Introduction: Comparatively Speaking

Nordic Joyce compares the interrelationship of James Joyce’s literary works and specific Nordic literature in translation, employing a comparative, onomastic, and etymological framework. Terminology and methods of several practitioners in these disciplines are used, including comparative theories from Georg Brandes through David Damrosch, plus critical issues in onomastic and etymological lexical subdisciplines by theorists Warren R. Maurer, Grant W. Smith, Yakov Malkiel, Staffan Nyström, Willy van Langendonck, and David Seed among others. These diverse perspectives inform this study, emphasising the importance of Nordic thematic content in Joyce’s style and form. The development of Joyce’s work shows a sustained interest in contemporary Nordic and Old Norse medieval literature. Joyce’s reuse or recycling of specific characters throughout his narratives represents one of the most critical dimensions of deliberate intertextuality: interfigurality. This chapter discusses how it and his naming strategy define Joyce’s character movement and relocation.