閱讀詹姆斯·喬伊斯 James Joyce在小说之家的作品!!! | |||
愛爾蘭作傢 ，詩人 。1882 年2月2日生於都伯林信奉天主教的家庭，1941 年1月13日卒於瑞士蘇黎世 。先後就讀於都柏林大學剋朗格斯伍德學院、貝爾沃迪爾學院和大學學院，很早就顯露出音樂、宗教哲學及語言文學方面的才能，並開始詩歌、散文習作。他諳熟歐洲大陸作傢作品，受易卜生影響尤深，並漸漸表現出對人類精神世界特殊的感悟及對家庭篤信的宗教和自己生活環境中的習俗、傳統的叛逆。1902年大學畢業後，曾與當時的愛爾蘭文藝復興運動有所接觸，不久即成為其對立面。同年，迫於經濟壓力及為擺脫家庭宗教和自身狹隘環境的束縛，自行流亡到歐洲大陸，先後在法國、瑞士、意大利過着流離的生活，廣泛地吸取歐洲大陸和世界文化的精華。1905年以後，攜妻子兒女在意大利的裏亞斯特定居，帶病堅持文學創作詹姆斯•喬伊斯是二十世紀最偉大的作傢之一，他的作品及“意識流”思想對全世界産生了巨大的影響。本文回顧了喬伊斯的生平，作品及其進入中國的過程與途徑，中國文學界對他的研究以及魯迅對他的一些看法。
一、生平與作品
1882年2月2日，喬伊斯（James Joyce）出生在愛爾蘭的都柏林。他的父親對民族主義有堅定的信念，母親則是虔誠的天主教徒。喬伊斯出生的時候，愛爾蘭這個風光綺麗的島國是英國的殖民地，戰亂不斷，民不聊生。他有一大群弟弟妹妹，但他父親偏愛這個才華橫溢的長子，“不論這一傢人有沒有足夠的東西吃，也給他錢去買外國書籍。”他從小就在教會學校接受天主教教育，學習成績出衆，並初步表現出非凡的文學才能。1898年喬伊斯進入都柏林大學專攻哲學和語言，1902年6月，喬伊斯畢業於都柏林大學學院，獲得了現代語學士學位。10月2日，他登記到聖西希莉亞醫學院修課。可是，在這裏衹念到11月初就因為經濟睏難而放棄了學業。1904年，他偕女友諾拉私奔歐洲大陸，從此義無返顧地開始了長及一生的流亡生涯，中間僅僅點綴着短期的回鄉探親，1911年後便再也不曾踏上愛爾蘭的土地。他一生顛沛流離，輾轉於的裏雅斯特、羅馬、巴黎等地，多以教授英語和為報刊撰稿糊口，又飽受眼疾折磨，到晚年幾乎完全失明；但他對文學矢志不渝，勤奮寫作，終成一代巨匠。1939年巴黎淪陷，12月他帶着傢眷疏散到法國南部。1940年12月17日，喬伊斯夫婦把患精神分裂病的女兒露西亞留在法國的一傢醫院，狼狽不堪地逃到瑞士的蘇黎世。第二年的1月10日，喬伊斯因腹部痙攣住院，查明是十二指腸潰瘍穿孔，在13日凌晨去世，終年59歲。
喬伊斯的文學生涯始於他1904年開始創作的短篇小說集《都柏林人》。在寫給出版商理查茲的一封信中，他明確地表述了這本書的創作原則：“我的宗旨是要為我國的道德和精神史寫下自己的一章。”這實際上也成了他一生文學追求的目標。在喬伊斯眼中，處於大英帝國和天主教會雙重壓迫和鉗製下的愛爾蘭是一個不可救藥的國傢，而都柏林則是它“癱瘓的中心”，在這個城市裏每時每地都上演着麻木、苦悶、淪落的一幕幕活劇。
詹姆斯•喬依斯於1904年1月7日，在他母親逝世之後4個月起在都柏林開始創作長篇小說《青年藝術傢畫像》，1914年完稿於意大利的裏雅斯特，歷時10年。長篇小說《青年藝術傢的畫像》有強烈的自傳色彩，主要描寫都柏林青年斯蒂芬•迪達勒斯如何試圖擺脫妨礙他的發展的各種影響——家庭束縛、宗教傳統和狹隘的民族主義情緒，去追求藝術與美的真諦。喬伊斯通過斯蒂芬•迪達勒斯的故事，實際上提出了藝術傢與社會、與生活的關係問題，並且饒有趣味地揭示了這樣一個事實：斯蒂芬•迪達勒斯本人恰恰就是他力圖逃避的都柏林世界所造就的，都柏林無形中報復了反叛的青年藝術傢。
長篇小說《尤利西斯》是一個平凡的小人物一生中平凡一天的記錄，即主人公廣告經紀人利奧波德•布盧姆在1904年6月16日一天的活動。喬伊斯在本書中將象徵主義與自然主義鑄於一爐，藉用古希臘史詩《奧德修紀》的框架，把布盧姆一天18小時在都柏林的遊蕩比作希臘史詩英雄尤利西斯10年的海上漂泊，使《尤利西斯》具有了現代史詩的概括性。《尤利西斯》以三個人物為主，除代表庸人主義的布盧姆外，還有他的妻子、代表肉欲主義的莫莉以及代表虛無主義的青年斯蒂芬•迪達勒斯。小說通過這三個人一天的生活，把他們的全部歷史、全部精神生活和內心世界表現得淋漓盡致。
長篇小說《芬尼根守夜人》以都柏林近郊一傢酒店老闆的潛意識和夢幻為綫索，是一部用夢幻的語言寫成的夢幻的作品。喬伊斯藉用意大利18世紀思想傢維柯關於世界在四種不同社會形態中循環的觀點，在此框架中展開龐雜的內容。書中暗喻《聖經》、莎士比亞、古代宗教、近代歷史、都柏林地方志等，大量藉用外國詞語甚至自造詞彙，通過誇張的聯想，喻示愛爾蘭乃至全人類的歷史、全宇宙的運動。
除上述三部作品，喬伊斯還著有詩集《室內樂集》和劇本《流亡者》。
在喬伊斯的一生中，民族主義思想是貫徹始終的。早在1912年8月22日，剛屆而立之年的喬伊斯就在緻妻子諾拉的信中寫道：“我是也許終於在這個不幸的民族的靈魂中鑄造了一顆良心的這一代作傢之一。”1936年，喬伊斯邊讀着英國版《尤利西斯》的校樣邊對弗裏斯•莫勒說：他為了這一天，“已鬥了二十年”。 喬伊斯從1914年着手寫《尤利西斯》，但直到1918年美國的《小評論》纔開始連載。最早的單行本是1922年在法國由莎士比亞書屋出版的。德（1927）、法（1929）、日（1932年出四分册，1935年出第五分册）譯本相繼問世後，美國版（蘭登書屋，1934）也出版。然而對喬伊斯來說，最重要的是《尤利西斯》在英國本土的出版。也難怪他對丹麥詩人、小說傢湯姆•剋裏斯滕森說：“現在，英國和我之間展開的戰爭結束了，而我是勝利者。”他指的是，儘管《尤利西斯》裏對1901年去世的維多利亞女王及太子（當時［1904］在位的國王愛德華七世）均有不少貶詞，英國最終不得不承認這本書，讓它一字不刪地出版。
喬伊斯在作品中所表現出來的對民族對國傢的熱愛，深深感動着愛爾蘭人民。而愛爾蘭人是這麽崇拜喬伊斯的，甚至把《尤利西斯》中描寫主人公利奧波德•布盧姆一天全部活動的六月十六日定為“布盧姆日”，該節日後來成為了僅次於國慶日（三月十七日聖巴特裏剋節）的大節日。
二、喬伊斯進入中國文學界的視野
“意識流”這一術語最早是由美國哲學家兼心理學家威廉•詹姆斯於20世紀初提出來的，隨後便被藉用到了文學領域。而喬伊斯就是意識流文學作品的開山鼻祖，其長篇小說《尤利西斯》成為了意識流作品的代表作，是二十世紀最偉大的小說之一。
20世紀中國文學曾受到西方意識流理論和創作的影響，並在此基礎上形成和發展起來了中國的意識流文學。“意識流”這一概念進入中國語境經由兩條路綫：一條由西方先“流”到日本，再由日本“流”到中國；另一條則由西方直接“流”到中國。在時間上，前者稍早於後者。因此，我們在考察意識流進入中國之前，首先應當檢查意識流是如何進入日本文化語境的。最早把喬伊斯介紹到日本的是當時活躍在日本和歐美的著名詩人野口米次郎（1875－1947）。他於1918年3月，在著名雜志《學燈》發表了介紹喬伊斯《年輕藝術傢的肖像》的文章《一個畫傢的肖像》。他稱贊“這部小說是用英語寫成的近代名作”。 另外，較早留下了關於喬伊斯記載的是芥川竜之介。他刊登在《三S》（《サンエス》1920年3月號）雜志上的文章《〈我鬼窟日錄〉摘抄》談到他曾購買丸善書店發行的《年輕藝術傢的肖像》。並在1920年9月發表於《人間》雜志的《〈雜筆〉中的“孩子”》中這樣談到喬伊斯：“喬伊斯的《尤利西斯》無論如何看都是對兒童感受的直接述寫。或者也許可以說是具有那種衹要有一點感受就寫下來的心情吧。但是無論怎樣珍品就是珍品，像他這樣寫文章的找不到第二個。我想，讀一讀是有好處的。（8月20日）”
