Foundational Essays in James Joyce Studies

Book excerpt: “Excellent.”—Studies: An Irish Quarterly “A handy anthology of key articles, twelve in all, excavated from the trove of Joyce interpretation, analysis and scholarship. . . . Each piece marks a moment of departure subsequent studies have built on, extended, or reacted against, but which nonetheless laid down significant parameters for approaching Joyce’s works.”—Irish Studies Review "Provides readers with introductions to, and examples of, important Joyce scholarship during its middle years, the 1950s and 1960s, when much of the groundwork for today’s Joyce criticism was laid."--Patrick A. McCarthy, University of Miami"Provides readers a revealing, stimulating basis for moving forward with their own interpretations while remembering the paths, clearly marked out by the editor’s introductions and selections, already traveled by twelve canny, influential, earlier readers of Joyce’s memorable narratives."--John Paul Riquelme, Boston UniversityThis collection presents, in a single volume, key seminal essays in the study of James Joyce. Representing important contributions to scholarship that have helped shape current methods of approaching Joyce’s works, the volume reacquaints contemporary readers with the literature that forms the basis of ongoing scholarly inquiries in the field.Foundational Essays in James Joyce Studies makes this trailblazing scholarship readily accessible to readers. Offering three essays each on Joyce’s four main works (Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake), editor Michael Patrick Gillespie provides a contextual general introduction as well as short introductions to each section that describe the essays that follow and their original contribution to the field. Featuring works by Robert Boyle, Edmund L. Epstein, S. L. Goldberg, Clive Hart, A. Walton Litz, Robert Scholes, Thomas F. Staley, James R. Thrane, Thomas F. Van Laan, and Florence L. Walzl, this is a volume that no serious scholar of Joyce can be without.Michael Patrick Gillespie, professor of English at Florida International University, is the author or editor of many books, including The Aesthetics of Chaosand Oscar Wilde and the Poetics of Ambiguity.