e
acquaintance
with the text po!
McHugh-Roland-1976-The-Sigla-of-Finnegans-Wake
.
.
.
was gr.
mted by the S<>o:i<'ry of Authors, liIerary repr.
.
.
entatives for the esrate of James JOYe<:.
The Buffalo Norebooks are used by
permiMi<>n of the State University of New York at Buffalo (Lock- wood Memorial Library), I am additionally indebted to the fol- lowing publishers for the use of copyright material, Faber and Faber, London, and The Viking Press, New York, for eXlr1Icti from Fi">l? ganJ Wah by James Joyce (1964) and Th~ Book, of Ih. Wake by I? S. Alb. non (1959); The Bodley Hcod, Loodon, ond Random Ho". . . , New York, for extrocl5 from Uly". . by Jome, Joyce (1960); Jonathan Cape, London, and T he Viking ! >ress for e~u"cts from A Po"ra;, of ,h. ArtiJl a. a Youne Man by Jame. Joy<< (I96S); Faber and Faber for exLraCti from Srrw;lur. and
by Jad: P. Dahon and Give Han ('966); Northwestern Uni_ veuhy Pres. , EvaO$ton, IlIinoi" for extrocts from A S. C<>n<i c. ",~, o f 'Fin,,~an. W a . . . . b y A d . l i n e G l a s h e e n ( 1 9 6 3 ) ; ThamC$ and Hudson, London, fet extract. from Cellic Heril<1fe by A. Ree, and B. Rces (1973); and Routledge and Kegan Poul, London, for e~rn. cts from. Shama",? ,,,. by Mircea Eliade ('964).
MO/1! in 'Fin>l? gan, Wah. ' by ('Jive Hart (196~),
Joyc~ volume I, edited by Stuart Gilbert (1957) and volume III, edited by Richard Ellrnann (t96(;),and T_I"~a,,da TiUy, edited
t. II",ofJam. .
? Introduction
James Joyce is probably tlu: greatest atyliS! in tbe Engli1h lan_ g. . . . g<:. FinMKa", Wak. i. hi' last book, ,0",hi~h be devoted mocc <""f8Y ,han 10 any OIher , It i, immensely difficult to r-ead: I sll<lllid in raCt say ,hal it i. nOI a reasonable thing to expect any unaided pcnon to att<;mpt Finnqa~1 Wak? . Thero i. in consequence . . pressill3 need f(>T exe! ! ':tical . (udi. ,. which ac'uaUy work, ? ? opposed to producinll" men: ". . . nquillizing dfcCl,
The earliest aJ>Praisal, of l'inmgans Wake (hero. fter abbrevi_ ",cd Fir) ~'" . . ,ay, published during tbe book'. comp<Jllioon, the III<>>t irnponant con. rhuting Our E:wgmiIW/ion round hi' 1'tJ(;- ! ifica"""Jot' Incam;"",;""ofWork in P'''R,m,l The firs, compre- hensive analysi. wu Campbell and Robinson'. A SAdeu", K. y
to'Finnqan. Wak. ', which appearM in '\144. ' Despite its frcquen! l. p. . . . inro uninforma. i,'e p. . . . . . ph"""" ,he SA,kum Key mUS'c" a
,lto,,&<,r conviction of ;t, ,ubject's dignity than ;ny ""diec l1udy, and , uPPOrl, this conviction with an imp~! ivc bulk of novel interpretation. The popular image of FW is the image created by Campbell and RQhinMIn: ~eral. . . ,cent 'guidebooks' seem to owe linle to my . uboequent invCSligalOU.
The difficulty of absocbing FW re>ulu nOl m<rdy from the highly fragmented natu", of ;t, t. "t but . bo from the fragmented nature of the absorption process inelf. In reading . . . . W onc makes ? suc. :. . . ion nf isolated di. . :ovcri. . pertaining to various di. . :;- plines and ". tinned rntdomly throughout the volume. Appearing in no speci. l OTdc:r, tbey ace soon forgotten unl. . . . ome form of ""taloguing i. anempted, which i. an oc<:up. . . ion rtpugnant to most penons in . . arch of . . . tbetic end? .