正因為如此，他後來還親自翻譯了《年輕藝術傢的肖像》的一部分。
中日兩國一衣帶水，交往密切，日本文壇對西方意識流文學的關註和譯介很快就被中國知識界註意到了。不過，日本人最初對意識流的介紹和把握並不準確。1933年由高明翻譯的早稻田教授吉江喬鬆撰寫的《西洋文學概論》便將普魯斯特與喬伊斯歸為超現實主義流派。朱雲影在《現代》（第3捲第1期）上寫了一則《日本通信》：“‘新心理派’以伊藤整等為代表，雖然出了幾種同人雜志，理論宣傳得頗熱鬧，但是作品簡直沒有，倒是翻譯的朱易士（James Joyce）的《尤利西斯》（Ulysses）非常暢銷，正宗白鳥曾推森歐外翻譯的《即興詩人》為明治時代的最大傑作，那麽這裏也不妨認為《尤利西斯》為新心理派的傑作了。 ”
喬伊斯及其《尤利西斯》就這樣經由日本來到了中國。
高明撰寫的《一九三三年的歐美文壇》中有這樣一段：“朱伊士在‘Transition’雜志上連載了‘Work in Progress’。在嘗試着英語革命的點上，被人註目着。有時候把字連在一起，有時候利用句子所有的聯想：看他的意思像是在表現上開一新境地。他也許是說，‘新的感覺需要新的字眼’吧？在那裏同時附着新字辭解；因為在那文章裏，不加解釋，是沒有理解的可能的。”文中“Work in Progress”指的是喬伊斯的最後一部小說《為芬尼根守靈》，該書1927年起在雜志上連載，1939年出版。在文章末尾作者註明道，本文“係根據1934年日本中央公論年報寫成”。這又一次證明喬伊斯是輾轉日本來到中國的。
三、中國文學界與喬伊斯作品
在《尤利西斯》出版的當年，在劍橋留學的著名詩人徐志摩就讀到了這部作品，並在他的《康橋西野暮色》前言中稱贊它是一部獨一無二的作品。他以詩人特有的激情奔放的語言歌頌該書最後沒有標點的一章："那真是純粹的'ｐｒｏｓｅ'，像牛酪一樣潤滑，像教堂裏石壇一樣光澄……一大股清麗浩瀚的文章排傲面前，像一大匹白羅披泄，一大捲瀑布倒挂，絲毫不露痕跡，真大手筆！"
1922 年,茅盾先生在《小說月報》第13 11 號上撰短文介紹詹姆斯•喬伊斯的新作《尤利西斯》:新近喬安司(James Joyce) 的“Ulysses”單行本問世,又顯示了兩方面的不一致。喬安司是一個準“大主義”的美國新作傢。“Ulysses”先在《小評論》上分期登過: 那時就有些“流俗的”讀者寫信到這自號“不求同於流俗之嗜好”的《小評論》編輯部責問,並且也有謾駡的話。然而同時有一部分的青年卻熱心地贊美這書。英國的青年對於喬安司亦有好感: 這大概是威爾士贊“A Portraitof the Artist as a YoungMan”(亦喬氏著作,略早於Ulysses)的結果。可是大批評傢培那(Arnold Bennett) 新近做了一篇論文, 對於Ulysses 很不滿意了。他請出傳統的“小說規律”來,指責Ulysses 裏面的散漫的斷句的寫法為不合體裁了。雖然他也說:“此書最好的幾節文字是不朽,”但貶多於褒,終不能說他是贊許這部”。
30年代現代主義在中國掀起第二次高潮,大背景下零散的喬伊斯介紹文字略見增加,值得一提的是出現兩篇不長的專論,喬氏的短篇“Counterpart”也首次完整地翻譯過來。兩篇專論立足點全然不同,因此所描述的喬氏亦判然有別。第一篇評述是費鑒照撰寫的《愛爾蘭作傢喬歐斯》。⑧此文不曾預設喬是進步的或者頽廢的,持論比較客觀。費文介紹了《杜白林人》和《畫像》,重點放在《遊離散思》(即Ulysses) 上。費文嘗試解讀喬,少數地方略見切入,但總體不成功(篇幅短是一個原因) ,圍着喬伊斯轉一圈而已。此文認為《尤》“是一部包羅近代世界的一切———政治,宗教,實際,人道主義等等的作品”,有很多優點,但認為不能說該書是一種“新的”,而且有明顯的缺點: 一是“重局部而忽略整個的諧和”,二是“註重人的肉體方面,而忽略精神方面”。雖然以今天的角度看,費所說的缺點屬於誤讀,但費是讀過原著來嘗試批評的。費文的缺點是下功夫不夠,將喬當作一般作傢來閱讀,說到底是缺乏真正的興趣。
另一篇專論是周立波1935 年5 月6 日在《申報•自由談》上揭載的《詹姆斯喬易斯》。文章前半部分比較客觀地介紹了喬氏在現代文學史上的地位,喬的生活道路,其創作的流變與發展;主要的評述基本符合事實,但認為《畫像》“沒有獨創的地方”。文章的後半部分問題卻很大。周看喬伊斯的出發點,與蘇聯出版的《英國文學史綱》裏的觀點完全一致,連所用的基本貶詞(如“頽廢”) 也完全相同。從中可以看出他受蘇聯文學批評的影響。蘇聯在1935年首譯《尤》,衹選譯第一至第十節,刊蘇聯《世界文學》雜志,因此可以認為,立波寫此文跟蘇聯選譯《尤》有關,其資料來源來自蘇聯,並沒有立波自己的意見,立波本人也未讀過原著,lv 因此連誤讀亦無從說起,誤讀的源頭在蘇聯。周立波與早期茅盾、徐志摩、費鑒照、趙景深、趙傢璧、楊昌溪等人的評述或譯述有很大不同,從影響源方面看,後者的基本觀點是西方的,前者則是蘇聯的,前者武斷主觀,後者的批評充滿遲疑和睏惑,批評對象把握不住,語焉不詳之處甚多;前者則是清楚明白的持否定態度。周立波此文的觀點在40 年代後半、以及50 —60 年代逐步演成壓倒一切的主調。
傅東華譯的《復本》(即Counterpart) 當為喬氏小說的首次漢譯。譯文前有譯者以否定的筆調寫的約四五百言的簡介,譯文本身有傅一貫的流暢,內容大致查看下來亦無甚大不妥。在那一期的《文學》(2 3 期) 上還刊出中年喬伊斯的相片一幀和漫畫一幅。
中國另一次對喬氏作品的翻譯,是一份影響似乎不太大、衹出了10 期的文學刊物《西洋文學》。這份創刊於1940 年的刊物為喬伊斯作品在中國再次試探性登陸做出過重要貢獻。該刊在1941年推出“喬易斯特輯”,內有喬易斯像、喬的詩選、短篇《一件慘事》和《友律色斯》(Ulysses) 插話三節,還有翻譯的愛德蒙•威爾遜( Ed2mund Wilson) 的《喬易斯論》。該刊還在“書評欄”裏發了署名興華的書論,介紹1939 年纔問世的《斐尼根的醒來》。據該刊主要編輯之一張芝聯介紹,該雜志內容“百分之九十都是譯文”,從它推出的托爾斯泰特輯、葉芝特輯和喬伊斯特輯來看,從它發表譯作的譯者隊伍來看,這個短命的雜志其實在當時算得上一份高品味譯文雜志,它與朱光潛主編的《文學雜志》、徐志摩等主編的《新月》一樣,同具一份學人的高雅格調,惜乎它在中國文學史上、在翻譯文學史上以及現代文學期刊史上並未受到應有的重視。
