The Church Chapter of Ulysses

The “Circe” chapter from Ulysses is possibly some of the wildest thing written!

Joyce himself argued that only a thin film separated it from madness. In the chapter Joyce leads us into the dreamlike and hallucinatory reality of the Dublin Nighttown. Written as a drama, it unfolds the main characters' hidden fantasies, feelings of guilt and fear in a modern inferno marked by sexuality, religion and power.

“Circe” becomes a picture on an Ireland caught between Catholic morality, colonial history and the longing for emancipation.

The lecture examines how Joyce uses grotesque humour, symbolism and theatrical form to challenge the boundaries between art, identity and consciousness in one of world literature's most experimental chapters.

Benjamin Boysen holds a Master of Arts, PhD and Dr.Phil in Literary Studies from the University of Southern Denmark.

The event has been launched in cooperation with the Danish James Joyce Society