Exhibit Information
100 Years of Ulysses: A Bloomsday Centenary Celebration
"I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the
professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant,
and that's the only way of ensuring one's immortality."[1]
– James Joyce
Almost one hundred years after this quote was declared by Joyce in 1921, its truth is undeniable; James Joyce succeeded in creating a work that has confused, amused, and angered its readers since it was published in 1922. Ulysses is Joyce’s masterpiece, a modern parallel to Homer’s The Odyssey that includes political, social, and literary references that range from the age of antiquity to the environment of early 20th century Dublin.
Ulysses is set in one day on June 16, 1904 and follows the lives of Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom. Those dedicated to Joyce and Ulysses celebrate Bloomsday festivals (named after Leopold Bloom’s character) where participants hold readings from Ulysses, attend scholarly talks, and perform musical performances related to the songs referenced in the book. The most popular and famous Bloomsday event is the one held in Dublin; it was first celebrated in 1954 by Joyce’s cousin Tom Joyce; three famous Irish writers named Brian O’Nolan, Patrick Kavanagh, and Anthony Cronin; and John Ryan, owner and editor of the literary magazine Envoy. The five men took off on a pilgrimage around Dublin and the surrounding areas mentioned in Ulysses, drinking, carousing, and paying respects to the locations and characters in the work.[2] Bloomsday is celebrated all over the world, with events taking place in North America, Europe, and Asia.
To commemorate this year’s centenary celebration of the publishing of Ulysses, Schaffer Library’s Department of Special Collections and Archives is exhibiting items from its Joyce collection, which includes rare and unique editions of Joyce’s works and Bloomsday ephemera. Many characters found in Ulysses are also found in some of Joyce’s other works, such as Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Hero, and Giacomo Joyce. Those works, with the exception of Dubliners, are on display, along with two editions of Ulysses.
References
[1] Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 521.
[2] Costello, Peter & Peter Van Camp. Flann O'Brien: An Illustrated Biography. London: Bloomsbury, 1987, pp. 15-20.