Collaborative Dubliners

Enigmatic, vivid, and terse, James Joyces Dubliners continues both to puzzle and to compel its readers. This collection of essays by thirty contributors from seven countries presents a revolutionary view of Joyces technique and draws out its surprisingly contemporary implications by beginning with a single unusual premise: that meaning in Joyces fiction is a product of engaged interaction between two or more people. Meaning is not dispensed by the author; rather, it is actively negotiated between involved and curious readers through the medium of a shared text. Here, pairs of experts on Joyces work produce meaning beyond the text by arguing over it, challenging one another through it, and illuminating it with relevant facts about language, history, and culture. The result is not an authoritative interpretation of Joyces collection of stories but an animated set of dialogues about Dubliners designed to draw the reader into its lively discussions.