Ulysses in Focus: Genetic, Textual, and Personal Views

267 Pages·2010·1.08 MB·English

by  Michael Groden

Ulysses in Focus
Genetic, Textual, and Personal Views
Michael Groden
university press of florida
Ulysses in Focus
The Florida James Joyce Series
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

UUllyysssseess iinn FFooccuuss
Genetic, Textual, and Personal Views
Michael Groden
Foreword by Sebastian D. G. Knowles, series editor
University Press of Florida
Gainesville / Tallahassee / Tampa / Boca Raton
Pensacola / Orlando / Miami / Jacksonville / Ft. Myers / Sarasota
Copyright 2010 by Michael Groden
Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-0-8130-3498-0 (cloth)
ISBN: 978-0-8130-3656-4 (eBook)
A record of cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University
System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida
Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New
College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University
of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611–2079
http://www.upf.com
for Molly Peacock,
the first Molly

Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Sources xv
Introduction 1
1. The Archive in Transition: The National Library of Ireland’s New Joyce
Manuscripts 14
2. When First I Saw, Part 1: Choosing and Being Chosen by Ulysses 32
3. From Monument to Mobile: Genetic Criticism and Ulysses 53
4. When First I Saw, Part 2: Discovering Joyce’s Manuscripts 69
5. The James Joyce Archive and Hans Walter Gabler’s Edition of Ulysses:
A Personal History 81
6. Revisiting the “Cyclops” Manuscripts, Part 1: Wandering in the Avant-
texte 105
7. Revisiting the “Cyclops” Manuscripts, Part 2: The National Library
of Ireland Draft and Its Contexts 120
8. Mobile Pages: Ulysses in Print and on a Screen 144
9. Mobile Notes: Annotating Ulysses in Print and on a Screen 159
10.Th e Case of the Snuffed Footnote: A Report from the Stacks 174
Epilogue: Privacy in Bloom 185
Appendix 1. Remarks on the National Library of Ireland’s Newly
Acquired Joyce Manuscripts 195
Appendix 2. Extant Manuscripts for Ulysses as of Summer 2002:
A Chart 199
Notes 205
Works Cited 221
Index 237

Foreword
The turn to autobiography, or “life-writing,” in academia has value only in
proportion to the general conclusions that can be drawn from the particular
narrative, and just as all young intellectual would-be artists can see them-
selves in Stephen Dedalus, so all budding Joyceans can see themselves in Mi-
chael Groden, who has had the Zelig-like ability to be involved in seemingly
every great Joycean event of the past quarter-century. It was Michael Groden
who as a graduate student was handed the keys to the Joycean kingdom in
Grand Central Terminal, and his story of how he ended up as the primary
editor of the sixty-three volumes of the Garland Archive, still the single
greatest printed resource for any scholar of any writer, is itself worth the
price of admission. It was Michael Groden who served on the front lines of
the so-called Joyce Wars and lived to tell the tale; and again Michael Groden
who was called in September 2001 to ask if he could help identify what are
now known as the National Library of Ireland’s Joyce Papers 2002. Through-
out the extraordinary story of his literary life, Groden keeps us grounded
with a wry and self-deprecating wit: after his dissertation director tells him
that his original idea for a thesis will never fly, Groden reports that “I spent
about a month after that meeting lying in bed or sitting in a chair staring at a
wall.” It is enormously reassuring, for instance, to come upon an admission
by the general editor of the James Joyce Archive that “even after putting the
reproductions together I can’t find specific passages in them.” And editors
everywhere will rejoice to learn that only when the bound copies of the page
proofs for “Oxen of the Sun” arrived at Garland Press did someone finally
notice that the title page read “Oxen in the Sun.”
We are in the witches’ kitchen, with the cauldron of Joyce’s Ulysses com-
ing to a boil: as the text reaches its perfect state, Groden has equally valuable
insights to share about the process by which a text is created. This book is