Collaborative Ulysse(s)

Abstract The French translations of Joyce’s Ulysses hold a special place within the long reception of the novel, because the first translated fragments precede the publication of the original, but also because both the 1929 and the 2004 French editions of Ulysses are extremely interesting in terms of the development of, and collaboration with, Joycean scholarship. Collaborative translations by definition, both of the complete French versions of Ulysses were the result of the joined efforts of several translators, including Joyce himself, his publishers, as well as academics and experts. Studying the involvement of major figures such as Valery Larbaud, Stuart Gilbert, or Jacques Aubert shows that authority in the translation process was multilayered and increasingly vested in scholars or repositories of knowledge on Ulysses, paralleling the otherwise growing production of Joycean criticism over the course of the century. In that respect, the publication of the 1995 critical edition of Ulysse in Gallimard’s Pléiade collection proved pivotal in the history of the French translations, and in part shaped future attempts. Analyzing the specific setups of the French translations of Ulysses and drawing examples from their genetic dossiers, this essay explores the involvement of Joyce scholars in the collaborative translations of Ulysses into French.