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Ousted possibilities: critical histories in James Joyce's Ulysses. (James Joyce, novelist)

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From: Twentieth Century Literature
Date: 19930922
Author:Castle, Gregory

James Joyce considered all historical and social conventions harmful to the individuality of the artist, and in 'Ulysses,' portrayed history as the individual's attempt to gain power. He was not against conventions, but advocated the right of an individual to determine the individual's own historical attitudes, free from established conventions.

In what follows I want to put forward the argument that Ulysses is preeminently a critique of historical conventions. All of Joyce's texts (the letters, the critical works, the fiction) consistently remind us that all conventions - be they ...

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