A forgotten historical figure and his
influence on the writing of James Joyce
In
this book, Neil Davison argues that Albert Altman (1853-1903), a
Dublin-based businessman and Irish nationalist, influenced James Joyce's
creation of the character of Leopold Bloom as well as Ulysses' broader themes surrounding race, nationalism, and empire.
Using extensive archival research, Davison reveals parallels between the lives
of Altman and Bloom, including how the experience of double
marginalization-which Altman felt as both a Jew in Ireland and an Irishman in
the British Empire-is a major idea explored in Joyce's work.
Altman,
a successful salt and coal merchant, was involved in municipal politics over
issues of Home Rule and labor, and frequently appeared in the press over the
two decades of Joyce's youth. His prominence, Davison shows, made him a
familiar name in the Home Rule circles with which Joyce and his father most
identified. The book concludes by tracing the influence of Altman's career on
the Dubliners story "Ivy Day in the
Committee Room" as well as throughout the whole of Ulysses. Through Altman's biography, Davison recovers a
forgotten life story that illuminates Irish and Jewish identity and culture in
Joyce's Dublin.
A volume in the Florida James Joyce Series,
edited by Sebastian D. G. Knowles
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