This book is a treasure trove comprising core writings from Hans Walter Gabler's seminal work on James Joyce, spanning fifty years from the analysis of composition he undertook towards a critical text of
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
, through the Critical and Synoptic Edition of
Ulysses
, to Gabler's latest essays on (appropriately enough) Joyce's sustained artistic innovation.
Not only does this span of essays trace the evolution of Gabler's thinking about Joyce's originality and creative energy. It also reflects the development and maturation of Gabler's own genetic criticism and his methodology of genetic editing, which grows in depth and complexity across the collection. The reader will explore Joyce's life and works through Gabler's incisive eye, while also examining a progress of his reflections on his edition of
and the past controversy that beset it.
This classic compendium combining well-seasoned scholarship and fresh criticism is an essential read for critics of Modernism, digital humanists, scholars and students of James Joyce, and anyone interested in the art of literary analysis.