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Abstract
In this study of James Joyces Ulysses (1922) I discuss the limits and dangers of using analogies between musical and literary works without firmly understanding the musical model that is being brought into comparison with the novel in question. Conversely, I show that a musical paradigm such as counterpoint, if properly defined, can be a very useful method by which to read and understand Joyce, since the syntax of music is as important to (and ever-present within) the world of Ulysses as that of the English language. I demonstrate that a contrapuntal reading of the often-overlooked Wandering Rocks episode serves to uncover some darkly ironic questions about Anglo-Irish politics, and that while the fugal structure that Joyce claimed for Sirens is a deeply suspect analogy, a reading of the musical notation within the episode leads to a new understanding of Leopold Bloom in relation to his wife, Molly.