T hree books of the 19500 '''empled 10 "". . . logue ! heir ambon'
'By SlmUd Ikdet, and <Kh<r> (I. . <>ndon, F. oo ODd F. oo 'opgl? '},,,'w_Campl><~ . Dd Hen')" """'on _ _ A SJuk,. . Koy '" '1'"",,,,,,,, W""'" (N<w Von, IUr<oun Bro<< JOYSn<rri<h '9"'" LoRdon. F. M, and F. oo
'941).
? 2 Introduction
disrov~riesinthr. . ,f,eld? . ~y~reACmsu,of'F;nnqa~, Wake','n. . RooluatthoW~andSongi~theWorksofJ__ Joyce. ' Hut many of tht glo. . . ,. apprQpriate to parricular FW word. are n~ithe, peT! lonal, liter-ary n(>< musical, and the essential vehicle fnr publishil\3 scattered minutiae did not materiali. . . , Wltil
'9"\2. A[ [hil point Clive Hart and FrilZ Seen fnunded A Wa. Iu Nro;,lirr. . ,? Q ? f"rum for discu",ing approaches 10 FW IS wdl . . a n:ctptack fm Wltrttted data.
Apart [mm Mr Hart'. ('"",ccrdana to 'Finnegans Wak. " and the_econdeditinnoftheCmsu" themostimpomntpJ"OdUCtaof Ihe . 96<">0 "",re language Ii. ts. Tlte Ntw,/irltr published studies ofvariou. minor languages, and thr. . , extended linguistic analyses also appeared, S<a",jjnav"a~ EI'. . . en" of 'Fi~l1(Ka~, W ak. ',' A Gaeh'c1~ri<""f",'Fi_aIU Wak. ','and A uxium of t~ G. n=~ in 'H""'ZaIU Wako'. "
Unfortunately, much puhlished exegesi. exhihita I dcpresoing indifference to context and continuity, which ","ults r""" the di,- proportiona.
e acquaintance with the text po! lsessed by most exc- S"[. . . . Chap<<" I. . and 1,8, for example, are more familiar to mn"
"f u' than, . oy, the book II ehap[~u. T he cohesion <>f parts will be appreciated only whtn 'he reader has formulated canonl for diltil\3ui. hing them. I pn>p(>Se here to try to a? ? i,t him.
Ideally, we ,hould try to remain conscious of the dual function of e""ry word. Tltero i? ? linear function, a contribution to the 'ynIlCtic romplex in which the word "and,. We must be able tn account ro, the position nf any unit in FW . . ? tramifion hetwttn the uniu on either . ide of it. Secondly there i, a If'temic function, a contribution to the tone of the . ecti(>l), Very common word. are chiefly linear ill function; Ilames . uch a. the thounnd or . . , """'" m. nrioned in 1. 8 ar. chiefly if'. entic, in thi. case enhancing . h. wat~ry quality of tJut chapt(r. But . ""r)" word muSt bt allowed
i'~ e<>ntribution to texture. Jm' . . the eighteen chapteTS of UIy. . ts
' "1 Ad. ti"" GIHh<en << 9,6 ; oe<<>n<t edition, A S. . ",. J C. . ,. . " <I 'Fi. . . . . "'" W. . . . \ E. . nstOO, North_nun U. . . . . . i<)" Pr<M >96J~
'By ,. S. Arl><rt<>n (Londoo, Fab<r ond F. b<< >9'9)?
'ByM. . <t><wj,G,~"" . r. <! M. b<<P, Woo'h"'"""(NewV_,0:>1. . . . . . . ,. . U. . . . nity I'rno ! 959),
""bl~h<<I b y d > < T > < J - < m < " ' o f U << , . " " " U " ~ "Y o f R o K < ,
'Cu''''"'t.
'(Min""p>I". Uni""";<)" of M innft,)" Pt<>. r;>6) .
? By Doo. mi> BImi. ('J. ri" . . ni (I;:""""", S",h. . ,,<=> Uni"",,,. . Pr<M '1J6, ). ? By Bt<nd>n 0 H""~ (Ikri<d<r and l. oo A". . t<o. U. . . <ni<)" of Calif"",,", I'TU$
r;>61)?
,oB. Helmu, _ i m (Il<"'<I<y . "<l l. oo An",,,,", Uruve" "Y"",OtUforn;,, P " " ,
r;>61) .
