Guests Melvyn Bragg, Roy Foster, Jeri Johnson, and Katherine Mullin discuss James Joyce's novel, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.' They explore the protagonist's struggles with family, church, and societal expectations. The podcast dives into Joyce's experimental approach in depicting psychological complexities and the lasting influence of the novel on literary experimentation. Other topics include the cultural nationalism in Joyce's time, the protagonist's evolution from autobiographical to artistic representation, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, identity conflicts, language nuances, religious symbolism, and Stephen's adolescent sexuality.