1949 年後至1978 年30 年間,連上面這種“雜碎”似的介紹幾乎都見不到了,即便是偶爾提到,喬伊斯也像是一具散發着惡臭的腐屍。
１９５０年１１月，朱光潛先生在路易•哈拉普的《藝術的社會起源》譯後補記裏也表達了同樣的態度。朱先生雖沒有直接評論本書，但否定了哈拉普視《尤利西斯》是運用傳統的一個最好說明，而且是幾個世紀文學發展最高峰的觀點。１９６４年袁可嘉在《文學研究集刊》第一期上發表的《英美意識流小說述評》，對《尤利西斯》也持批判態度。
1978 年創刊的《外國文藝》享有一份光榮,即該刊在1980 年第4 期上發了3 篇喬伊斯短篇小說,即《死者》(王智量【 智量】譯) 、《阿拉比》和《小人物》(宗白譯) 。3 個短篇選目出手不凡,其中前2篇是世界文學的短篇精品。這大概是新時期發表的對喬氏作品最早的譯介。
該書初版半個世紀之後的１９７９年，錢鐘書先生在所著的《管錐編》（第一册的３９４頁）中用《尤利西斯》第十五章的詞句（喬伊斯將ｙｅｓ和ｎｏ 改造為ｎｅｓ，ｙｏ）解釋了《史記》中的話。１９８１年，袁可嘉等人選編的《外國現代作品選》第二册關於意識流的部分收入了《尤利西斯》第二章的中譯，並附有袁本人的短評，對於該書的文學價值和地位重新給予了肯定。
資深翻譯傢黃雨石先生默默工作,他譯的《青年藝術傢的畫像》已由外國文學出版社1983 年出版。這是大陸出版的第一部喬氏作品單行本,亦是大陸譯介喬伊斯的第一部完整的長篇小說。1984 年10 月,孫梁譯的《都柏林人》7 個短篇加上宗白等人人的其他8篇譯作,,由上海譯文出版社以《都柏林人》之名出版。
80 年代最早的《尤》選譯,是金 譯的第二章,收入袁可嘉等主編的《外國現代派作品選》第二册(上) ;5 年後《世界文學》揭載金譯《尤》的第二、六、十章和第十八章片斷; 越年,百花出版社推出《尤》的選譯本,並且增加了第十五章的片斷譯文。這些是中國第二次《尤》的選譯,是在研讀的基礎上選譯的,量與質均較高。
九十年代中葉，意識流開山之作、長篇巨著《尤利西斯》有了兩部全譯本：蕭乾、文潔若合譯的由南京譯林出版社於一九九四年出版；金盽所譯的則由人民文學出版社出版（1994年至1996年）。
《尤利西斯》一問世就是一部令一般讀者頭疼、也讓批評傢傷神的作品，即使在今天這種情況也未得到絲毫的改善。在英語國傢它被視為一部公認的"天書"，翻譯這樣一部作品顯然是異常睏難的。目前國內的譯本，較著名的有譯林出版社蕭乾、文潔若夫婦的合譯本（文化藝術出版社２００２．６推出該版修訂本）和人民文學出版社金堤先生的譯本（天津百花文藝出版社１９８７年出版過他的節譯本）；此外還有京華出版社"世界十大經典名著"中收入的紀江紅的譯本，呼和浩特遠方出版社的"世界禁書文庫"中李進的譯本，內蒙古人民出版社的"外國私傢藏書"李虹的譯本，還有內蒙古兒童出版社和內蒙古文化出版社章影光的譯本等。儘管在《尤利西斯》中譯本出來以後報刊上介紹和研究喬伊斯的文章越來越多，但相關的研究專著國內目前還比較欠缺，僅有上海外國語大學李維屏教授的《喬伊斯的美學思想和小說藝術》（上海外語教育出版社，２０００）。已出版的有關喬伊斯的介紹和傳記類作品有：袁鶴年譯格羅斯著《喬伊斯》（三聯書店，１９８６），何及鋒、柳萌譯科斯特洛著《喬伊斯》（中國社會科學出版社，１９９０），陳恕的《〈尤利西斯〉導讀》（譯林出版社，１９９４），賀明華譯布倫南•馬多剋斯的《喬伊斯與諾拉》（百花文藝出版社，１９９７），林玉珍譯彼得•寇斯提羅的《喬伊斯傳--解讀〈尤利西斯〉》（海南出版社，１９９９），袁德成的《詹姆斯•喬伊斯--現代尤利西斯》》（四川人民出版社，１９９９），周柳寧譯諾裏斯、弗林特合著的《喬伊斯》（外語教學與研究出版社，２０００），白裕承譯的伽斯特•安德森的《喬伊斯》（天津百花出版社，２００１）和劍橋大學出版社編著的《詹姆斯•喬伊斯》（上海外語教育出版社，２００１）等十多種。
目前，北京師範大學劉象愚教授翻譯多年的《尤利西斯》已經完成初稿。早在1985年，劉象愚就翻譯過《尤利西斯》第三章《斯蒂芬在海灘》，發表於當年3月印行的《外國現代派小說概觀》上，他曾表示，像這樣一部宏偉、壯觀、包容浩瀚，或者換言之晦澀、艱奧、光怪陸離的作品，再有一個中譯本也是不嫌多的。已經問世的兩個譯本各有長短，他的譯文當盡量彌補不足。 劉譯《尤利西斯》將收入由中國社科院外文所研究員王逢振和劉象愚主編的《喬伊斯全集》。全集收入《都柏林人》《尤利西斯》《一個青年藝術傢的畫像》《芬尼根的守靈夜》等喬伊斯全部長篇小說，和詩歌、劇本、日記、評論，以及他人評喬伊斯作品的評論集， 預計將在今年年底出版。
四、魯迅與喬伊斯
魯迅與喬伊斯有着很多相似之處，無論其背景、經歷還是精神品格，以至創作方法。但魯迅似乎從沒有談到過喬伊斯，這使人略感遺憾：魯迅十分關註現代主義文藝思潮，舉凡當時流行的新流派，他幾乎都作過涉獵和評介，自己在創作中也運用了與喬伊斯“意識流”或“心理主義文學”相似的手法，可是對於當時已經名聲大噪的喬伊斯，卻沒有作什麽評說，這不免令人睏惑。是不是沒有註意到呢？也不是。其實，也許因為民族的命運有相似之處（愛爾蘭曾長期受英國統治），魯迅對愛爾蘭文學給予了特別的關註，也關註過喬伊斯。
早在留學日本時期，魯迅就涉獵英國、愛爾蘭文學，當時，愛爾蘭還沒有脫離英國，愛爾蘭文學常被作為英國文學的一部分看，魯迅所涉獵的英國文學通常包含愛爾蘭文學。他曾搜讀《英國文學史》，他與周作人合譯的《域外小說集》已收有O•王爾德的《快樂王子》。後來他又陸續閱讀了勃蘭兌斯的《十九世紀文學主潮》，德林剋瓦特的《文學大綱》，其中對愛爾蘭文學都有述及。作品方面，至少讀過王爾德、史文朋、蕭伯納、巴雷、威爾斯、高斯等人的作品。
1927年11月，魯迅剛到上海纔一個多月，就在內山書店買了一本日本學者野口米次郎的隨筆集《愛爾蘭情調》，這本書是集中評述愛爾蘭文學的。之後，他在短短的一個星期內（從11月25日到30日）接連買了戶川秋骨的《英國文學筆記》和英國《布魯剋英國文學史》及日本佐治秀壽的《英國小說史》，一個月後又購買了齋藤勇的《以思潮為中心的英國文學史》，顯示這一時期他對英國、愛爾蘭文學的特別關註。這以後不久，魯迅就開始編輯《奔流》月刊和《朝花》周刊，這兩個刊物都大量介紹了英國和愛爾蘭文學。
1929年6月，魯迅從野口那本《愛爾蘭情調》中選譯了《愛爾蘭文學之回顧》一文刊登在《奔流》二捲二期上，並在《編校後記》中特別指出：野口的文章“很簡明扼要，於愛爾蘭文學運動的來因去果，是說得瞭瞭分明的；中國前幾年，於Yeats，Synge等人的事情和作品，曾經屢有紹介了，現在這一篇，也許更可以幫助一點理解罷。”野口這篇文章簡要評介了愛爾蘭文藝復興運動的發展，評述到的人主要有葉芝、沁孤、蕭伯納、弗格森等著名作傢，但沒有提到喬伊斯。
到1933年，魯迅又一次出現集中購買有關英國文學書籍的現象（這可能跟當時蕭伯納來華有關），接連買了平田禿木的《英國文學漫步》、中川芳太郎的《英國文學風物志》。到這時為止，魯迅談到過的愛爾蘭作傢除上面提到的以外，還有格列高裏夫人、A.E.（拉塞爾）等等。
