![]() To have failed to honestly tell fully what his characters thought would have been "artistically inexcusable", said the judge. N respect of the recurrent emergence of the theme of sex in the minds of characters, it must always be remembered that his locale was Celtic and his season Spring. Some of their thoughts, the judge said, were expressed in "old Saxon words" familiar to readers, and: Acknowledging the "astonishing success" of Joyce's use of the stream of consciousness technique, the judge stated that the novel was serious and that its author was sincere and honest in showing how the minds of his characters operate and what they were thinking. He ruled that Ulysses was not pornographic-that nowhere in it was the "leer of the sensualist". He instead argued that the work was not obscene but rather a classic work of literature. Ernst's argument therefore concentrated on "downplaying the novel's subversive or potentially offensive elements and emphasizing its artistic integrity and moral seriousness". These attributes were perceived as a threat to "long–held and dearly cherished moral, religious, and political beliefs"-in short, it was subversive of the established order. Īttorney Ernst later recalled the libelant's argument as having three lines of attack: (1) the work contained sexual titillation, especially Molly Bloom's soliloquy, and had "unparlorlike" language (2) it was blasphemous, particularly in its treatment of the Roman Catholic Church and (3) it brought to the surface coarse thoughts and desires that usually were repressed. There was no trial as such the parties agreed that the judge could try issues of fact as well as questions of law, so the trial judge read the entire book and the parties made motions for the relief each sought. Random House, as claimant and intervenor, sought a decree dismissing the action, contending that the book was not obscene and was protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which protects free expression. The United States asserted that the work was obscene, therefore not importable, and subject to confiscation and destruction. The United States, acting as libelant, brought an action in rem against the book itself rather than the author or importer, a procedure in the law that Morris Ernst, attorney for the publisher, had previously asked to have inserted when the statute was passed by Congress. The seizure of the work was contested in the United States District Court in New York City. The office therefore decided to take action against the work under the provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allowed a district attorney to bring an action for forfeiture and destruction of imported works which were obscene. Attorney assigned to assess the work's obscenity felt that it was a "literary masterpiece", he also believed it to be obscene within the meaning of the law. The United States Attorney then took seven months before deciding whether to proceed. As seizure by Customs was essential to the plan for a test case, Morris Ernst, the attorney for Random House, took the unopened package to Customs, demanded that it be seized, and it was. Although Customs had been told in advance of the anticipated arrival of the book, it was not confiscated when the ship docked, but instead was forwarded to Random House in New York City. ![]() Customs Service when the ship carrying the work arrived. It therefore made an arrangement to import the edition published in France and to have a copy seized by the U.S. In 1932 Random House, which had the rights to publish the entire book in the United States, decided to bring a test case to challenge the de facto ban, so as to publish the work without fear of prosecution. That stopped publication of Ulysses in the United States for over a decade. The court convicted and fined Anderson and Heap after a trial in which one of the judges stated that the novel seemed "like the work of a disordered mind". Little Review publishers Margaret Caroline Anderson and Jane Heap could not argue that the chapter should be considered in light of the work as a whole, as only the offending chapter was published in the magazine issue in question. As the magazine could be purchased in a New York bookshop and The Little Review, the publisher, was based in the city, the local district attorney was able to prosecute in New York. Copies were mailed to potential subscribers a girl of unknown age read it and was shocked, and a complaint was made to the Manhattan District Attorney. ![]() In 1920 this periodical published the " Nausicäa episode", which contained a masturbation scene. Prior to publication as a book, the work was serialized in The Little Review, a literary magazine. ![]() In 1922 James Joyce published Ulysses, his most famous work. James Joyce, about the time of first publication of Ulysses ![]()
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