[tr?id=901398199913408&ev=PageView&noscript=1] IFRAME: //www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NFRQLH * Subscriptions from £4.49 » * User * * Log in ____________________ ____________________ (BUTTON) Log In Forgotten Password? Need an account? * Need help? + FAQ + Contact us * Notices * Horoscopes * Today's paper Irishnews Logo Logo * Share on facebook * Share on twitter * Share via email * * * Logo * * News * Sport * Business * Life * Arts * Notices * Opinion * Puzzles * Photos * ____________________ (BUTTON) ____________________ (BUTTON) Search (BUTTON) Sections * Northern Ireland news * UK News * Republic of Ireland news * World news * Political news * Education news * Healthcare news * Nama * Refugee Crisis Stories Two men arrested after attempted murder in Belfast Northern Ireland news Two men arrested after attempted murder in Belfast PSNI 'hasn't acted on Lisa Dorrian burial information' News PSNI 'hasn't acted on Lisa Dorrian burial information' DUP lack necessary 'element of skill' for Guinness records honour News DUP lack necessary 'element of skill' for Guinness records honour Rembrandt masterpiece on display at Ulster Museum News Rembrandt masterpiece on display at Ulster Museum Sections * GAA Football * GAA Fixtures * Club Call * Hurling and camogie * Soccer * Boxing * Rugby * Golf * Athletics * Off The Fence * Racing * Opinion * Other Sports Stories Farrell shines for Saracens in commanding win over Ulster Rugby Union Farrell shines for Saracens in commanding win over Ulster John Terry rescues point for Chelsea in six-goal thriller Football/Soccer John Terry rescues point for Chelsea in six-goal thriller Aguero strikes twice as Man City ease to win over Crystal Palace Football/Soccer Aguero strikes twice as Man City ease to win over Crystal Palace McKenna Cup Liveblog: Tyrone v Fermanagh - semi-final GAA Football McKenna Cup Liveblog: Tyrone v Fermanagh - semi-final Sections * July Budget * Business news * Economics * Personal finance * Business columnists * Business Insight * Markets Stories BT's £12.5bn takeover of EE cleared by competition watchdog Business BT's £12.5bn takeover of EE cleared by competition watchdog ‘The Jungle' named ‘thrilling' at Outdoor NI Awards Business ‘The Jungle' named ‘thrilling' at Outdoor NI Awards Northern Ireland's top buildings come under the spotlight Business Northern Ireland's top buildings come under the spotlight Drinks Inc planning 12 redundancies says Siptu union Business Drinks Inc planning 12 redundancies says Siptu union Sections * Family and Parenting * Property * Holidays & Travel * Fashion & Beauty * Motors/drive * Food & drink * Celebrity * Gardening * Environment * Health * Faith Matters * TV and Radio Stories Eating Out: The goodness is in the food at Goodness Rocks Life Eating Out: The goodness is in the food at Goodness Rocks TV Review: Cold War spy thriller Deutschland 83 Life TV Review: Cold War spy thriller Deutschland 83 Mais non! The doggy bag will never catch on in Paris Life Mais non! The doggy bag will never catch on in Paris Cycling trip a great way to see Vietnam and Cambodia Life Cycling trip a great way to see Vietnam and Cambodia Sections * Film * Music * Books * Pipe Band Digest * Stage * Irish language Stories Tá bliain chorraitheach chinniúnach roimh Fhorbairt Feirste Irish language Tá bliain chorraitheach chinniúnach roimh Fhorbairt Feirste Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level Arts Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level Cult Movie: Day Of The Outlaw as much noir as Western Film Cult Movie: Day Of The Outlaw as much noir as Western Oscars 2016 - Ten great Irish Oscar moments Film Oscars 2016 - Ten great Irish Oscar moments Sections * Family Notices * Lives Remembered Stories Cocktail king Joe Gilmore, Belfast's barman to the stars Lives Remembered Cocktail king Joe Gilmore, Belfast's barman to the stars Lord Erne of Crom Castle was popular figure in Fermanagh Lives Remembered Lord Erne of Crom Castle was popular figure in Fermanagh ‘My brother loved to entertain with his music' Lives Remembered ‘My brother loved to entertain with his music' Falls Road artist was grand old man of sci-fi's golden age Notices Falls Road artist was grand old man of sci-fi's golden age Sections * Letters to the Editor * Leading article * Cartoons * Columnists Stories Arlene Foster right on Easter Rising and the Somme Columnists Arlene Foster right on Easter Rising and the Somme Election-mode Arlene Foster in old-school reshuffle Columnists Election-mode Arlene Foster in old-school reshuffle Cologne attacks highlight push to extremes Columnists Cologne attacks highlight push to extremes Time for a genuine Fresh Start at Stormont Leading article Time for a genuine Fresh Start at Stormont Sections * Photo of the Day * Graduation pictures * Picture galleries * Video diaries Stories Belfast Zoo animals enjoy the snow Picture Galleries Belfast Zoo animals enjoy the snow New Year celebrations from around the world Picture Galleries New Year celebrations from around the world Storm Frank lashes Ireland Picture Galleries Storm Frank lashes Ireland Harland & Wolff Welders win the Steel & Sons Cup 2015 Picture