進入1934年，喬伊斯的名字終於在魯迅筆下出現了：1月4日，他在內山書店買了一本專論喬伊斯的書《以喬伊斯為中心的文學運動》，這是日本的文學史傢春山行夫寫的一本評述當時歐洲文學發展的專著，1933年由東京第一書房出版。
春山行夫把喬伊斯視為引領歐洲文學新潮流的代表性人物，因為喬伊斯這時已在巴黎住了十幾年，而《尤利西斯》是首先在美國發表的，以至當茅盾先生最初在《小說月報》上介紹他的時候，也誤以為他是美國人。由此也更可見，這時喬伊斯已經不是僅僅以愛爾蘭作傢的身份，而是以“國際性”作傢身份亮相於世界文壇，已經具有很大的名聲和影響力了。春山行夫這本書，評述了衆多英聯邦（尤其是愛爾蘭）重要作傢，包括葉芝、蕭伯納、王爾德、A.E.（拉塞爾）等21人與喬伊斯的關係，每人設專章評述，很是詳明。跟別人不同的是，他認為當時盛行的“愛爾蘭文藝復興運動”是以喬伊斯為中心而不是葉芝，不少歐洲當代的重要作傢都受到了喬伊斯的影響，甚至俄國的陀思妥耶夫斯基的細膩心理描寫方法也與此有關。
但不知為什麽，一嚮具有先鋒意識，密切關註世界文學新思潮、新流派，並幾乎評介過所有現代主義文藝流派的魯迅，“跟蹤”愛爾蘭文學並讀了春山行夫的書之後，卻並沒有對喬伊斯發表評論。《尤利西斯》1922年一發表，茅盾就在《小說月報》上作了介紹；同年，留學英國的徐志摩也在劍橋盛贊該書；之後，趙景深1929年在《文學周報》上，高明1933年、趙傢璧1934年在《現代》月刊上，周立波1935年在《申報•自由談》上分別作了越來越詳細的介紹。魯迅是這些報刊的長期讀者，也一直收藏着這些報刊，可以肯定：他是看到過這些介紹的。
這主要有兩種可能：一是因為沒有讀到喬伊斯本人的作品，出於謹慎，暫不發表看法；二是因為茅盾1922年介紹說，喬伊斯是“一個準‘大大主義’的美國新作傢”。“大大主義”即“達達主義”，魯迅曾評為“裝鬼臉”，不甚欣賞。但在看到作品之前，他也不會輕率發表意見，是還想看一看究竟吧。
詹姆斯·喬伊斯 - 大事紀年表
一八八二年 三月二日生於都柏林南郊拉斯馬因茲一個信天主教的家庭中。
其父約翰·喬伊斯（1849一1931）是稅務專員，與妻子米莉·簡（1859一1903）
共生有四男六女，喬伊斯為長子。
一八八六年（4歲）英首相葛萊斯頓的《自治法案》未獲通過。
一八八八年（6歲）九月一日入基德爾縣沙林斯市的剋朗戈伍斯森林公學，校
長是天主教耶穌會會長康米神父。喬伊斯是學生中年齡最小的。
一八九0年（8歲）愛爾蘭民族主義領袖巴涅爾失去自治聯盟主席職。
一八九一年（9歲）因父親失業，喬伊斯於六月間退學。同年十月， 巴涅爾去
世，喬伊斯出於對巴涅爾的同情，寫了一首諷刺詩《希利，你也這樣！》。希利是
愛爾蘭自治運動和土地改革運動中的領袖，本與巴涅爾關係密切，但在關鍵時刻卻
與巴涅爾决裂。
一八九三年（11歲）經康米神父介紹，喬伊斯於四月六日入了貝爾維迪爾公學
三年級。這座學校也是耶穌會所創辦的，他一度想當神父。十九世紀以來，在都柏
林形成了以葉芝、格雷戈裏夫人及辛格為中心的愛爾蘭文藝復興運動，他直接間接
受影響。通過友人，他也受到愛爾蘭民族獨立運動的影響。然而給予他更強烈影響
的是，十九世紀末出現在歐洲文學中的自由思想。中學畢業前，他就對宗教信仰産
生了懷疑。
一八九七年（15歲）獲全愛爾蘭最佳作文奬。
一八九八年（16歲）九月入皇傢大學都柏林學院，專攻哲學和語言。在校期
間博覽群書，為了讀他最欽佩的作傢易卜生的原著，學了丹表文和挪威文。
一九00年（18歲）一月二十日，在學院的文學及歷史協會發表講演，題目是《
戲劇與人生》。四月一日，英國文學雜志《半月評論》發表他的關於易卜生作品《
當我們死而復醒時》（1899）的評論：《易卜生的新戲劇》。此文獲得年過七旬的
易卜生的稱許，使喬伊斯深受鼓舞，從而堅定了他走上文學道路的决心。
一九0一年（19歲）十月，寫《喧囂的時代》一文，批評愛爾蘭文藝劇院的
狹隘的民族主義，自費出版。
一九0二年（20歲）夏天，結識葉芝和劇作傢格雷戈裏夫人。十月獲學士學位，
入聖塞西莉亞醫學院，因交不起學費而綴學。十二月初赴巴黎，下旬回都柏林。
一九0三年（21歲）一月十七日再度離開都柏林，二十三日抵巴黎， 靠寫書
評和教英語糊口。四月十日，接到母親病危的電報回國。八月十三日，母親去世。
在都柏林結交奧利弗·戈加蒂。
一九0四年（22歲）開始寫自傳體小說《藝術傢年輕時的寫照》， 二月二日决
定把它改寫為長篇小說。三月至六月底，在多基一座私立的剋裏夫頓學校代課。六
月十日，散步途中結識諾拉·巴那剋爾，一見鐘情。十六日（布盧姆日）傍晚，兩
人首次幽會。這個期間寫了後來收入《都柏林人》的一些短篇，發表在當地報刊上。
用斯蒂芬·迪達勒斯的筆名，在八月十三日的《愛爾蘭傢園報》上發表短篇《姐妹
》。九月九日，與戈加蒂一道住進沙灣的圓形炮塔。同住的還有戈加蒂的友人薩纓
爾·特連奇（牛津大學學生）。十九日，因不喜歡戈加蒂，遂離開炮塔，回到父親
的傢。十月上旬偕諾拉赴大陸，聯繫好在瑞士教英語的職務。途經巴黎，十一日抵
蘇黎世。然而教職落了空，十一月初改赴波拉的伯利茲語言學校任教。波拉在的裏
雅斯特（當時屬於奧地利）以南一百五十英裏外。
一九0五年（23歲）三月，轉到的裏雅斯特的伯利茲語言學校任教。 七月，因
教職有了空缺，把胞弟斯坦尼斯勞斯叫了來。同月，長子喬治亞出生。十二月三日，
將《都柏林人》原稿十二篇（後補加三篇）寄給出版傢理查茲。
一九0六年（24歲）七月底赴羅馬，在銀行任通訊員。九月三十日在緻斯坦尼
斯勞斯的信中談到短篇小說《尤利西斯》的設想。 主人公是住在都柏林的一個猶
太人。但他當時並未把這個短篇寫出。四月以來，就改寫短篇小說集《都柏林人》
的問題與理查茲魚雁往還。九月三十日收到拒絶出版的信。
一九0七年（25歲）三月五日辭去銀行的工作，七月回的裏雅斯特，仍在原校
任教。五月，早年寫的抒情詩集《室內音樂》出版。 七月，長女露西亞·安娜出
生。他辭去教職，個別教授英語。
一九0八年（26歲）三月，將辛格的《騎馬下海人》（1904年上演的悲劇）譯
成意大利文。五月底，患虹膜炎。
一九0九年（27歲）為了交涉《都柏林人》出版事宜，七月回到都柏林，住在
父親傢，並與蒙塞爾出版社簽訂《都柏林人》出版合同。九月裏回到的裏雅斯特。
十月又返回都柏林，在四個企業傢贊助下，十二月間開設沃爾特電影院。
一九一0年（28歲）一月二日，在妹妹艾琳的陪伴下，回到的裏雅斯特。七
月，把鬧虧損的沃爾特電影院出讓給人。
一九一一年（29歲）二月九日，蒙塞爾出版社來信，要求將涉及愛德華七世的
記述一概刪除。大約在這個時候，他把《斯蒂芬英雄》的原稿丟進火爐，幸而妹妹
艾琳在場，給搶了出來。
一九一二年（30歲）七月最後一次回愛爾蘭。與蒙塞爾出版社的談判破裂。九
月十一日活字版被拆掉。當夜，喬伊斯攜全家人離開都柏林。在回到的裏雅斯特的
路上，他針對出版傢羅伯茨寫了一首諷刺詩《火口噴出來的瓦斯》。
一九一三年（31歲）在列沃帖拉高等商業學校（的裏雅斯特大學的前身）教書
的同時，繼續個別教授英語。十二月十五日，經葉芝介紹，艾琳拉·龐德來信叫他
寄作品去。
