The Reader's Joyce - by Sophie Corser (Paperback)

About the Book

Rethinks the relationships between author, reader, and text in literature and criticism, through a study of James Joyce.

Book Synopsis

Rethinks the relationships between author, reader, and text in literature and criticism, through a study of James Joyce

The Reader's Joyce engages with core issues of literary studies by rethinking accepted literary, critical, and theoretical notions of the relationships between author, reader, and text. This monograph describes and queries the activity of reading prompted by the intertextuality and narrative of James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), focusing on in-depth readings of the novel and its interactions with other texts from classical and contemporary literature to criticism, theory, and biography. Central to this approach are new analyses of the now commonly underplayed significance of Homer's Odyssey to Ulysses, and of how authority functions in the developing critical reception of Ulysses since its publication. Through the prisms of Ulysses and 'the Joyce industry' this monograph provides new perspectives on the author-reader-text triad in the wider field of literary criticism: diving into layered histories of concepts, challenges, and retreats in order to ask how we read now.

Key Features

Offers the first extended exploration of authority in the reception of a canonical modernist author
Re-centres Homer in Ulysses and its reception
Presents an innovative approach to issues of reading by marrying new, close textual analysis of sections of Ulysses with critical, archival, and literary reception studies
Suggests a new understanding of literary and critical acts of reading and authorship

Keywords

James Joyce, Homer, theories of reading, authorship, classical reception, metacriticism
Subject: Literature

From the Back Cover

Rethinks the relationships between author, reader and text in literature and criticism through a study of James Joyce The Reader's Joyce engages with core issues of literary studies by rethinking accepted literary, critical, and theoretical notions of the relationships between author, reader and text. Sophie Corser describes and queries the activity of reading prompted by the intertextuality and narrative of James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), focusing on in-depth readings of the novel and its interactions with other texts from classical and contemporary literature to criticism, theory and biography. Central to this approach are new analyses of the now commonly underplayed significance of Homer's Odyssey to Ulysses and of how authority functions in the developing critical reception of Ulysses since its publication. Through the prisms of Ulysses and 'the Joyce industry' this book provides new perspectives on the author-reader-text triad in the wider field of literary criticism: diving into layered histories of concepts and challenges in order to ask how we read now. Sophie Corser is a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of English at University College Cork. Before joining UCC, she was a Leverhulme Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College Dublin. Her work focuses on issues of reading in modern and contemporary literature and criticism.

Review Quotes

...Any literary scholar who engages with canonical authors would benefit from the critical attitude and bold scrutiny of Corser's study. [...] When Corser takes stock of the Joyce field, it is with the community in mind, attending to reports of conferences as well as pure criticism, unpacking intersectionality and what could be termed embodied criticism. It is an important critical posture that speaks to Corser's own readings, affirming for young scholars in particular that there is more to say about Ulysses and affirming, too, in line with her argument, that our readings serve the purpose of the time in which we write.--Emily Bell, University of Antwerp "The Modernist Review"

This is a major study of very high quality which raises all kinds of interesting and relevant questions about Joyce's work, the reader's relationship to it, sources of authority and the current state of Joyce studies. It is original and far-reaching, with many implications at various levels.

--Terence Killeen, James Joyce Centre, Dublin

[...] a work of scholarship that is rigorous and rich in its analysis, leaving readers with a more in-depth awareness of how and why we engage with Joyce's work.--Laura Gibbs, University of Sheffield "English Studies"

About the Author

Sophie Corser is a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of English at University College Cork. Before joining UCC, she was a Leverhulme Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College Dublin. Her work focuses on issues of reading in modern and contemporary literature and criticism.