Galleries Harland & Wolff Welders win the Steel & Sons Cup 2015 (BUTTON) Irishnews Logo (BUTTON) * Login User / Logout * Subscriptions * Home * Today's paper * News Sections + Back + Northern Ireland news + UK News + Republic of Ireland news + World news + Political news + Education news + Healthcare news + Nama + Refugee Crisis * Sport Sections + Back + GAA Football + GAA Fixtures + Club Call + Hurling and camogie + Soccer + Boxing + Rugby + Golf + Athletics + Off The Fence + Racing + Opinion + Other Sports * Business Sections + Back + July Budget + Business news + Economics + Personal finance + Business columnists + Business Insight + Markets * Life Sections + Back + Family and Parenting + Property + Holidays & Travel + Fashion & Beauty + Motors/drive + Food & drink + Celebrity + Gardening + Environment + Health + Faith Matters + TV and Radio * Arts Sections + Back + Film + Music + Books + Pipe Band Digest + Stage + Irish language * Notices Sections + Back + Family Notices + Lives Remembered * Opinion Sections + Back + Letters to the Editor + Leading article + Cartoons + Columnists * Puzzles * Photos Sections + Back + Photo of the Day + Graduation pictures + Picture galleries + Video diaries * Our journalists * Horoscopes ____________________ (BUTTON) Search (BUTTON) Life 100 years of Dubliners 100 years of Dubliners * * * * * 12 June, 2014 00:00 For nine years, James Joyce struggled to make ends meet as publisher after publisher rejected what is now considered one of the greatest collections of short stories ever assembled. Belfast journalist Michael Collins looks at the story behind Dubliners, which finally saw the light of day 100 years ago this week JAMES Joyce wrote the majority of Dubliners in Trieste, in 1905, just one year after his self-imposed exile from Ireland. His first major work was composed, by his own admission, "in a style of scrupulous meanness". He attributed this to the Trieste heat, complaining of working "while the sweat streamed down my face on to the handkerchief". In reality it was more than just the Mediterranean climate that stirred up resentment and anger in Joyce's pen. He was embittered by the state of Irish society at the turn of the last century; a period which he considered to be of stagnation and "paralysis". Ireland at this time languished culturally and economically under British rule and the infrastructure of Dublin had fallen into disrepair. Corroding Georgian architecture and monuments from British colonialism formed the landscape of the Irish capital. Buildings like the Four Courts and Trinity College were blackening with age and in their deterioration stood like symbols of an ailing empire. Dublin's prosperous districts were abandoned by its middle classes and the city's slums soon extended far beyond the back alleys. Once-prosperous neighbourhoods became filthy, overcrowded and disease-ridden ghettos. Joyce depicted these scenes of colonial poverty in the Dubliners story A Little Cloud when Chandler walks the streets to meet Ignatius Gallaher. He emerges "from the feudal arch of the King's Inns" where "a horde of grimy children populated the street" and picks his way through the "minute vermin-like life under the shadow of the gaunt spectral mansions in which the old nobility of Dublin had roistered". Writing with such realism about inner-city Dublin stood Joyce in stark contrast to other Irish writers of his day. Well established figures such as WB Yeats and Lady Gregory neglected to portray the realities of life in Dublin, instead devoting their energies to the Irish Literary Revival, a movement which found artistic expression through folklore and romanticised notions of the Irish peasantry. For Joyce, this was nothing but "ill-informed, formless caricature" and signified a step backwards for Irish literature. For him a story like two Two Gallants, a tale of two vagabonds who coerce some money out of an aristocrat's maid and wander Dublin's streets aimlessly in the hope of procuring a drink, was much more reflective of contemporary Ireland and represented a more progressive form of literature. He argued: "Two Gallants - with the Sunday crowds and the harp in Kildare Street and Lenehan - is an Irish landscape." The marked difference between Joyce and his contemporaries was expressed famously when he told Yeats during their first meeting: "I have met you too late. You are too old." Yeats described the charismatic 20-year-old as "A young poet, who wrote excellently, but had the worst manners". Despite this, the two had a huge amount of respect for each other and Yeats, acknowledging Joyce's talents, helped him by recommending him to publishers. In this area Joyce needed all the help he could get. Despite having completed Dubliners in 1905 it would be another nine years before his collection of 15 short stories found their way to a bookshop shelf. Joyce's unflinching realism and controversial satire led him into conflict with over 40 publishers who feared libel charges and public uproar. Objections ranged from the petty and unwarranted, such as use of Dublin pub names, to the perfectly understandable given the period in which he was writing. It was a time when the