一九一四年（32歲）經龐德的介紹，自二月二日起，至次年九月號為止，在《
唯我主義者》雜志上分二十五次連載《藝術傢年輕時的寫照》。一月二十九日，理
查茲同意出版《都柏林人》，該書於六月十五日問世。當月，開始寫《尤利西斯》
第三章。
一九一五年（33歲）六月下旬移居蘇黎世。繼續個別教授英語。經龐德、葉
芝等人奔走，獲得皇傢文學基金的津貼。
一九一六年（34歲）經《唯我主義者》主編哈麗特·維沃爾鼎力協助，《都柏
林人》以及《藝術傢年輕時的寫照》在美國出版。
一九一七年（35歲）二月，青光眼復發。二月十二日，《寫照》的英國版由倫
敦的唯我主義者出版社出版。八月十八日，右眼動手術。
一九一八年（36歲）經龐德介紹，在美國《小評論》雜志三月號上開始連載
《尤利西斯》。五月，劇本《流亡者》的英國版《格蘭特·理查茲》和美國版（休
布修）同時問世。與友人剋勞德·賽剋斯共同創立英國演員劇團，夏季到洛桑、日
內瓦等城市巡回演出王爾德的《名叫歐納斯特的重要性》，並於九月間在蘇黎世公
演蕭伯納的《華倫夫人的職業》以及另外一些英國戲劇。
一九一九年（37歲）自五月起，哈麗特·維沃爾開始在經濟上資助喬伊斯，一
直延續到他去世後辦理喪事為止。八月七日，《流亡者》在慕尼黑上演。十月中旬
返回的裏雅斯特，又到列沃帖拉高等商業學校教書。
一九二0年（38歲）在龐德的勸說下，决定移居巴黎，七月八日抵巴黎。 十一
日結識莎士比亞書屋的西爾薇亞·畢奇。八月十五日，詩人T·S·艾略特等二人來
訪。十二月二十日完成《尤利西斯》第十五章。
一九二一年（39歲）《小評論》雜志因連載《尤利西斯》，在紐約被控告刊載
猥褻作品被判有罪。四月十日，與西爾薇亞·畢奇簽訂《尤利西斯》出版合同，
集一千部的預約。預約者有葉芝、龐德、紀德、海明威等。五月間在友人傢與馬塞
爾·普魯斯特晤面。十月二十九日，《尤利西斯》的原稿完成。
一九二二年（40歲）在生日（2月2日）那天收到《尤利西斯》的樣本。八月攜
妻赴倫敦，初次見到哈麗特·維沃爾。因目疾惡化，急忙回巴黎。開始構思《芬尼
根守靈夜》。
一九二三年（41歲）三月十日，着手寫《芬尼根守靈夜》。
一九二四年（42歲）三月，《藝術傢年輕時的寫照》的法譯本出版，改名《迪
達勒斯》。《尤利西斯》法譯的一部分刊載在《交流》雜志上。四月，《大西洋兩
岸評論》刊載《芬尼根守靈夜》開頭部分。當年，維吉尼亞·吳爾夫出版小册子《
本涅特先生和布朗太太》，對喬伊斯的作品表示支持。哈佛·葛曼所著《詹姆斯·
喬伊斯最初的四十年》出版。
一九二五年（43歲）二月十九日，紐約的涅瓦弗德劇場上演《流亡者》。在《
萊帖裏昂》七月號上發表《芬尼根守靈夜》第五章。
一九二六年（44歲）二月十四、十五日，倫敦的攝政劇場上演《流亡者》。
一九二七年（45歲）抒情詩集《一分錢一首的詩》由莎士比亞書屋出版。《尤
利西斯》的德譯本問世。
一九二九年（47歲）二月，《尤利西斯》法譯本出版。四月二十五日，兒子喬
治亞作為男低音歌手首次登臺演唱。女兒露西亞神經出現異常癥狀。
一九三0年（48歲）《尤利西斯》德譯本出版第三版。十二月下旬， 受喬伊斯
本人之托，哈佛·葛曼着手寫其傳記。斯圖爾特·吉爾伯特的《詹姆斯·喬伊斯的
〈尤利西斯〉》由費伯與費伯出版社出版，他強調了此作的古典主義性格與象徵性。
（此書的修訂本出版於1952年。）
一九三一年（49歲）四月，攜妻女赴倫敦。七月四日是父親約翰的生日， 喬
伊斯選定這一天在倫敦與諾拉正式結婚。自從一九0四年不顧父親的反對與諾拉私
奔，已過了二十七年。十二月二十九日，其父親在都柏林逝世。
一九三二年（50歲）二月十五日，孫兒斯蒂芬·詹姆斯·喬伊斯出生。《尤利
西斯》日譯本由岩波書店出版。喬伊斯本人認為屬盜印，但按日本版權法，外國作
品衹享有版權十年。
一九三三年（51歲）十二月六日，紐約的烏爾賽法官宣判《尤利西斯》並非
猥褻作品。
一九三四年（52歲）一月，為了確保版權，紐約的蘭登書屋搶先出版一百部
《尤利西斯》。弗蘭剋·勃真所著《詹姆斯·喬伊斯與〈尤利西斯〉的創造》由倫
敦格雷森與格雷森出版社出版（修訂本於一九六七年由美國印第安納大學出版社出
版）。
一九三五年（53歲）七月，女兒露西亞的神經病發作，致使喬伊斯做了一星
期惡夢，不斷地為幻覺睏擾。
一九三六年（54歲）七月，將露西亞以前寫的《喬叟入門》作為她的生日（6
月26日）禮物出版。十二月，《詩集》出版。
一九三七年（55歲）十月，《年輕內嚮的斯特列拉》在倫敦出版。
一九三八年（56歲）十一月十三日，《芬尼根守靈夜》完成。喬伊斯動員友人
們做校對，年底校完。
一九三九年（57歲）五月四日，《芬尼根守靈夜》在倫敦和紐約同時出版。
一九四0年（58歲）十二月十七日，遷居到蘇黎世。哈佛·葛曼的《詹姆斯·喬
伊斯》出版。
一九四一年（59歲）一月十日，因腹部痙攣住院，查明係十二指腸潰瘍穿孔，
十三日凌晨去世。十五日葬於蘇黎世的弗林貼隆墳地。《倫敦泰晤士報》刊載了一
篇對喬伊斯缺乏理解的悼文。T·S·艾略特立即寫文章表示抗議，並在《地平綫》
雜志三月號上發表《告魚書》一文，進一步反擊。維吉尼亞·吳爾夫接到訃告，感
慨係之。（她於同年3月28日也自殺身死。）這一年，哈利·萊文撰寫了《詹姆斯·
喬伊斯》一書，肯定了喬伊斯在歐洲文學史上的地位。
Joyce was born to a lower-middle class family in Dublin, where he excelled as a student at the Jesuit schools Clongowes and Belvedere, then at University College, Dublin. In his early twenties he emigrated permanently to continental Europe, living in Trieste, Paris and Zürich. Though most of his adult life was spent abroad, Joyce's fictional universe does not extend beyond Dublin, and is populated largely by characters who closely resemble family members, enemies and friends from his time there; Ulysses in particular is set with precision in the streets and alleyways of the city. Shortly after the publication of Ulysses he elucidated this preoccupation somewhat, saying, “For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.”
