On the centenary of the publication of Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’, Madrid recreates for the first time the route of its characters that Dublin celebrates on June 16 each year
On June 16, 1904, Leopold Bloom took to the streets and toured his city, Dublin. His journey of nearly 24 hours leads to a legendary novel, ‘Ulysses’, published in 1922 and with which James Joyce changed the history of literature. Since 1954, Bloomsday has been celebrating and recreating the itinerary of Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and their acquaintances every June 16. This year, on the centenary of the book’s publication, Madrid hosted Leopold Bloom Day for the first time.
It was authentic and tropical. Mutatis mutandis, Leopold Bloom could be turned into a Leopoldo Flores (bloom means bloom) who, instead of facing a misty and damp Dublin sunrise, is faced with a scorching and clear Madrid morning, with 35 degrees in the sky. shadow. Sandycove Beach and Martello Tower, where the modern urban odyssey began, became the Cuesta de Moyano, a reading sanctuary where the Spanish Bloomsday began, which supported Dublin Mayor Allison Gilliland.
As enthusiastic about Joyce as about Cervantes, Gilliland, who was an English teacher in Granada, celebrated the twinning of Cervantine Madrid and Joycean Dublin. “Hopefully Bloomsday 2122 will be celebrated here,” he wished to the Irish ambassador, Fank Smyth, and the deputy mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís.
After a breakfast of the pig kidneys that empowered Bloom, some eager readers dressed in Edwardian fashion embarked on the tour endorsed by the writer Eduardo Lago, author of “We are all Leopold Bloom” (Galaxia Gutenberg), one of the best guides navigate the intense literary juggling Joyce practices in his ‘Ulysses’. A great connoisseur of Joyce’s work, he celebrated “the invisible thread that unites Spain with Ireland in ‘Ulysses'”. Lago is the creator of the unspeakable Order of the Finnegans, which includes recalcitrant Joyceans like Enrique Vila-Matas and Antonio Soler.
Actors Muriel Pernas, Jonathan Mellor and Raquel Vicente, characterized as Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and Molly Bloom, toured the center of Madrid. The route departed from Moyano towards the Prado Museum, as a tribute to Velázquez. He continued on to the National Library, a mirror of the Dublin National Library, where the passage from Chapter 9 of ‘Ulysses’, ‘Scylla and Charybdis’ was read. From there to the James Joyce pub, between Puerta de Alcalá and Cibeles, where they sampled the Burgundy wine and gorgonzola cheese sandwiches that Bloom ate for lunch at the Davy Byrnes pub.
Under a bleak sun, the procession arrived at the Monastery of Las Trinitarias and its tombstone in memory of Miguel de Cervantes to read the passage of the Glasnevin Cemetery of the ‘Ulysses’. The visit continued to the Barrio de las Letras, opposite the ancient pharmacy Cervantes León, the equivalent of Sweny’s pharmacy where Bloom buys lemon soap for his wife Molly. The day concluded with the tribute organized by the Bloomsday Society at the Athenaeum of Madrid, with Magüi Mira, the actress who moved audiences and critics alike by bringing Molly Bloon’s monologue to the theater at the end of ‘Ulysses’. bring.
The first Spanish Bloomsday was organized by Tourism of Ireland and the Soy de la Cuesta Association, promoted by the booksellers of Cuesta de Moyano, the permanent book fair in Madrid. For such a happy occasion, a commemorative brochure was issued with unpublished texts by Eduardo Lago, Ian Gibson, Espido Freire, Ernesto Pérez Zúñiga, Karina Sainz Borgo and Jorge Tkatch.
The route ended at the Gran Hotel Inglés, where writers such as Virginia Woolf, Valle-Inclán or Galdós stopped. A traditional transcription of the Hotel Ormond in Dublin, on the banks of the River Lyffey, the scene where Bloom sings a song in the Sirens chapter, was recreated there.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
