Eclectrically Filtered for Allirish Earths and Ohmes: Broadcasting the Work of James Joyce on BBC Radio, 1931–1956

Abstract

Between 1931 and 1956, the BBC broadcast one hundred and ten programmes covering the full gamut of James Joyce’s work. The Joyce-related broadcasts (including repeats) subdivide into four quartets, starting with an emphasis on poetry and musical settings, moving into a sustained level of intellectual engagement with writers such as T S. Eliot and E. M. Forster, before ending with a series of dramatic adaptations and musical compositions inspired by his work. Joyce’s eyesight problems precluded him from participating in these programmes. After the establishment of the Third Programme in 1946, the BBC effectively became a cultural champion of Joyce in the early 1950s, promoting his work through talks, readings, and adaptations. After 1956, the BBC made sporadic use of Joyce’s work. To provide a context to the chronology of Joyce broadcasts, the first section of the article looks at the evolving regard for Joyce in England, the impact of radio as a public forum, the tensions occasionally exhibited within the BBC when dealing with his work, Joyce’s long-established habit of listening to the radio, and briefly considers Joyce’s speaking timbre. The second section features a detailed appendix that covers the chronology of programmes broadcast between 1931 and 1956.