Why is Leopold Bloom so captivated by the “mysterious East”?
In this episode we discuss the Orientalist motif in Ulysses, with a focus on “Calypso.” Topics include what is Orientalism?, how Orientalism manifests in Irish culture, the blurred continuum between Irish and British culture, Edward Said, why the “Orient” is really a dream, the Whig interpretation of history, what Leopold Bloom has in common with Julia Roberts, Haroun al-Raschid, Turko the Terrible, Molly’s connection to the East, Disney’s Aladdin, hypostasis of Dedalus and Bloom, In the Track of the Sun, Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s “Kubla Khan”, dulcimers, and why Bloom’s heritage makes him “Oriental” in the eyes of some.
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Leopold Bloom’s Journey Through the Orient