Joyce and the Twoheaded Octopus of judeo-maconnerie
2013; Oxford University Press; Volume: 64; Issue: 267 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/res/hgt015
ISSN1471-6968
Autores Tópico(s)Modernist Literature and Criticism
ResumoWhile previous studies of Leopold Bloom’s relationship with Freemasonry have approached the topic quite generally, this article examines Joyce’s precise deployment of Masonic terminology, with particular reference to the Grand Lodge of Ireland and the higher or additional degrees and orders of Irish Freemasonry affiliated to it. It also considers the portrayal of Bloom in the light of judéo-maçonnerie, reanimated in fin-de-siècle France by Léo Taxil, albeit culminating in the Affaire des Fiches of 1904–1905. Joyce depicts Bloom as an erstwhile Freemason, employing disguised symbolism to suggest he remains faithful to the fraternal ideal of Freemasonry, and its charitable traditions, in spite of the social hierarchies of contemporary Irish Freemasonry and his unaffiliated status. That Bloom is no longer affiliated to a lodge does not ameliorate the hostility directed toward him as a Jewish Freemason, indicative of the pernicious influence of judéo-maçonnerie, not only in France, but also in contemporary Ireland. Subsequent to the publication of Victor Hugo’s Les travailleurs de la mer in 1866, the principal symbol of this putative alliance between Jews and Freemasons is a monstrous, blood-sucking octopus, sometimes envisioned with two heads. Although Bloom does not comprehend Æ’s cryptic allusion to this symbol, ironically, he remains the living embodiment of judéo-maçonnerie as far as some of his fellow Irishmen are concerned.
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