory reading, I suggest Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which can be considered a prequel to Ulysses, featuring Stephen Dedalus as its protagonist (he is the young man referred to in the title).

Assignments depend on the respective course of studies and will be explained in the first session.

Personal attendance during the first session is required to maintain enrolment status.Assignments depend on the respective course of studies and will be explained in the first session.
Please direct all your inquiries about vacancies to britlit.fragen.fk15tu-dortmundde.