Genetic Joyce

An introduction to the fascinating worldof Joyce’s manuscripts

Thisbook shows how the creative process of modernist writer James Joyce can bereconstructed from his manuscripts. Daniel Ferrer offers a practicaldemonstration of the theory of genetic criticism, the study of the manuscriptand textual development of a literary text. Using a concrete approach focusedon the materiality of Joyce’s writing process, Ferrer demonstrates how torecover the process of invention and its internal dynamics.

Usingspecific, detailed examples, Ferrer analyzes the part played by chance inJoyce’s creative process, the spatial dimension of writing, thegenesis of the “Sirens” episode, and the transition from Ulysses toFinnegans Wake. The book includes a study of Joyce’s mysterious Finnegans Wake notebooks, examining theirstrange form of intertextuality in light of Joyce’s earlier forms ofnote-taking. Moving beyond the single author perspective, Ferrer contrastsJoyce’s notes alluding to Virginia Woolf’s criticism of Ulysses with Woolf’s own notes on the novel’s first episodes.

Throughoutthis book, Ferrer describes the logic of the creative process as seen in the recordleft by Joyce in notebooks, drafts, typescripts, proofs, correspondence, earlyprinted versions, and other available documents. Each change detected reveals amovement from one state to another, a new direction, challenging readers tounderstand the reasons for each movement and to appreciate the wealth ofinformation to be found in Joyce’s manuscripts.

Avolume in the Florida James Joyce Series, edited by Sam Slote