Welcome to the course

Welcome to the course! In the short film above, Professor Matthew Campbell explains the ground we will look to cover together during this course.

Over the next three weeks, we will explore the writing of James Joyce, from his earliest works (such as A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) through to his famous experimental novels, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. This course will consider the history and contexts of James Joyce’s writing, will think about how Joyce experimented with form, and explore what many consider to be the essential texts.

Together, we will cover the following areas:

• James Joyce’s life and work, and classical, Irish and International contexts
• Key literary and conceptual themes in Joyce’s work
• All of the important texts, from Dubliners to Finnegans Wake
• Biography, case studies in individual stories, passages and episodes in the longer fiction for explication, meaning and experiment.

Please note that active tutor facilitation is limited to the number of teaching weeks from when the course run started. Please do not therefore expect any further tutor engagement from beyond then, although you are very welcome to continue to work through the course materials in a self-directed fashion from that point.

Learning outcomes

As we work through the materials and activities, we will enable you to:

• Explore the life and work of James Joyce
• Develop an understanding of Joyce in his historical and literary contexts
• Assess the Joycean text in its traditional and innovative aspects
• Apply key literary, political and ethical concepts in reading Joyce’s work (history, gender ethnicity, representation)
• Discuss Joyce’s work, question it, and develop literary understanding.