Before Daybreak: "After the Race" and the Origins of Joyce's Art (Florida James Joyce)

Joyce’s “After the Race” is a seemingly simple tale, historically unloved by critics. Yet when magnified and dismantled, the story yields astounding political, philosophic, and moral intricacy.In Before Daybreak, Cóilín Owens shows that “After the Race” is much more than a story about Dublin at the time of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup Race: in reality, it is a microcosm of some of the issues most central to Joycean scholarship. These issues include large-scale historical concerns—in this case, radical nationalism and the centennial of Robert Emmet’s rebellion. Owens also explains the temporary and local issues reflected in Joyce’s language, organization, and silences. He traces Joyce’s narrative technique to classical, French, and Irish traditions. Additionally, “After the Race” reflects Joyce’s internal conflict between emotional allegiance to Christian orthodoxy and contemporary intellectual skepticism. If the dawning of Joyce’s singular power, range, subtlety, and learning can be identified in a seemingly elementary text like “After the Race,” this study implicitly contends that any Dubliners story can be mined to reveal the intertextual richness, linguistic subtlety, parodic brilliance, and cultural poignancy of Joyce’s art. Owens’s meticulous work will stimulate readers to explore Joyce’s stories with the same scrutiny in order to comprehend and relish how Joyce writes.

Joyce's "After the Race" is a seemingly simple tale, historically unloved by critics. Yet when magnified and dismantled, the story yields astounding political, philosophic, and moral intricacy.

In Before Daybreak, Cóilín Owens shows that "After the Race" is much more than a story about Dublin at the time of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup Race: in reality, it is a microcosm of some of the issues most central to Joycean scholarship.

These issues include large-scale historical concerns--in this case, radical nationalism and the centennial of Robert Emmet's rebellion. Owens also explains the temporary and local issues reflected in Joyce's language, organization, and silences. He traces Joyce's narrative technique to classical, French, and Irish traditions. Additionally, "After the Race" reflects Joyce's internal conflict between emotional allegiance to Christian orthodoxy and contemporary intellectual skepticism.

If the dawning of Joyce's singular power, range, subtlety, and learning can be identified in a seemingly elementary text like "After the Race," this study implicitly contends that any Dubliners story can be mined to reveal the intertextual richness, linguistic subtlety, parodic brilliance, and cultural poignancy of Joyce's art. Owens's meticulous work will stimulate readers to explore Joyce's stories with the same scrutiny in order to comprehend and relish how Joyce writes Joyce’s “After the Race” is a seemingly simple tale, historically unloved by critics. Yet when magnified and dismantled, the story yields astounding political, philosophic, and moral intricacy. In __Before Daybreak__, Cóilín Owens shows that “After the Race” is much more than a story about Dublin at the time of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup Race: in reality, it is a microcosm of some of the issues most central to Joycean scholarship. These issues include large-scale historical concerns—in this case, radical nationalism and the centennial of Robert Emmet’s rebellion. Owens also explains the temporary and local issues reflected in Joyce’s language, organization, and silences. He traces Joyce’s narrative technique to classical, French, and Irish traditions. Additionally, “After the Race” reflects Joyce’s internal conflict between emotional allegiance to Christian orthodoxy and contemporary intellectual skepticism. If the dawning of Joyce’s singular power, range, subtlety, and learning can be identified in a seemingly elementary text like “After the Race,” this study implicitly contends that any Dubliners story can be mined to reveal the intertextual richness, linguistic subtlety, parodic brilliance, and cultural poignancy of Joyce’s art. Owens’s meticulous work will stimulate readers to explore Joyce’s stories with the same scrutiny in order to comprehend and relish how Joyce writes. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 8 List of Figures 9 Foreword 10 Preface and Acknowledgments 12 List of Abbreviations 20 1: Introduction 22 2: The Automobile Age 33 3: The Biographical Crisis 71 4: Arthur Griffith and the Great Game 115 5: Robert Emmet Centennial 163 6: Rhetoric—Modern and Classical 199 7: The Infernal 247 8: Conclusion 288 Appendix: Schema for "After the Race" 293 Notes 296 Bibliography 317 Index 325 A close examination of the story "After the Race," which originally appeared in Joyce's Dubliners. This book argues that the story represents a microcosm of some of the issues most central to Joyce scholarship: evolution as an artist, the Catholic Church, and nostalgia for a rapidly changing Ireland A close examination of the story "After the Race, " which originally appeared in Dubliners that argues that the story represents a microcosm of some of the issues most central to Joyce scholarship: evolution as an artist, the Catholic Church, and nostalgia for a rapidly changing Ireland. Content: Introduction -- The automobile age -- The biographical crisis -- Arthur Griffith and the great game -- Robert Emmet centennial -- Rhetoric: modern and classical -- The infernal -- Conclusion.