James Joyce and Absolute Music

James Joyce and Absolute Music explores Joyce's engagement with musical structure and his participation in the modernist discourse surrounding 19th-century musical forms. It examines his claim of having structured the "Sirens" episode of Ulysses as a fuga per canonem and his changing musical project from his early works to Finnegans Wake.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 22 August 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Drawing on draft manuscripts and other archival material, James Joyce and Absolute Music delves into Joyce's profound engagement with musical structure and his active participation in the burgeoning modernist discourse surrounding 19th-century musical forms. Michelle Witen explores Joyce's assertion of structuring the "Sirens" episode of his masterpiece, Ulysses, as a fugue per canonem, as well as his evolving musical project from his early works, such as Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Informed by a profound understanding of music theory and history, the book proceeds to examine the "pure music" of Joyce's final work, Finnegans Wake. This groundbreaking study unveils new dimensions to this enduring body of work, demonstrating the significance of music to Joyce.

Weight: 496g
Dimension: 156 x 233 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350125193