Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

introduces Leopold Bloom, the Jewish Other, who stands outside the institutional
structure of the Church and provides a removed but critical perspective on the Catholic
rituals and beliefs which, according to Joyce, were intricately woven into the Irish
Weltanschauung. Indeed, while Joyce's critique of the Church's power is clearly
evident in the narrative of the novel, in a larger context this criticism is directed at the
stifling effects of all institutional powers on individual consciousness. Similarly,
Foucault's cultural theories examine the intricacies of such power within a culture and
their effect on the individual, who, in short, is a product of these elements. This thesis
explores these dynamics in Joyce's works to further understand his position as one of
the central novelists of the twentieth century.