Description
Joyce's early texts, which informed his
later masterpieces, available for the first time in a comprehensive critical
edition This
book offers the first critical edition of the forty short texts James Joyce
called "epiphanies." Among Joyce's earliest literary compositions, although published
posthumously, the epiphanies are a series of highly polished miniatures, many
of which Joyce reused in his later writings. By presenting the epiphanies with background
details and thorough annotations, this edition provides a vivid insight into
his art.
Collected Epiphanies of James
Joyce features an introduction to the texts that summarizes Joyce's concept
of epiphany; their biographical and cultural context; their echoes and
adaptations in
Stephen Hero,
Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man, Ulysses, and
Finnegans Wake; and their critical reception
and editorial history. Each epiphany is transcribed directly from its original
manuscript, accompanied by extensive notes that include more information specific
to each piece, as well as textual variants.
Styled as prose poems, dramatic
sketches, or combinations of the two, the epiphanies can be seen not only as
lyrical counterparts to Joyce's poetry in
Chamber Music but also as
bridges to the writer's landmark fiction. This collection demonstrates that the epiphanies offer a paradigm case for
studying the development of Joyce's work as a whole, prompting a reassessment
of their literary significance.
A
volume in the Florida James Joyce Series, edited by Sam Slote
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