1882–1904: Dublin
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on 2 February 1882 to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane Murray in the Dublin suburb of Rathgar. He was the eldest of ten surviving children; two of his siblings died of typhoid. His father's family, originally from Fermoy in Cork, had once owned a small salt and lime works. Joyce's father and paternal grandfather both married into wealthy families. In 1887, his father was appointed rate collector (i.e., a collector of local property taxes) by Dublin Corporation; the family subsequently moved to the fashionable adjacent small town of Bray 12 miles (19 km) from Dublin. Around this time Joyce was attacked by a dog, which engendered in him a lifelong cynophobia. He also suffered from keraunophobia, as his deeply religious aunt had described thunderstorms to him as a sign of God's wrath.
Joyce at age six, 1888
In 1891, Joyce wrote a poem, Et Tu Healy on the death of Charles Stewart Parnell. His father was angry at the treatment of Parnell by the Catholic church and at the resulting failure to secure Home Rule for Ireland. The elder Joyce had the poem printed and even sent a part to the Vatican Library. In November of that same year, John Joyce was entered in Stubbs Gazette (an official register of bankruptcies) and suspended from work. In 1893, John Joyce was dismissed with a pension, beginning the family's slide into poverty caused mainly by John's drinking and general financial mismanagement.
James Joyce began his education at Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school near Clane in County Kildare, which he entered in 1888 but had to leave in 1892 when his father could no longer pay the fees. Joyce then studied at home and briefly at the Christian Brothers school on North Richmond Street, Dublin, before he was offered a place in the Jesuits', Dublin school, Belvedere College, in 1893. The offer reflected, at least in part, the hope that he would prove to have a vocation and join the Order. Joyce, however, apparently rejected Catholicism by the age of 16, although the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas continued to influence him strongly throughout his life. L. A. G. Strong, William T. Noon, Robert Boyle and others have argued that Joyce, later in life, reconciled with the faith he rejected earlier in life and that his parting with the faith was succeeded by a not so obvious reunion, and that Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are essentially Catholic expressions. Likewise, Hugh Kenner and T.S. Eliot saw between the lines of Joyce’s work the outlook of a serious Christian and that beneath the veneer of the work lies a remnant of Catholic belief and attitude. Kevin Sullivan maintains that, rather than reconciling with the faith, Joyce never left it. Critics holding this view insist that Stephen is not Joyce. Somewhat cryptically, in an interview after completing Ulysses, in response to the question “When did you leave the Catholic Church”, Joyce answered, “That’s for the Church to say.” Eamonn Hughes maintains that Joyce takes a dialectic approach, both assenting and denying, saying that Steven’s much noted non serviam is qualified - “I will not serve that which I no longer believe…”, and that the non serviam will always be balanced by Stephen’s “I am a servant…” and Molly’s “yes”.
He enrolled at the recently established University College Dublin (UCD) in 1898, studying English, French, and Italian. He also became active in theatrical and literary circles in the city. In 1900 his review of Ibsen's New Drama was published in Fortnightly Review; it was his first publication and he received a note of thanks from the Norwegian dramatist himself. Joyce wrote a number of other articles and at least two plays (since lost) during this period. Many of the friends he made at University College Dublin would appear as characters in Joyce's written works.
In 1901, the National Census of Ireland lists James Joyce (19) as a scholar living with his mother and father, six sisters and three brothers at Royal Terrace, Clontarf, Dublin.
Bust of James Joyce in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin
After graduating from UCD in 1903, Joyce left for Paris to study medicine, but he soon abandoned this after finding the technical lectures in French too difficult. He stayed on for a few months, appealing for finance his family could ill afford and reading late in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. When his mother was diagnosed with cancer, his father sent a telegraph which read, "NOTHER [sic] DYING COME HOME FATHER". Joyce returned to Ireland. Fearing for her son's impiety, his mother tried unsuccessfully to get Joyce to make his confession and to take communion. She finally passed into a coma and died on 13 August, James and Stanislaus having refused to kneel with other members of the family praying at her bedside. After her death he continued to drink heavily, and conditions at home grew quite appalling. He scraped a living reviewing books, teaching and singing—he was an accomplished tenor, and won the bronze medal in the 1904 Feis Ceoil.
On 7 January 1904 he attempted to publish A Portrait of the Artist, an essay-story dealing with aesthetics, only to have it rejected from the free-thinking magazine Dana. He decided, on his twenty-second birthday, to revise the story into a novel he called Stephen Hero. It was a fictional rendering of Joyce's youth, but he eventually grew frustrated with its direction and abandoned this work. It was never published in this form, but years later, in Trieste, Joyce completely rewrote it as A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The unfinished Stephen Hero was published after his death.
The same year he met Nora Barnacle, a young woman from Connemara, County Galway who was working as a chambermaid. On 16 June 1904, they first stepped out together, an event which would be commemorated by providing the date for the action of Ulysses.
Joyce remained in Dublin for some time longer, drinking heavily. After one of these drinking binges, he got into a fight over a misunderstanding with a man in Phoenix Park; he was picked up and dusted off by a minor acquaintance of his father's, Alfred H. Hunter, who brought him into his home to tend to his injuries. Hunter was rumored to be a Jew and to have an unfaithful wife, and would serve as one of the models for Leopold Bloom, the main protagonist of Ulysses. He took up with medical student Oliver St John Gogarty, who formed the basis for the character Buck Mulligan in Ulysses. After staying in Gogarty's Martello Tower for six nights he left in the middle of the night following an altercation which involved Gogarty shooting a pistol at some pans hanging directly over Joyce's bed. He walked all the way back to Dublin to stay with relatives for the night, and sent a friend to the tower the next day to pack his trunk. Shortly thereafter he eloped to the continent with Nora.
[edit]1904–20: Trieste and Zürich
Joyce in 1915
Joyce and Nora went into self-imposed exile, moving first to Zürich, where he had supposedly acquired a post to teach English at the Berlitz Language School through an agent in England. It turned out that the English agent had been swindled, but the director of the school sent him on to Trieste, which was part of Austria-Hungary until World War I (today part of Italy). Once again, he found there was no position for him, but with the help of Almidano Artifoni, director of the Trieste Berlitz school, he finally secured a teaching position in Pola, then also part of Austria-Hungary (today part of Croatia). He stayed there, teaching English mainly to Austro-Hungarian naval officers stationed at the Pola base, from October 1904 until March 1905, when the Austrians—having discovered an espionage ring in the city—expelled all aliens. With Artifoni's help, he moved back to Trieste and began teaching English there. He would remain in Trieste for most of the next ten years.
Joyce's statue in Trieste
Later that year Nora gave birth to their first child, George. Joyce then managed to talk his brother, Stanislaus, into joining him in Trieste, and secured him a position teaching at the school. James's ostensible reasons were desire for Stanislaus's company and the hope of offering him a more interesting life than that of his simple clerking job in Dublin. In truth, though, James hoped to augment his family's meagre income with his brother's earnings. Stanislaus and James had strained relations throughout the time they lived together in Trieste, with most arguments centering on James's drinking habits and frivolity with money.
With the chronic wanderlust of James's early years, he became frustrated with life in Trieste and moved to Rome in late 1906, having secured employment in a bank. He intensely disliked Rome, and moved back to Trieste in early 1907. His daughter Lucia was born in the summer of the same year.
Joyce returned to Dublin in mid-1909 with George, in order to visit his father and work on getting Dubliners published. He visited Nora's family in Galway, meeting them for the first time (a successful visit, to his relief). While preparing to return to Trieste he decided to take one of his sisters, Eva, back with him to help Nora run the home. He spent only a month in Trieste before returning to Dublin, this time as a representative of some cinema owners hoping to set up a regular cinema in Dublin. The venture was successful (but quickly fell apart in Joyce's absence), and he returned to Trieste in January 1910 with another sister, Eileen, in tow. Eva became very homesick for Dublin and returned there a few years later, but Eileen spent the rest of her life on the continent, eventually marrying Czech bank cashier Frantisek Schaurek.
