Untitled - Sexey's School Moodle

To illustrate the interactions between transgression, criticism, literary culture, and
mass culture, the case of James Joyce’s Ulysses offers an interesting example. In 1933,
Joyce’s novel was banned from circulation in the United States on the grounds that it was
obscene and transgressed the rules and regulations set by the state regarding the
publication of such material. A trial ensued in which the publishing company motioned
to dismiss the libel of obscenity and be given the right to distribute the novel. At the
court ruling, the ban on the novel was removed; in the delivery of his sentence, Judge
Woosley offered an interpretation of the text based on literary criticism and theory:
“Ulysses” is not an easy book to read or to understand. But there
has been much written about it, and in order properly to approach
the consideration of it it is advisable to read a number of other
books which have now become its satellites. (viii)
In the tradition of post-modern criticism, Judge Woosley asserts that Joyce relies on the
“stream of consciousness” technique by divulging the inner-workings of its main
characters. He argues that as a serious novelist, Joyce used this literary trope effectively
and efficiently:
It is because Joyce has been loyal to this technique and has not
funked its necessary implications, but has honestly attempted to tell
fully what his characters think about, that he has been subject of so
many attacks and that his purpose has been so often misunderstood
and misrepresented. For his attempt sincerely and honestly to
realize his objective has required him incidentally to use certain
words which are generally considered dirty words and has let at
times to what many think is a too poignant preoccupation with sex
in the thoughts of his characters. (ix-x)
Judge Woosley decrees that even if certain passages of Ulysses could be interpreted as
obscene for certain factions of the public at large, it should be noted that it was far from
being the main argument of the book (viii-ix). Even though this does not constitute an
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