“A Mobility of Illusory Forms Immobilized in Space.” James Joyce and the Pre-Einsteinian Universe
“A Mobility of Illusory Forms Immobilized in Space.” James Joyce and the Pre-Einsteinian Universe

Summary/Abstract: In “A mobility of illusory forms immobilized in space.” James Joyce and the Pre-Einsteinian Universe James Joyce’s Ulysses is discussed as an ironic farewell to the pre-Einsteinian worldview. This paper aims at examining the “world picture” Joyce is sketching by reconstructing and juxtaposing the models of the Universe that his characters, Stephen and Bloom imagine. Joyce’s protagonists need to conceptualize the Universe; they crave to be able to mentally grasp every facet of external reality and the human place in it. The two protagonists in two diverse ways ‒ the “scientific” and the “artistic” ‒ visualize the earth among the stars and try to understand the nature of time. The pre-Einsteinian “scientific” way of Bloom fails him. Stephen is also accustomed to pre-Einsteinian physics but thanks to his “artistic” temperament he is able to add to his divagations an element of creative speculation.

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