Ulysses has been translated in full in 40 languages (out of 129 attempts that we know of!)

Joyce's landmark modernist novel not only captivated readers in its original English but also reached a global audience through numerous translations, each of which was a monumental task given the novel’s complex structure, rich intertextuality, and intricate wordplay. During the course of the past century, Ulysses has been translated into German, French, Czech, Japanese, Spanish (+ Catalan, Galician and Basque), Italian, Greek... in fact, we can now enjoy Ulysses in forty languages, through film, theatre, audio books and of course Bloomsday (the only annual celebration of a work of art in the world). Each translation has brought its own set of challenges and interpretations, reflecting the linguistic and cultural contexts of the target languages. For example, in translating the stream-of-consciousness passages, translators have had to balance fidelity to Joyce’s prose with readability in the new language, often requiring innovative linguistic solutions.

The first language Ulysses was translated into was German. It was a three-volume deluxe numbered edition, which was sold by subscription only. To subscribe, you had to be over twenty-five years of age, and be able to prove that you had a serious literary interest. No conditions were imposed on medical doctors of any age.

Joyce had a personal connection to German, as his mother had once urged him to study it. He engaged with the German language during his time in Dublin, driven by a desire to translate works by Ibsen's disciple, Gerhart Hauptmann, as early as 1901. His familiarity with the language was further honed in 1904 during his stay in Zürich, where German was the official tongue.

Despite his deep involvement in the original publication of Ulysses, Joyce found himself unable to participate fully in the translation process into German. He did manage to meet the translator, Georg Goyet, in Paris; however, their collaboration was limited, resulting in the revision of only eighty-eight pages of the manuscript. Plans for further meetings never materialized.

This lack of oversight left Joyce deeply dissatisfied with the resulting German edition. In a letter to H. S. Weaver on 8 November 1926, he expressed his discontent, criticizing the publisher, Rhein-Verlag, for their haste in printing and their refusal to allow the translator to consult with him before the final publication. Joyce was so displeased that he threatened to publicly repudiate the edition. Consequently, after the German translation was released in three volumes, a revised edition followed in 1930 to address the earlier shortcomings.

The German edition was soon followed by a French translation in 1929, a project in which Joyce took a keen personal interest. Unlike the German translation, the French version benefited from Joyce's close involvement, with negotiations and preparations beginning four years prior to the German release. The French translators worked diligently, with Joyce monitoring the editorial process to ensure that the resulting editions met his high standards.

The full list of translations (in alphabetic order): Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Basque, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Macedonian, Malayalam, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian and Uzbek.

We have compiled an interactive map of all the full and partial translations:

Inspiration for Ulysses Whiskey x Art

We are striving to be as creative, relevant and daring as possible with each Episode. Taking inspiration from the many translations of Ulysses, we will celebrate Episode 4 with a German whiskey (in 2027), Episode 6 with a French whiskey (in 2029), Episode 7 with a Czech whiskey (in 2030) and Episode 9 with a Japanese whiskey (in 2032) -- each will coincide with the centenary of their respective translation; Episode 11 (in 2034) will be an American whiskey, to celebrate the centenary of the first US print of Ulysses – this particular whiskey will be a peated single malt, so you can smell and taste the US Post Office burning the books in 1920's when you drink it!

Welcome to the journey.

Complete Set (Episode 1-18)

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