Patrick J. Keane, Ph.D., Memorial Lecture: Joyce and Our Fantasies

James Joyce’s Dubliners might be seen as a manual for how not to fantasize, since the fantasies of its characters are invariably futile and self-defeating. Those fantasies are typical, though; we could re-imagine Dubliners today as Syracusans or Philadelphians or Houstonians. The geographical and historical context would change, but the fantasies of escape, fulfillment or justice remain. In this talk, Vicki Mahaffey, Ph.D., will examine how expectations are based on unconscious fantasies that are often cultural and communal, lacking both originality and specificity. Mahaffey has taught literature for 40 years in both the U.S. and England. She is the author of The Joyce of Everyday Life. This event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Department of English and Irish Literature Program. For more information, contact Director of the Irish Literature Program Kate Costello-Sullivan, Ph.D., at sullivkp@lemoyne.edu.