The Continuity of Joyce’s Logical Fictions
Details
Request a copy Under indefinite embargo.
UNIL restricted access
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: Not specified
UNIL restricted access
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: Not specified
Serval ID
serval:BIB_C675AE767C9E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
The Continuity of Joyce’s Logical Fictions
Journal
Dublin James Joyce Journal
Publication state
Published
Issued date
30/05/2022
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
2018-20
Number
11-13
Pages
147-166
Language
english
Notes
OA after 12 month embargo
Abstract
This paper argues that there is a precise, mathematical notion of “continuity” at work in the “Ithaca” chapter of Ulysses, which Joyce drew from Bertrand Russell’s Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy (1919), and that this concept helps clarify the continuity we find in Joyce’s “logical fictions.” Joyce copied both “continuity” and “logical fictions” from Russell’s Introduction, along with dozens of other phrases from the book, many of which he worked into “Ithaca.” Joyce’s use of Russell has been remarked on before, but this paper examines Joyce’s notes from a logical point of view, observing that Russell’s book is as much an introduction to logic as mathematics. Joyce’s results in logic and mathematics at Belvedere College and University College Dublin show that he had greater facility in these subjects than is usually assumed, which helps explain his interest in the logico-mathematical concepts Russell expounds. The way Joyce inserted terms like “continuity” into “Ithaca” (U 17.1065) suggests that he was using them in Russell’s sense, but at the same time, the literary appropriation of these terms indicates that Joyce was at least as interested in fictionalizing logic as in the logic of his fiction.
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / Careers / PZ00P1_193458
Create date
14/10/2020 7:56
Last modification date
24/01/2024 10:57