(sub)Text: What Falls Upon the Living in James Joyce’s “The Dead” | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog (opens in new tab)

In 1906, presumably finished with his short story collection Dubliners, James Joyce wrote to his brother with dissatisfaction that, though he set about to create a comprehensive portrait of Ireland’s capital city, he had not managed to render its famous, unrivaled hospitality. His efforts to rectify this omission resulted in “The Dead,” the book’s final story. It takes place chiefly at a party in the home of the elderly Morkan Sisters on the Feast of the Epiphany, and fittingly its central ch...