authority of the Catholic Church was still hugely influential over Irish state and society. For Joyce, a self-confessed socialist, the Church's influence was a stranglehold which was morally and culturally repressive. He resolved to wage war against it through literature. This is evident in Dubliners from the story Counterparts. The tale follows Farringinton, a man defined by his anger with mundane circumstance, who drowns his frustration in alcohol and returns home to beat his son with a shillelagh. The boy pleads with him: "I'll say a Hail Mary for you, pa, if you don't beat me". Many of Joyce's publishers refused to print such sentences and argued they contained anti-Irish sentiments. Joyce was dismayed, professing to one: "It is not my fault the odour of ashpits and old weeds and offal hangs around my stories. I seriously believe you will retard the course of civilisation in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one look at themselves in my finely polished looking glass." Joyce's reflection of an Irish people suppressed by repetitive routines and trapped in circles of monotonous frustration made uncomfortable viewing for some publishers. For nine years he struggled to make ends meet while a work now regarded as one of the greatest collections of short stories ever assembled lay unrecognised in his desktop drawer. He took up jobs in admin and teaching as a means to sustain himself and his family and continuously borrowed money from family members to put food on the table. Poor living conditions and a confined domestic situation fuelled Joyce's frustrations. In one moment of anger and disillusionment he threw the unfinished manuscript of his first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, into a burning fire. Luckily its scorched pages were saved by his sister Eileen who was living with Joyce at the time. He thanked her, acknowledging there were "pages here I could never have rewritten". Over the course of nine frustrating years he chopped and changed Dubliners to appease publishers. He omitted six uses of the word bloody from his original text despite believing that without such swear words the book was "like an egg without salt". He even did the unthinkable and wrote to King George V, seeking his approval, after a publisher warned him of referring to the queen mother as "that bloody old bitch of a mother" in Ivy Day at the Committee Room. If not for the help of established writers like Yeats and Ezra Pound, who understood Joyce's importance as an artist, Dubliners might never have been published. When it was finally released this week in 1914, Yeats said that it showed "the promise of a great novelist and a great novelist of a new kind". Today, 100 years on, Dubliners remains as highly acclaimed and relevant as ever. It is impossible to read it without feeling an affinity for the city of it's setting, and at the same time, it is impossible, having read the book, to walk Dublin's streets without feeling a special connection to the most famous Dubliner of them all - James Joyce. * * * * * 12 June, 2014 00:00 Life More in Life Eating Out: The goodness is in the food at Goodness Rocks Eating Out: The goodness is in the food at Goodness Rocks TV Review: Cold War spy thriller Deutschland 83 TV Review: Cold War spy thriller Deutschland 83 Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level Most Read * Beware of tax on gifting property to family members * Increase in babies born with 'tongue-tie' * Diagnosing Dyspraxia in your child * Irishman in breastfeeding London Underground row Today's horoscope Horoscope __________________________________________________________________ See a different horoscope: [Select sign] Stay connected Get the day's headlines delivered directly to your inbox ____________________ (BUTTON) Sign Up __________________________________________________________________ Sections News PSNI 'hasn't acted on Lisa Dorrian burial information' 1. PSNI 'hasn't acted on Lisa Dorrian burial information' 2. Families question delays in charging 'Stakeknife' Life Cycling trip a great way to see Vietnam and Cambodia 1. Cycling trip a great way to see Vietnam and Cambodia 2. Cairn Wood: Battle to save amenity from being sold off Business ‘The Jungle' named ‘thrilling' at Outdoor NI Awards 1. ‘The Jungle' named ‘thrilling' at Outdoor NI Awards 2. Northern Ireland's top buildings come under the spotlight Arts Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level 1. Raquel Pelzel has just the recipe for taking toast to the next level 2. Catch up with: The X-Files on Amazon Prime Columnists Arlene Foster right on Easter Rising and the Somme 1. Arlene Foster right on Easter Rising and the Somme 2. Election-mode Arlene Foster in old-school reshuffle Sport Ross McGowan leads Joburg Open at the halfway point 1. Ross McGowan leads Joburg Open at the halfway point 2. Darren Clarke delighted as Europe claim three-point lead Tackle today's puzzles Crosswords From gentle to deadly - Crosswords, Suduko, Codewords, Wordwheels and quizzes Irishnews Logo * Supplements * Send us your story * Contact us * FAQ * About us * Our Journalists * Photo Sales * Careers * WEA * Memoriam Cards * Coaching Days