Joyce returned to Dublin again briefly in mid-1912 during his years-long fight with his Dublin publisher, George Roberts, over the publication of Dubliners. His trip was once again fruitless, and on his return he wrote the poem "Gas from a Burner" as an invective against Roberts. After this trip, he never again came closer to Dublin than London, despite many pleas from his father and invitations from fellow Irish writer William Butler Yeats.
One of his students in Trieste was Ettore Schmitz, better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo. They met in 1907 and became lasting friends and mutual critics. Schmitz was a Catholic of Jewish origin and became the primary model for Leopold Bloom; most of the details about the Jewish faith in Ulysses came from Schmitz's responses to queries from Joyce. While living in Trieste, Joyce was first beset with eye problems that ultimately required over a dozen surgeries.
Joyce concocted a number of money-making schemes during this period, including an attempt to become a cinema magnate in Dublin. He also frequently discussed but ultimately abandoned a plan to import Irish tweeds to Trieste. Correspondence relating to that venture with the Irish Woollen Mills are displayed in the windows of their premises on Aston's Quay in Dublin. His skill at borrowing money saved him from indigence. What income he had came partially from his position at the Berlitz school and partially from teaching private students.
The so-called James-Joyce-Kanzel (plateau) at the confluence of the Sihl an Limmat rivers in Zürich where Joyce loved to relax
In 1915, after most of his students were conscripted in Trieste for World War I, he moved to Zürich. Two influential private students, Baron Ambriogo Railli and Count Francesco Sordina, petitioned officials for an exit permit for the Joyces, who in turn agreed not to take any action against the emperor of Austria-Hungary during the war. There, he met one of his most enduring and important friends, Frank Budgen, whose opinion Joyce constantly sought through the writing of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. It was also here where Ezra Pound brought him to the attention of English feminist and publisher Harriet Shaw Weaver, who would become Joyce's patron, providing him thousands of pounds over the next 25 years and relieving him of the burden of teaching in order to focus on his writing. While in Zürich he wrote Exiles, published A Portrait..., and began serious work on Ulysses. Zürich during the war was home to exiles and artists from across Europe, and its bohemian, multilingual atmosphere suited him. Nevertheless, after four years he was restless, and after the war he returned to Trieste as he had originally planned. He found the city had changed, and some of his old friends noted his maturing from teacher to full-time artist. His relations with his brother (who had been interned in an Austrian prison camp for most of the war due to his pro-Italian politics) were more strained than ever. Joyce headed to Paris in 1920 at an invitation from Ezra Pound, supposedly for a week, but he ended up living there for the next twenty years.
[edit]1920–41: Paris and Zürich
In Paris, 1924. Portrait by Patrick Tuohy.
Joyce set himself to finally finishing Ulysses in Paris, delighted to find that he was gradually gaining fame as an avant-garde writer. A further grant from Miss Shaw Weaver meant he could devote himself full-time to writing again, as well as consort with other literary figures in the city. During this era, Joyce's eyes began to give him more and more problems. He was treated by Dr Louis Borsch in Paris, receiving nine surgeries from him until Borsch's death in 1929. Throughout the 1930s he traveled frequently to Switzerland for eye surgeries and treatments for Lucia, who, according to the Joyces, suffered from schizophrenia. Lucia was analysed by Carl Jung at the time, who after reading Ulysses, concluded that her father had schizophrenia. Jung said she and her father were two people heading to the bottom of a river, except that he was diving and she was falling.
Grave of James Joyce in Zürich-Fluntern
In Paris, Maria and Eugene Jolas nursed Joyce during his long years of writing Finnegans Wake. Were it not for their unwavering support (along with Harriet Shaw Weaver's constant financial support), there is a good possibility that his books might never have been finished or published. In their now legendary literary magazine "transition," the Jolases published serially various sections of Joyce's novel under the title Work in Progress. He returned to Zürich in late 1940, fleeing the Nazi occupation of France. On 11 January 1941, he underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. While at first improved, he relapsed the following day, and despite several transfusions, fell into a coma. He awoke at 2 a.m. on 13 January 1941, and asked for a nurse to call his wife and son before losing consciousness again. They were still on their way, when he died, 15 minutes later. He is buried in the Fluntern Cemetery within earshot of the lions in the Zürich Zoo. Although two senior Irish diplomats were in Switzerland at the time, neither attended Joyce's funeral, and the Irish government subsequently declined Nora's offer to permit the repatriation of Joyce's remains. Nora, whom Joyce had finally married in London in 1931, survived him by 10 years. She is buried now by his side, as is their son George, who died in 1976. Ellmann reports that when the arrangements for Joyce's burial were being made, a Catholic priest tried to convince Nora that there should be a funeral Mass. She replied, "I couldn't do that to him." Swiss tenor Max Meili sang Addio terra, addio cielo from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the funeral service.
[edit]Major works
[edit]Dubliners
Main article: Dubliners
The title page of the first edition of Dubliners
Joyce's Irish experiences constitute an essential element of his writings, and provide all of the settings for his fiction and much of its subject matter. His early volume of short stories, Dubliners, is a penetrating analysis of the stagnation and paralysis of Dublin society. The stories incorporate epiphanies, a word used particularly by Joyce, by which he meant a sudden consciousness of the "soul" of a thing. The final and most famous story in the collection, "The Dead", was directed by John Huston as his last feature film in 1987.
[edit]A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Main article: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a nearly complete rewrite of the abandoned novel Stephen Hero. Joyce attempted to burn the original manuscript in a fit of rage during an argument with Nora, though to his subsequent relief it was rescued by his sister. A Künstlerroman, Portrait is a heavily autobiographical coming-of-age novel depicting the childhood and adolescence of protagonist Stephen Dedalus and his gradual growth into artistic self-consciousness. Some hints of the techniques Joyce frequently employed in later works, such as stream of consciousness, interior monologue, and references to a character's psychic reality rather than to his external surroundings, are evident throughout this novel. Joseph Strick directed a film of the book in 1977 starring Luke Johnston, Bosco Hogan, T.P. McKenna and John Gielgud.
[edit]Exiles and poetry
Main articles: Pomes Penyeach and Chamber Music (book)
Despite early interest in the theatre, Joyce published only one play, Exiles, begun shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and published in 1918. A study of a husband and wife relationship, the play looks back to The Dead (the final story in Dubliners) and forward to Ulysses, which Joyce began around the time of the play's composition.
Joyce also published a number of books of poetry. His first mature published work was the satirical broadside "The Holy Office" (1904), in which he proclaimed himself to be the superior of many prominent members of the Celtic revival. His first full-length poetry collection Chamber Music (referring, Joyce explained, to the sound of urine hitting the side of a chamber pot) consisted of 36 short lyrics. This publication led to his inclusion in the Imagist Anthology, edited by Ezra Pound, who was a champion of Joyce's work. Other poetry Joyce published in his lifetime includes "Gas From A Burner" (1912), Pomes Penyeach (1927) and "Ecce Puer" (written in 1932 to mark the birth of his grandson and the recent death of his father). It was published by the Black Sun Press in Collected Poems (1936).
[edit]Ulysses
Main article: Ulysses (novel)
Announcement of the initial publication of Ulysses.
As he was completing work on Dubliners in 1906, Joyce considered adding another story featuring a Jewish advertising canvasser called Leopold Bloom under the title Ulysses. Although he did not pursue the idea further at the time, he eventually commenced work on a novel using both the title and basic premise in 1914. The writing was completed in October, 1921. Three more months were devoted to working on the proofs of the book before Joyce halted work shortly before his self-imposed deadline, his 40th birthday (2 February 1922).
Thanks to Ezra Pound, serial publication of the novel in the magazine The Little Review began in 1918. This magazine was edited by Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, with the backing of John Quinn, a New York attorney with an interest in contemporary experimental art and literature. Unfortunately, this publication encountered censorship problems in the United States; serialization was halted in 1920 when the editors were convicted of publishing obscenity. The novel was not published in the United States until 1933.
