A Portrait of the Italian Student as a Young Joyce Reader

What can James Joyce say to Italian adolescents today? If his works were not part of the school program and assignments, would teenagers read them? And once students have analyzed passages and studied commentaries under the teacher’s guidance, what are their impressions? Are they eager to go deeper? Are they intrigued, indifferent, bored, frightened, puzzled or just happy to move on to the next author? How has the presentation of Joyce’s life and works changed within the textbooks used in Italian schools in the last twenty years? Has this change affected the students’ appreciation of Joyce? Can Joyce’s texts be made into abridged editions without being distorted and over-simplified? Are Italian translations useful (or even necessary) in facing some of Joyce’s works? The content of my paper, based on information, data and observations collected throughout many years of teaching in High Schools, is merely experiential. Its purpose is to cast light on the difficulties and potentials of Joyce’s texts for Italian teenagers at present.