Ulysses and the Poetics of Cognition

<p>Given <em>Ulysses’</em> perhaps unparalleled attention to the operations of the human mind it is unsurprising that critics have explored the work’s psychology. Nonetheless there has been very little research that draws on recent cognitive science to examine thought and emotion in this novel. Hogan sets out to expand our understanding of <em>Ulysses</em> as well as our theoretical comprehension of narrative—and even our views of human cognition. He revises the main narratological accounts of the novel clarifying the complex nature of narration and style. He extends his cognitive study to encompass the anti-colonial and gender concerns that are so obviously important to Joyce’s work. Finally through a combination of broad overviews and detailed textual analyses Hogan seeks to make this notoriously difficult book more accessible to non-specialists.</p>