A Documentary in Development

James Joyce and the Jews

Why did Joyce make the hero of Ulysses an Irish Jew?

Now in Development

The Story

At a time when many leading early 20th century writers wrote of Jews in a derogatory manner, James Joyce rose as an exception in creating an Irish Jew as the hero of his groundbreaking novel Ulysses. JAMES JOYCE AND THE JEWS explores the author's preparation to create Leopold Bloom and the profound significance of James Joyce's groundbreaking creative choice.

The Film

A modern hero, an ancient prejudice

James Joyce’s Ulysses, widely regarded as the most ambitious novel of the twentieth century, remains a literary landmark taught around the world. Yet beyond its formal innovations, the novel carries a powerful message about prejudice, empathy, and the dangers of antisemitism.

While researching our documentary Left Bank: The Women Who Rescued James Joyce’s Ulysses, we discovered Joyce’s deep engagement with Jewish history, religion, and culture during his years in Europe. This led him to create Leopold Bloom, a Jewish protagonist who became one of the most memorable characters in modern literature.

James Joyce and the Jews explores why Joyce chose to make his modern hero Jewish, tracing the influences that shaped his thinking and examining the enduring relevance of Ulysses as a challenge to stereotyping, exclusion, and intolerance.

Ulysses by James Joyce
Ulysses by James Joyce
Illustration of Leopold Bloom on a rainy day in Dublin
Leopold Bloom — Joyce’s Irish-Jewish hero — on a rainy Dublin morning
A pork butcher's mosaic shopfront sign
A pork butcher’s mosaic shopfront — echoing Dlugacz, the Jewish pork butcher in Ulysses
Filming an interview inside the synagogue in Trieste
Filming an interview inside the synagogue in Trieste, where Joyce lived

Joyce & Zionism

A misunderstood word, a century on

‘Zionism’ is among the most misunderstood terms in contemporary political and cultural discourse. That James Joyce studied Zionism and features it in Ulysses is remarkable. In JAMES JOYCE AND THE JEWS, experts will discuss Joyce's response to Zionism at the beginning of the 20th century and support for a Jewish homeland through his character Leopold Bloom.

Agendath Netaim planters' company prospectus, Eretz Israel
The Agendath Netaim prospectus — the Zionist land-development flyer Bloom reads in Ulysses
Theodor Herzl and Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State)
Theodor Herzl and Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State)
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — the antisemitic forgery Ulysses warns against

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