Dora García's Film Documents Zurich's Joycean Society Reading Finnegan's Wake

Dora García's 2013 film 'The Joycean Society' captures the Zurich-based group that has met weekly since 1986 to collectively read James Joyce's 'Finnegan's Wake' (1939). The group took 11 years to complete their first reading and is now on their third cycle. García's camera observes their intense, word-by-word decoding sessions where members debate obscure terms like 'onon, onon' and 'shabby genteel' while snack bags rustle and a bronze statue of Joyce appears. Participants describe the activity as addictive, therapeutic, and a unique reading experience. The film was featured in Monaco's pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale and later on Vdrome, an online platform showcasing weekly video works. Most members are male non-professionals who exhibit deep, nerdy expertise. Their consistent, inconclusive engagement represents both an act of resistance against contemporary pressures and a triumph of committed pleasure. The article originally appeared in ArtReview's September 2014 issue.