{"id":13486,"date":"2024-08-06T15:57:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T14:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studyinireland.ie\/?p=13486"},"modified":"2024-08-06T16:41:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T15:41:19","slug":"isi-and-james-joyce-influences-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studyinireland.ie\/en\/isi-and-james-joyce-influences-i\/","title":{"rendered":"ISI and James Joyce: Influences I"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Fig.
Fig. O. James Joyce\u2019s The Cat and the Devil illustrated by Brazilian artist Lelis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here at ISI Dublin<\/u>, we pride ourselves on having \u2014 over and above all of the English Language Schools in Ireland<\/u><\/a> \u2014 a deep and meaningful connection to the Irish writer James Joyce<\/u>. Not only did Joyce regard the Chapter House adjoining our Meeting House Lane campus as \u201cthe most historic spot in all Dublin,\u201d but he himself was educated at Belvedere College, the prestigious inner-city school that hosts our Summer Camp for Teenagers<\/u><\/a>. Universally acclaimed as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Joyce is most famous for his novel Ulysses <\/em>(1922). Heavily influenced by Homer\u2019s Odyssey<\/em>, the narrative explores themes of identity, heroism, and the art of everyday living. Its stream-of-consciousness technique and labyrinthine structure make this novel one of the most rewarding yet complex works of literature. But did you know<\/u> that you don\u2019t need to be a C1-C2\u00a0 student, let alone an English professor, to enjoy the fruits of Joyce\u2019s literary labour? In this blog post, the first of a series exploring his influences, we want to introduce you to one of his lesser known but more accessible literary works, \u201cThe Cat and the Devil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0I. Temperament<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cA work of art,\u201d \u00c9mile Zola once said, \u201cis a corner of creation seen through a temperament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 1. John Martin, \u201cThe Fall of the Rebel Angels,\u201d in John Milton\u2019s The Paradise Lost (1833), Book I, line 44.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In My Brother\u2019s Keeper<\/em> (1964), Stanislaus Joyce\u2019s earliest recollection of his brother is of a dramatic performance of the story of Adam and Eve, organised for the benefit of his parents and the nursemaid, \u201cin which Joyce was the devil.\u201d \u201cWhat I remember indistinctly is my brother wriggling across the floor with a long tail probably made of a rolled-up sheet of paper or towel.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Joyce, Stanislaus, My Brother\u2019s Keeper: James Joyce\u2019s Early Years<\/em>, ed. Richard Ellmann [New York: McGraw Hill, 1964], 3.)<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 2. A young James Joyce with his mother (May Murray Joyce) and father (John Stanislaus Joyce) to the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James Joyce\u2019s first recorded memory is thus artistic, not only performative but rebellious, in which he, cast \u201cas the Serpent, or Satan in the Serpent,\u201d embodied: \u201cMan\u2019s disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise wherein he was placed.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Milton, John, The Paradise Lost, Illustrations by John Martin <\/em>[London: Charles Tilt, 1833], i.)<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 3. Milton, John, The Paradise Lost (1833), Book I, lines 34-49.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ten years after his untimely death in 1941, Brian Nolan (aka Flann O\u2019Brien \u2014another of Ireland\u2019s great writers) confirmed: \u201cJames Joyce was an artist. He said so himself. His was a case of Ars gratia Artist [Art for Art\u2019s Sake]. He declared that he would pursue his artistic mission even if the penalty was as long as eternity itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Nolan, Brian, \u201cAn Editorial Note: A Bash in the Tunnel,\u201d in Envoy: An Irish Review of Literature and Art<\/em>, ed. John Ryan [Dublin: Envoy Publishing Ltd., 1951]: 5-11; 5.)<\/p>\n

A little later on in the same piece of writing, Nolan reckons:<\/p>\n

Joyce went further than Satan in rebellion.<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 4. Nolan, Brian, \u201cA Bash in the Tunnel,\u201d in Envoy (Dublin: 1951, 9).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The histrionic Satanic temperament ascribed to Joyce by Nolan is once again traced back to his boyhood by Richard Ellmann who, in his biography of the artist, notes how \u201cSatan was useful in another way\u201d according to an amorous interest from Joyce\u2019s childhood days:<\/p>\n

When James wished to punish one of his brothers or sisters for misconduct, he forced the offending child to the ground, placed a red wheelbarrow over him, donned a red stockingcap, and made grisly sounds to indicate that he was burning the malefactor in hellfire.<\/p>\n

(Ellmann, Richard, James Joyce <\/em>[New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982], 26.)<\/p>\n

Little wonder, then, perhaps, that thirty years later in Zurich, when a man of growing international remark, Joyce was dubbed \u201cHerr Satan\u201d by a landlady \u201cbecause of his pointed beard and sinewy walk\u201d(ibid.) \u2014 which is exactly how we find him brought to life in various illustrated versions of The Cat and the Devil<\/em>: Joyce\u2019s retelling of a French Folk tale concerning the titular town of Beaugency on the Loire river.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

\"Figs.
Figs. 5-6. A postcard sent by James Joyce to his son Giorgio from Beaugency on August 15 1936.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is believed that Joyce visited Beaugency at least twice during his life \u2014 once in August 1936 and again in July 1937. The story of \u201cThe Cat and the Devil,\u201d which Joyce wrote for his grandson Stephen (aged 4), can be traced back to the first of these visits. Respectful to the original letter, with only a minor amount of editing, \u201cThe Cat and the Devil\u201d is, as Joyce\u2019s grandson himself would later attest, a wonderful story told through straightforward language \u2014 the language that any three or four year old child could understand.<\/p>\n

(See McSharry, Katherine, \u201cStephen Joyce , the boy who became guardian of his grandfather\u2019s legacy,\u201d The Irish Times<\/em>, Sat Feb 08 2020.)<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 7. Typescript copy I of letter sent to Stephen Joyce from Beaugency on August 10 1936.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
\"Fig.
Fig. 8. Typescript copy II of letter sent to Stephen Joyce from Beaugency on August 10 1936.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

While it is true that Joyce relays the story in a straightforward grandfatherly tone, it is made clear through the end of this letter to \u201cStevie\u201d that he could not resist the playfulness and self-reference for which he had become famously known.<\/p>\n

(FYI: Joyce\u2019s original letter to \u201cStevie\u201d can be found in Stuart Gilbert\u2019s 1964 volume,\u00a0Letters of James Joyce<\/a>.\u00a0We Too Were Children<\/a>\u00a0has more images, a synopsis and a timeline of different editions of \u201cThe Cat and the Devil\u201d.)<\/p>\n

\"Fig.
Fig. 9. Erdoes, Richard, and Joyce, James, The Cat and the Devil (New York: Mood & Mead, 1964), 48.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

P.S. The devil mostly speaks a language of his own called Bellsybabble which he makes up himself as he goes along but when he is very angry he can speak quite bad French very well though some who have heard him say he has a strong Dublin accent.<\/p>\n

\u2014James Joyce, The Cat and the Devil<\/p>\n

\n

With respect to Joyce having eminently enjoyed playing the diabolical role, even in his childhood , his brother, Stanislaus, later remarked \u201c[t]hat he had [always had] an instinctive realisation of the fact that the most important part, dramatically, was that of the Tempter\u201d (Quoted in Carey, Gabrielle, James Joyce A Life <\/span>[Melbourne and Galway: Arden, 2023], 3.) We plan to shed further light on this comment through the ensuing series of posts here at ISI Dublin exploring James Joyce\u2019s influences. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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