Joyce's Revenge: History, Politics, and Aesthetics in Ulysses

by Andrew Gibson

The Ireland of Ulysses was still a part of Britain. This book is the first comprehensive, historical study of Joyce's great novel in the context of Anglo-Irish political and cultural relations in the period 1880-1920. The first forty years of Joyce's life also witnessed the emergence of what historians now call English cultural nationalism. This formation was perceptible in a wide range of different discourses. Ulysses engages with many of them. In doing so, it resists, transforms and works to transcend the effects of British rule in Ireland. The novel was written in the years leading up to Irish independence. It is powered by both a will to freedom and a will to justice. But the two do not always coincide, and Joyce does not place his art in the service of any extant political cause. His struggle for independence has its own distinctive mode. The result is a unique work of liberation--and revenge.

This eminently learned but lucidly written book transforms our understanding of Joyce's Ulysses. It does so by placing the novel firmly in the historical context of Anglo-Irish political and cultural relations in the period 1880-1920. Gibson argues that Ulysses is a great work of liberation that also takes a complex form of revenge on the colonizer's culture.

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2002

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly comprehensive reading of Ulysses. He covers just about every aspect of the novel in a post colonial framework conceivable. Should you think of another point that could be made whilst reading, the chances are Gibson covers it in a few pages’ time.

[Charlotte McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only used a few chapters for an assignment on Joyce, but the theory presented was outstanding, balanced and considerate. The whole concept of Joyce's revenge for the subordination of the Irish under the institution of English Literature, is pregnant with fruitful passages for my essay! Cheers Gibson!