Full Description
That James Joyce's "The Dead" forms an extraordinary conclusion to his collection Dubliners, there can be no doubt. But as many have pointed out, "The Dead" may equally well be read as a novella—arguably, one of the finest novellas ever written.
"The Dead," a "story of public life," as Joyce categorized it, was written more than a year after Joyce had finished the other stories in the collection, and was meant to redress what he felt was their "unnecessary harsh[ness]." Set on the feast of the epiphany, it is a haunting tale of connection and of alienation, reflecting, in the words of Stanislaus Joyce (James's brother and confidant), "the nostalgic love of a rejected exile."
The present volume highlights "The Dead" for readers who wish to focus on that great work in a concise volume—and for university courses in which it is not possible to cover all of Dubliners. But it also gives a strong sense of how that story is part of a larger whole. Stories from each of the other sections of Dubliners have been included, and a wide range of background materials is included as well, providing a vivid sense of the literary and historical context out of which the work emerged.
Contents
Introduction
The Sisters
Araby
Eveline
A Little Cloud
The Dead
In Context
A. Joyce's Other Writings
from James Joyce, "James Clarence Mangan" (1902)
from James Joyce, "Ireland, Island of Saints and Sages" (1907)
from James Joyce, "Gas from a Burner" (1912)
B. Letters
From George Russell
To Nora Barnacle
To Stanislaus Joyce
To Grant Richards
C. Historical Contexts
from The Objects of Inghinidhe na hÉireann, United Irishman(13 October 1900)
from Mary Butler, "Some Suggestions as to How Irishwomen May Help the Irish Language Movement," Gaelic League Pamphlet No. 6 (1901)
Women and Catholic Church Choirs
from "The Singers," Tra le Sollecitudini, Motu Proprio(22 November 1903)
from Papal Letter to the Cardinal Vicar of Rome (8 December1903)
from "Women Students," Final Report of the Commissioners of the Royal Commission on Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of Dublin (1907)
D. Literary Contexts
from John McCall, The Life of James Clarence Mangan (1887)
from E.ΠSomerville and Martin Ross, The Real Charlotte (1894)
Berkeley Campbell, "The Old Watchman," The Irish Homestead (2 July 1904)
E. Songs
Thomas Moore, "O, Ye Dead" (1808)
Frederic Clay and W.G. Wills, "I'll Sing Thee Songs of Araby"(1877)
F. Reviews
from Anonymous, Times Literary Supplement (18 June 1914)
from Anonymous, Athenaeum (20 June 1914)
from Ezra Pound, "Dubliners and Mr. James Joyce," The Egoist (15 July 1914)
