How does Bloom define a nation in Ulysses?
“A nation is the same people living in the same place” is Bloom's answer in Episode 12 when the drinkers ask him what a nation is. It is a modest, practical definition, set against the Citizen's fierce nationalism, and the pub laughs at it.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 12, Cyclops. Bloom, challenged in Barney Kiernan's pub to say what a nation means.
A nation? says Bloom. A nation is the same people living in the same place.
What it means in plain English
Ned Lambert laughs that if that is so, he is a nation, since he has lived in the same place for five years. Bloom tries again: “Or also living in different places.”
When the Citizen asks Bloom his nation, he answers “Ireland. I was born here. Ireland.” The Citizen spits.
Literary context
The episode was written around 1919–20, as Ireland fought for independence. Joyce shows nationalism through Bloom's outsider eyes.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 12, “Cyclops”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
What nationality is Leopold Bloom?
He was born in Dublin. His father came from Hungary and was Jewish; his mother was Irish.
Why do the drinkers laugh?
Because the definition is so plain it seems to include anyone, which is Joyce's point.
Related terms
“Love, I mean the opposite of hatred”
“Love, says Bloom. I mean the opposite of hatred.” Bloom says this in Barney Kiernan's pub in Episode 12, after the Citizen's attacks on Jews and the English. Asked what real life is, he answers simply that it is love, then leaves, which the drinkers mock.
The Citizen
The aggressive nationalist Bloom argues with in 'Cyclops' (Episode 12) — Joyce's one-eyed Cyclops.
Barney Kiernan's
Barney Kiernan's is the pub on Little Britain Street where Episode 12, “Cyclops”, takes place. Bloom goes there to meet Martin Cunningham about Dignam's insurance and ends up in a row with the Citizen, who throws a biscuit tin at him.