At least partly because of this controversy, Joyce found it difficult to get a publisher to accept the book, but it was published in 1922 by Sylvia Beach from her well-known Rive Gauche bookshop, Shakespeare and Company. An English edition published the same year by Joyce's patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver, ran into further difficulties with the United States authorities, and 500 copies that were shipped to the States were seized and possibly destroyed. The following year, John Rodker produced a print run of 500 more intended to replace the missing copies, but these were burned by English customs at Folkestone. A further consequence of the novel's ambiguous legal status as a banned book was that a number of "bootleg" versions appeared, most notably a number of pirate versions from the publisher Samuel Roth. In 1928, a court injunction against Roth was obtained and he ceased publication.
With the appearance of both Ulysses and T. S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, 1922 was a key year in the history of English-language literary modernism. In Ulysses, Joyce employs stream of consciousness, parody, jokes, and virtually every other established literary technique to present his characters. The action of the novel, which takes place in a single day, 16 June 1904, sets the characters and incidents of the Odyssey of Homer in modern Dublin and represents Odysseus (Ulysses), Penelope and Telemachus in the characters of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, parodically contrasted with their lofty models. The book explores various areas of Dublin life, dwelling on its squalor and monotony. Nevertheless, the book is also an affectionately detailed study of the city, and Joyce claimed that if Dublin were to be destroyed in some catastrophe it could be rebuilt, brick by brick, using his work as a model. In order to achieve this level of accuracy, Joyce used the 1904 edition of Thom's Directory—a work that listed the owners and/or tenants of every residential and commercial property in the city. He also bombarded friends still living there with requests for information and clarification.
Joyce talking with publishers Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier at Shakespeare & Co., Paris, 1920
The book consists of 18 chapters, each covering roughly one hour of the day, beginning around 8 a.m. and ending some time after 2 a.m. the following morning. Each chapter employs its own literary style, and parodies a specific episode in Homer's Odyssey. Furthermore, each chapter is associated with a specific colour, art or science, and bodily organ. This combination of kaleidoscopic writing with an extreme formal schematic structure renders the book a major contribution to the development of 20th-century modernist literature. The use of classical mythology as an organizing framework, the near-obsessive focus on external detail, and the occurrence of significant action within the minds of characters have also contributed to the development of literary modernism. Nevertheless, Joyce complained that, "I may have oversystematised Ulysses," and played down the mythic correspondences by eliminating the chapter titles that had been taken from Homer.
[edit]Finnegans Wake
Main article: Finnegans Wake
Joyce as depicted on the Irish £10 banknote, issued 1993–2002
Having completed work on Ulysses, Joyce was so exhausted that he did not write a line of prose for a year. On 10 March 1923 he informed a patron, Harriet Weaver: "Yesterday I wrote two pages—the first I have since the final Yes of Ulysses. Having found a pen, with some difficulty I copied them out in a large handwriting on a double sheet of foolscap so that I could read them. Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio, the Italians say. The wolf may lose his skin but not his vice or the leopard cannot change his spots". Thus was born a text that became known, first, as Work in Progress and later Finnegans Wake.
By 1926 Joyce had completed the first two parts of the book. In that year, he met Eugene and Maria Jolas who offered to serialise the book in their magazine transition. For the next few years, Joyce worked rapidly on the new book, but in the 1930s, progress slowed considerably. This was due to a number of factors, including the death of his father in 1931, concern over the mental health of his daughter Lucia and his own health problems, including failing eyesight. Much of the work was done with the assistance of younger admirers, including Samuel Beckett. For some years, Joyce nursed the eccentric plan of turning over the book to his friend James Stephens to complete, on the grounds that Stephens was born in the same hospital as Joyce exactly one week later, and shared the first name of both Joyce and of Joyce's fictional alter-ego (this is one example of Joyce's numerous superstitions).
Reaction to the work was mixed, including negative comment from early supporters of Joyce's work, such as Pound and the author's brother Stanislaus Joyce. In order to counteract this hostile reception, a book of essays by supporters of the new work, including Beckett, William Carlos Williams and others was organised and published in 1929 under the title Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress. At his 47th birthday party at the Jolases' home, Joyce revealed the final title of the work and Finnegans Wake was published in book form on 4 May 1939. Later, further negative comments surfaced from doctor and author Hervey Cleckley, who questioned the significance others had placed on the work. In his book, The Mask of Sanity, Hervey Cleckley, M.D. refers to Finnegans Wake as "a 628-page collection of erudite gibberish indistinguishable to most people from the familiar word salad produced by hebephrenic patients on the back wards of any state hospital."
Joyce's method of stream of consciousness, literary allusions and free dream associations was pushed to the limit in Finnegans Wake, which abandoned all conventions of plot and character construction and is written in a peculiar and obscure language, based mainly on complex multi-level puns. This approach is similar to, but far more extensive than that used by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky. This has led many readers and critics to apply Joyce's oft-quoted description in the Wake of Ulysses as his "usylessly unreadable Blue Book of Eccles" to the Wake itself. However, readers have been able to reach a consensus about the central cast of characters and general plot.
Much of the wordplay in the book stems from the use of multilingual puns which draw on a wide range of languages. The role played by Beckett and other assistants included collating words from these languages on cards for Joyce to use and, as Joyce's eyesight worsened, of writing the text from the author's dictation.
The view of history propounded in this text is very strongly influenced by Giambattista Vico, and the metaphysics of Giordano Bruno of Nola are important to the interplay of the "characters". Vico propounded a cyclical view of history, in which civilisation rose from chaos, passed through theocratic, aristocratic, and democratic phases, and then lapsed back into chaos. The most obvious example of the influence of Vico's cyclical theory of history is to be found in the opening and closing words of the book. Finnegans Wake opens with the words "riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." ("vicus" is a pun on Vico) and ends "A way a lone a last a loved a long the". In other words, the book ends with the beginning of a sentence and begins with the end of the same sentence, turning the book into one great cycle. Indeed, Joyce said that the ideal reader of the Wake would suffer from "ideal insomnia" and, on completing the book, would turn to page one and start again, and so on in an endless cycle of reading.
[edit]Legacy
Statue of James Joyce on North Earl Street, Dublin
Joyce's work has been subject to intense scrutiny by scholars of all types. He has also been an important influence on writers and scholars as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Flann O'Brien, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Salman Rushdie, Robert Anton Wilson, John Updike, and Joseph Campbell. Ulysses has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire [Modernist] movement".
Some scholars, most notably Vladimir Nabokov, have mixed feelings on his work, often championing some of his fiction while condemning other works. In Nabokov's opinion, Ulysses was brilliant, Finnegans Wake horrible—an attitude Jorge Luis Borges shared. In recent years, literary theory has embraced Joyce's innovation and ambition.[citation needed]
Joyce's influence is also evident in fields other than literature. The phrase "Three Quarks for Muster Mark" in Joyce's Finnegans Wake is often called the source of the physicists' word "quark", the name of one of the main kinds of elementary particles, proposed by the physicist Murray Gell-Mann. The French philosopher Jacques Derrida has written a book on the use of language in Ulysses, and the American philosopher Donald Davidson has written similarly on Finnegans Wake in comparison with Lewis Carroll. Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan used Joyce's writings to explain his concept of the sinthome. According to Lacan, Joyce's writing is the supplementary cord which kept Joyce from psychosis.
The work and life of Joyce is celebrated annually on 16 June, Bloomsday, in Dublin and in an increasing number of cities worldwide.
In 1999, Time Magazine named Joyce one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, and stated; "Joyce ... revolutionized 20th century fiction". In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ulysses No. 1, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man No. 3, and Finnegans Wake No. 77, on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
[edit]Works
Chamber Music (1907, poems)
Dubliners (1914, short-story collection)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916, novel)
Exiles (1918, play)
Ulysses (1922, novel)
Pomes Penyeach (1927, poems)
Collected Poems (1936, poems)
Finnegans Wake (1939, novel)
Posthumous publications
Stephen Hero (precursor to A Portrait; written 1904–06, published 1944)
Giacomo Joyce (written 1907, published 1968)
Letters of James Joyce Vol. 1 (Ed. Stuart Gilbert, 1957)
The Critical Writings of James Joyce (Eds. Ellsworth Mason and Richard Ellman, 1959)
Letters of James Joyce Vol. 2 (Ed. Richard Ellman, 1966)
Letters of James Joyce Vol. 3 (Ed. Richard Ellman, 1966)