Dubliners by James Joyce

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James Joyce's Dubliners was published in the midst of a surge of Irish nationalism, weeks before World War 1 began. Though he was sympathetic towards the movement towards Irish independence, he felt that the sentiment stunted the progress of culture. Dublin, along with its inhabitants, thus became symbolic of regression.

Dubliners is a collection of short stories centered around a cast of the Irish middle-class in a sort of existential crisis. Only in confronting the difficulties in front of them are they able to find a sense of purpose, and through them Joyce is able to explore his own feelings on Irish nationalism. Additionally, many of the characters found within become integral to his most famous work, Ulysses.