James Joyce 1882-1941

James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882 the oldest of ten children. Although his father’s eventual excessive spending and drinking plagued the family and brought on hard times, Joyce nevertheless cherished his father’s love of words and music and also understood the pleasure of a pint.

Joyce was especially close to his mother Joyce was especially close to his mother. The photograph also includes his father and his grandfather. The picture was taken in 1888 when the young Joyce entered Clongwes School.

Clane, County Kildare: Clongowes Wood College Clane, County Kildare: Clongowes Wood College. The young Joyce studied here from 1888 until financial difficulties precipitated his withdrawal in 1891. The college was originally a medieval castle. As Joyce writes in Portrait: "A long shiver of fear flowed over his body. He saw the dark entrance of the castle."

James Joyce at age six. Perhaps he is wearing a sailor suit to fit in to Bray, a seaside resort south of Dublin. The Joyces lived there from 1887 to 1892.

86 St. Stephen's Green: University College, Dublin, 1900 86 St. Stephen's Green: University College, Dublin, 1900. Joyce studied Modern Language here from 1898 to 1902. A Catholic school run by Jesuits, degrees had to be issued by the Royal University, providing students passed the examinations.

University College, Dublin, 1902. Joyce in graduation attire. After graduation Joyce left Dublin for Paris to study medicine, but that career soon ended when he dropped out.

James Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland, during a time of political upheaval. The country had endured nearly a century of economic depression and terrible famine, and continued to suffer under what many Irish regarded as British oppression. Irish nationalism and independence movements attempted to counter British economic exploitation; Joyce believed the Irish were also unable to free themselves from the Catholic Church’s compromises and their own political ineptitude. Change was in the air but Ireland was slow to be moved by the currents already astir on the continent.

Dublin, Finn's Hotel. Nora Barnacle worked here as a chambermaid Dublin, Finn's Hotel. Nora Barnacle worked here as a chambermaid. The hotel, and the name "Finn," were always present in Joyce's creative consciousness. He met her on June 10, 1904.

London, 4 July 1931. James and Nora finally marry in London London, 4 July 1931. James and Nora finally marry in London. The gentleman on their right is their solicitor.

Zurich, 1918. Nora Barnacle Joyce with Giorgio and Lucia.

Joyce suffered much of his life with poor eyesight. He had any number of surgeries and eventually resorted to wearing a patch.

An expatriate living in Paris, Trieste, and Zurich for most of his adult life, he wrote almost exclusively about Dublin. Joyce lived precariously on earnings as a language teacher and modest contributions from wealthy patrons. 1914—first major publication—Dubliners 1916—Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1922—Ulysses 1939—Finnegans Wake

Dubliners was ready for publication in 1906, but was not published until 1914. Publishers were afraid of being sued for libel. They feared repercussions to writing that was obliquely sexually suggestive. Additionally, Joyce openly criticizes King Edward VII. Publishers also feared that some Dubliners might recognize themselves in certain descriptions.

A collection of short stories published in 1914, Dubliners revolves around the everyday lives of men, women and children in the Irish capital of Dublin during the late Victorian era. Generally unhappy tales, they form a chronicle of lost innocence, eroding faith, missed opportunities, subtle hypocrisies, devastating ironies, and paralysis – always moral and intellectual paralysis. Frequently named as the best short stories of the twentieth century, the stories of Dubliners are told in a pared-down language and using a minimal palette of words, images, and emotions; what Joyce described as “a style of scrupulous meanness.”

“My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to be the centre of paralysis. I have tried to present it to the indifferent public under its four aspects: childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life.” James Joyce

These stories contain no conventional high drama or action-filled episodes; instead, they are made up of small, quiet moments that turn out to be important in their characters’ lives. Most of the characters are on the brink of discovering something, such as loss, shame, failure, or death. The protagonist suddenly experiences a deep realization about himself or herself, a truth which is grasped in an ordinary rather than melodramatic moment. Joyce called such a moment an epiphany and defined it as “a sudden spiritual manifestation.”

Modernism challenged traditional attitudes about God, humanity, and society. Scientific and industrial advances created not only material progress but also tremendous upheaval, which sometimes produced a sense of discontinuity, fragmentation, alienation, and despair. Joyce rejected the use of remarkable historic events in his fiction, preferring instead to focus on the everyday lives of ordinary people trying to make sense of themselves.

Fluntern Cemetery, Zurich, Joyce's gravesite Fluntern Cemetery, Zurich, Joyce's gravesite. The site is located near the Zoo, prompting Nora to remark, "He was awfully fond of the lions -- I like to think of him lying there and listening to them roar."