On Questions and Answers: The "Ithaca" Episode of Ulysses
Thursday, April 4, 2019 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4Bard College Berlin Lecture Hall, Platanenstr. 98a, Berlin - Pankow
Guest lecture by Elizabeth M. Bonapfel (Freie Universität/Peter Szondi-Institut)
On April 4, 2019 the core course Joyce's Ulysses: A Modernist Epic led by Laura Scuriatti and James Harker will welcome Dr. Elizabeth M. Bonapfel (Freie Universität/Peter Szondi-Institut) for the guest lecture "On Questions and Answers: The "Ithaca" Episode of Ulysses."
Ulysses is famous for its use of multiple styles and narrative techniques. But why did Joyce choose particular styles for certain chapters, and to what effect? Elizabeth M. Bonapfel’s lecture will focus on the question and answer format of the text’s penultimate episode, “Ithaca.” Why is “Ithaca” structured as a series of questions and answers? What is the function of the multiple interrogatives and catechistic narrative style? What sort of ideologies of power and knowledge occur as a result of this catechistic structure? Who is the narrator, and how can we tell who is speaking? What can the episode tell us about the organization of different “voices” in the text? What is the effect of this particular dialogic and catechistic structure in a work of fiction? How does the style of this episode fit in with the rest of the book? This lecture will explore the ways in which Joyce’s narrative style in “Ithaca” draws attention to broader ideological and thematic questions concerning knowledge and narration in the text.
Date & time: Thursday, April 4, 2019, from 7:00pm
Venue: Bard College Berlin Lecture Hall
Platanenstr. 98a, Berlin - Pankow
The lecture is open to all those interested.
Email: [email protected]