Introduction. Joyce at the Crossroads

In presenting the volume, this paper argues that Joyce stands at the crossroads of different languages and cultures, which is to say, a point of both encounters and departures. As an icon of twentieth-century modernism, Joyce extends a welcoming hand to multilingualism, cross-cultural meetings, babelic intersections, and diverse approaches from different disciplines. The collection is situated at the crossroads between Joyce studies, translation studies and cultural studies. The authors argue that the contributions from scholars who represent such different cultures as the European and the North American melting pot are particularly apt for drawing the image of a Joyce at the crossroads, like a monument to be admired and written upon, but also an icon at the centre of a rotary intersection, towering over and above the travellers who go around it on their different ways in order to reach their different goals. Joyce, in fact, not only as a writer but also as a human being, placed himself at the crossroads of different languages and cultures, sometimes bridging, sometimes highlighting the gaps between them.