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Very Short Introductions #685
James Joyce: A Very Short Introduction
James Joyce is one of the greatest writers in English. His first book, A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man laid down the template for the Coming of Age novel, while his collection of short stories, Dubliners , is of perennial interest. His great modern epic, Ulysses , took the city of Dublin for its setting and all human life for its subject, and its publication in 1922 marked the beginning of the modern novel. Joyce's final work, Finnegans Wake is an endless experiment in narrative and language. But if Joyce is a great writer he is also the most difficult writer in English. Finnegans Wake is written in a freshly invented language, and Ulysses exhausts all the forms and styles of English. Even the apparently simple Dubliners has plots of endless complexity, while the structure of A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man is exceptionally intricate.
This Very Short Introduction explores the work of this most influential yet complex writer, and analyses how Joyce's difficulty grew out of his situation as an Irish writer unwilling to accept the traditions of his imperialist oppressor, and contemptuous of the cultural banality of the Gaelic revival. Joyce wanted to investigate and celebrate his own life, but this meant investigating and celebrating the drunks of Dublin's pubs and the prostitutes of Dublin's brothels. No subject was alien to him and he developed the naturalist project of recording all aspects of life with the symbolist project of finding significant correspondences in the most unlikely material. Throughout, Colin MacCabe interweaves Joyce's life and history with his books, and draws out their themes and connections.
Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
This Very Short Introduction explores the work of this most influential yet complex writer, and analyses how Joyce's difficulty grew out of his situation as an Irish writer unwilling to accept the traditions of his imperialist oppressor, and contemptuous of the cultural banality of the Gaelic revival. Joyce wanted to investigate and celebrate his own life, but this meant investigating and celebrating the drunks of Dublin's pubs and the prostitutes of Dublin's brothels. No subject was alien to him and he developed the naturalist project of recording all aspects of life with the symbolist project of finding significant correspondences in the most unlikely material. Throughout, Colin MacCabe interweaves Joyce's life and history with his books, and draws out their themes and connections.
Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
160 pages, Paperback
Published January 3, 2022
11 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Colin MacCabe
44 books13 followersColin MacCabe is an English academic, writer and film producer. He has published books on a variety of subjects, including Jean Luc Godard, James Joyce and T.S. Eliot, and has produced many films, among them Young Soul Rebels, Seasons in Quincy, and Caravaggio. He is currently distinguished professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh.
MacCabe became involved in Screen, a journal of film theory published by SEFT (Society for Education in Film and Television) becoming a member of its board in 1973–78 and contributing essays such as "Realism and Cinema: Notes on Some Brechtian Theses" (1974). This was a period that critic Robin Wood described as the "felt moment of Screen" – the time when critical theories emanating from Paris in the late 1960s began to intervene in Anglophone film culture. By releasing the energy and intellectual debate associated with a major paradigm shift, Screen posed a "formidable and sustained challenge to traditional aesthetics" and academia.
MacCabe came to public prominence in 1981 when he was denied tenure at Cambridge University as a consequence of his position at the centre of a much publicised dispute within the faculty of English concerning the teaching of structuralism. His account of events was published three decades later in "A Tale of Two Theories".
After leaving Cambridge he took up a professorship of English at the University of Strathclyde (1981–85), where he was Head of Department and introduced graduate programmes, developing it as a centre for literary linguistics. After over a decade, in which he combined his positions at the British Film Institute with a one-semester appointment at the University of Pittsburgh, he took up a fractional professorship at the University of Exeter (1998–2006), and then at Birkbeck, University of London (1992–2006). He is currently visiting Professor of English at University College, London and at the Birkbeck Institute. In 2011 he taught for a semester in the Department of Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad. He was a visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in the Michaelmas term of 2014. Since 1986 he has remained a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
MacCabe became involved in Screen, a journal of film theory published by SEFT (Society for Education in Film and Television) becoming a member of its board in 1973–78 and contributing essays such as "Realism and Cinema: Notes on Some Brechtian Theses" (1974). This was a period that critic Robin Wood described as the "felt moment of Screen" – the time when critical theories emanating from Paris in the late 1960s began to intervene in Anglophone film culture. By releasing the energy and intellectual debate associated with a major paradigm shift, Screen posed a "formidable and sustained challenge to traditional aesthetics" and academia.
MacCabe came to public prominence in 1981 when he was denied tenure at Cambridge University as a consequence of his position at the centre of a much publicised dispute within the faculty of English concerning the teaching of structuralism. His account of events was published three decades later in "A Tale of Two Theories".
After leaving Cambridge he took up a professorship of English at the University of Strathclyde (1981–85), where he was Head of Department and introduced graduate programmes, developing it as a centre for literary linguistics. After over a decade, in which he combined his positions at the British Film Institute with a one-semester appointment at the University of Pittsburgh, he took up a fractional professorship at the University of Exeter (1998–2006), and then at Birkbeck, University of London (1992–2006). He is currently visiting Professor of English at University College, London and at the Birkbeck Institute. In 2011 he taught for a semester in the Department of Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad. He was a visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in the Michaelmas term of 2014. Since 1986 he has remained a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 28, 2022
As a Spanish major in college, and then Latin American studies for grad school, I missed out on a LOT of English literature. I never read Jane Austen until I was in my 30s -- and have not read James Joyce (yet). I borrowed this as an audio book -- listened to it at 1.5x speed for a very enjoyable 3-ish hour lecture on James Joyce's history, writing, context in literary canon (as well as his massive good fortune at having a patron who kept him and his family housed and fed).
This book is just the right amount of balance of analysis of Joyce's works, characters and personal life. I will plan to tackle one of his more "accessible" works before the end of the year. Any recommendations?
This book is just the right amount of balance of analysis of Joyce's works, characters and personal life. I will plan to tackle one of his more "accessible" works before the end of the year. Any recommendations?
June 10, 2024
Happy to have discovered audiobooks on Spotify.
February 17, 2024
probably a bit short of a 4
However it is hard to do justice to most subjects in this series given the word constraints
a lot of focus Joyce's key works and the analysis is pretty good
despite Joyce's fame, he is not easy to read. So for those unfamiliar with the author, this is a good place to start.
However it is hard to do justice to most subjects in this series given the word constraints
a lot of focus Joyce's key works and the analysis is pretty good
despite Joyce's fame, he is not easy to read. So for those unfamiliar with the author, this is a good place to start.
June 27, 2022
An excellent crash course or review of Joyce's life and works. The detail Irish accented cat almost has me wanting to read Finnegans Wake. If not quite.
January 5, 2023
I think I'm in love with Irish History and Lit Crit now. Went into this with 0 knowledge of joyce and I feel pretty educated now. The experience is more comprehensive than the title betrays.
January 3, 2025
It is informative. Unfortunately, Joyce is a terrible writer, and I wish I never got involved with him, so the info is not very satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews