Joyce and the Jews : culture and texts
Argues that Joyce identified with the Jewish people, with whom he shared both the fate of exile and devotion to literary texts. Ch. 2 (p. 35-84), "Joyce, Jews and History, " discusses the marginal position of the Jews in Europe, rejected and alienated, and the similarities of the Jewish and Irish peoples. Analyzes Jewish elements in "Ulysses" and "Finnegan's Wake, " focusing on Joyce's attitude toward Jewish history and his rejection of the concept of purity of race. Although in some of his early works Joyce echoes antisemitic stereotypes, he rejected the political antisemitism propagated in this period. Antisemitic incidents also occurred in Ireland: in Dublin, the Recorder, Sir Frederick Falkiner, made antisemitic remarks in court (his figure appears in "Ulysses"), and in 1904 the Jews were attacked in Limerick after accusations of ritual murder. Joyce read the "United Irishman, " which published virulently antisemitic articles, especially at the time of the Dreyfus trials, frequently referred to in "Finnegan's Wake." (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism)
Print Book, English, 1989
Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 1989