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BloomEccles Bound!


Lecture

7 February 2025 at 6.30pm

Image by Sophie Popplewell on Unsplash

Join us at the James Joyce Centre for the inaugural talk of our Spring Lecture Series 2025 on Friday, 7 February 2025 at 6.30pm.

In BloomEccles Bound! Bloom and his Northside Dublin Exile, Professor Barry Keane will introduce how Leopold Bloom is out of sorts professionally, socially and personally because of his decision to reside on the Northside of Dublin, where he has found himself removed from a community culture which he perhaps had once taken for granted, having grown up and entered into marriage in the district of what used to be known as Little Jerusalem, which was on the Southside of Dublin: traditionally, albeit unfairly, thought to be the better half of the city. Indeed, it often seems the case that Bloom is treated poorly because of his loss of centredness. Not only is he the victim of prejudice for being a Jew, but also for being a Wandering Jew, in search of a return to his homeland, that being the environs of Clanbrassil Street where he was born; and indeed where Barry was born also.

A native of Dublin (Bloomsian Lombard Street West), Barry Keane is a Professor of Comparative Studies in the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw. He has written widely in the fields of Classical Tradition, Irish and Scottish literature, and Polish literature, and his book publications include critical editions of the Baroque poetess Anna Stanisławska’s matrimonial saga titled Orphan Girl (New York, Toronto: Iter Press 2016, 2021, and due 2025). He has also written: Irish Drama in Poland. Staging and Reception (Bristol: Intellect 2016).

These books are available to view at https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/author/K/B/au25255687.html. Other lectures on Joyce have come with the titles: “We Can’t Change the World, but We Can Change the Subject. James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake on the Polish Stage,” and “An Unwanted Date With Destiny. James Joyce’s Ulysses and the Assassination of JFK.”

The event is free but booking is essential. Doors open at 6pm.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

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