9:30-10:45A    TR    BH 018

This course is designed to introduce Honors College juniors and
seniors, English majors and non-majors, to some of the extraordinary
artistic achievements of  James Joyce. We will begin by reading
Joyce's "The Dead" and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, before
starting our reading of Ulysses, a close study of which will occupy us
for the rest of the semester.

We will read slowly and deliberately, attempting to become as many
different kinds of readers as Ulysses asks of us, therefore broadening
our perspective to include some familiarity with classical paradigms,
primitive and Christian ritual, Irish history, literary history,
popular culture, Joyce's biography.  We will also view some film
versions of the works we read.

For over a decade after its publication in 1922, Ulysses was banned in
the United States and elsewhere, due to its erotic and scatological
content.  We shall deliberately confront Joyce's apparent fixation on
sexual matters (not only in Ulysses but in "The Dead,"A Portrait of
the Artist, and in Joyce's private life and letters) in order to raise
several questions about literature and life.  For example, just how
might carnal knowledge lead to intellectual or spiritual knowledge
("sex for thought"--in the words of the cultural critic, Robert
Darnton)?  How does Joyce exploit and blur distinctions between art
and pornography, "good" and "bad" literature, good and bad human
beings, or between lust and love, maleness and femaleness, excrement
and sacrament?

Although Joyce may be a tough nut to crack, I'm convinced from my past
experiences of having taught Joyce to Honors students that his fiction
will prove to be accessible, entertaining, provocative, and uniquely
rewarding to any thoughtful and hardworking Honors College junior or
senior.  By exploring Joyce, we will be embarking on the exciting
enterprise of exploring ourselves, of viewing our private and public
lives from new and arresting perspectives.

Written work will include a few short papers (2-3 pages) which will
serve as the bases for oral reports.  An optional extended essay of
about 10 pages may, with the permission of the instructor, be
substituted for the final examination.  Class attendance and
participation is essential.  Grades will be determined by your total
performance in class and on paper.  This course will count for
Humanities credit as well as for the General Honors Notation and (for
English majors) as 3 hours towards completion of the major.