Joyce in Nighttown: A Psychoanalytic Inquiry into Ulysses

Joyce in Nighttown offers a psychoanalytic examination of James Joyce's Ulysses, exploring the intricate interplay between his life, creative process, and magnum opus. It highlights the recurring motifs of familial relationships, identity, and symbolic action, uncovering the latent conflicts underpinning Joyce's narrative innovations. The book frames Ulysses as an intricate family romance, reflecting unresolved tensions and repressed desires, and situates it as a text that engages in self-reflective dialogue. It offers scholars an innovative lens to explore how Joyces life and art are inextricably bound, providing fresh insights into the emotional and intellectual architecture of one of the 20th century's greatest literary achievements.

Format: Hardback
Length: 286 pages
Publication date: 13 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

Joyce in Nighttown presents a compelling psychoanalytic analysis of James Joyce's Ulysses, situating the novel as a profound psychological expression that resonates both personally and universally. By drawing on the maturity of psychoanalytic literary criticism, the book foregoes justifications for its method and instead delves into the intricate interplay between Joyce's life, his creative process, and his magnum opus. Through a meticulous examination of recurring motifs such as familial relationships, identity, and symbolic action, the text uncovers the latent conflicts that underpin Joyce's narrative innovations. It highlights how Ulysses serves as a stage for Joyce's internal struggles, particularly through its protean protagonist, Leopold Bloom, and his interwoven dynamics with Stephen Dedalus, the author's literary alter ego. Drawing on Freud's theories of artistic creation as sublimated personal conflicts, Joyce in Nighttown frames Ulysses as an intricate family romance, reflecting unresolved tensions and repressed desires. The author explores Joyce's portrayal of Shakespeare through Stephen's monologue in Scylla and Charybdis as a mirror of Joyce's own creative dilemmas: art as both revelation and concealment. This psychoanalytic inquiry not only interprets Joyce's gestures toward his Irish identity and familial legacy but also situates Ulysses as a text that engages in self-reflective dialogue. Bridging the gap between personal neuroses and public artistry, this book offers scholars an innovative lens to explore how Joyce's life and art are inextricably bound, providing fresh insights into the emotional and intellectual architecture of one of the 20th century's greatest literary achievements. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates the University of California, Berkeley's 150th anniversary.

Weight: 499g
Dimension: 203 x 133 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520361102