Joyce and Nordic Writers

When one conceives of Nordic writers directly influencing Joyce, Ibsen is the name that springs to mind; however, this chapter exposes Joyce’s connections with other Nordic writers, including Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Jonas Lie, Jens Peter Jacobsen, August Strindberg, and to a lesser extent, Knut Hamsun and Tom Kristensen. When we consider the Nordic writers that Joyce read and emulated, we find insights into the similarities of their approaches and an enriched awareness of his aesthetic method. This section reflects Joyce’s interests in these writers and how they contributed to Joyce’s writing while recognising the intrinsic features of Joyce’s constructions.