? POO""' lr>divid. . . . . l . tyla, mood. and ItmO&pllercs, 00 each of ~ . . . ven<<<n FW chapten hQ ? private . . . . . . . II was ""'1' . . . . . . , (Dr Jora to t. . nsfer any panly-oompowd material r. . . . . . ont d>ipter to anocher. The only instana: of lOlly lmalh . . . hid> I can &:ivc: it m e p a . . . no p h 1 l ) . H - : l 2 4 - 0 7 , w h i c h i f r f l l i ne:d i n i l S o r i g U W p i a << would have Kpo. l'1ted )69-oS and 06. "
"J1>c: reader who has noo: rcc:ogniud chap,. . unification may u sume that, ,;nee a! most any pauise ind. . . d. . d>e main th=ea orob. . ,,,lon. of FW, I>e need only pick one: at random and admit e",,'1' aJJUlIQl'l ill word. can be a>nloncd 10 produce. "J1>c: Ulual COfIK(l. . . mcc It tcmp<>nry Iioocination folLowed by lou of me faculty for d"win& lines oradutlon, Iud". ,. '" conc:cprual ""er? load, P')'I:hi<: ' ' 'Ul'1tion.
I" d>? milia! . ,. . ,. than ~henlion. 10 reslrict lIIc: .
I consider familiarity 10 be m. ,. . , imPOflllll AltOOu&h in d>? I
01"".
h a " " a r o p y o f F W a l l > a n d whcne:~er . . . .
permiMi<>n of the State University of New York at Buffalo (Lock- wood Memorial Library), I am additionally indebted to the fol- lowing publishers for the use of copyright material, Faber and Faber, London, and The Viking Press, New York, for eXlr1Icti from Fi">l? ganJ Wah by James Joyce (1964) and Th~ Book, of Ih. Wake by I? S. Alb. non (1959); The Bodley Hcod, Loodon, ond Random Ho". . . , New York, for extrocl5 from Uly". . by Jome, Joyce (1960); Jonathan Cape, London, and T he Viking ! >ress for e~u"cts from A Po"ra;, of ,h. ArtiJl a. a Youne Man by Jame. Joy<< (I96S); Faber and Faber for exLraCti from Srrw;lur. and
by Jad: P. Dahon and Give Han ('966); Northwestern Uni_ veuhy Pres. , EvaO$ton, IlIinoi" for extrocts from A S. C<>n<i c. ",~, o f 'Fin,,~an. W a . . . . b y A d . l i n e G l a s h e e n ( 1 9 6 3 ) ; ThamC$ and Hudson, London, fet extract. from Cellic Heril<1fe by A. Ree, and B. Rces (1973); and Routledge and Kegan Poul, London, for e~rn. cts from. Shama",? ,,,. by Mircea Eliade ('964).
MO/1! in 'Fin>l? gan, Wah. ' by ('Jive Hart (196~),
Joyc~ volume I, edited by Stuart Gilbert (1957) and volume III, edited by Richard Ellrnann (t96(;),and T_I"~a,,da TiUy, edited
t. II",ofJam. .
? Introduction
James Joyce is probably tlu: greatest atyliS! in tbe Engli1h lan_ g. . . . g<:. FinMKa", Wak. i. hi' last book, ,0",hi~h be devoted mocc <""f8Y ,han 10 any OIher , It i, immensely difficult to r-ead: I sll<lllid in raCt say ,hal it i. nOI a reasonable thing to expect any unaided pcnon to att<;mpt Finnqa~1 Wak? . Thero i. in consequence . . pressill3 need f(>T exe! ! ':tical . (udi. ,. which ac'uaUy work, ? ? opposed to producinll" men: ". . . nquillizing dfcCl,
The earliest aJ>Praisal, of l'inmgans Wake (hero. fter abbrevi_ ",cd Fir) ~'" . . ,ay, published during tbe book'. comp<Jllioon, the III<>>t irnponant con. rhuting Our E:wgmiIW/ion round hi' 1'tJ(;- ! ifica"""Jot' Incam;"",;""ofWork in P'''R,m,l The firs, compre- hensive analysi. wu Campbell and Robinson'. A SAdeu", K. y
to'Finnqan. Wak. ', which appearM in '\144. ' Despite its frcquen! l. p. . . . inro uninforma. i,'e p. . . . . . ph"""" ,he SA,kum Key mUS'c" a
,lto,,&<,r conviction of ;t, ,ubject's dignity than ;ny ""diec l1udy, and , uPPOrl, this conviction with an imp~! ivc bulk of novel interpretation. The popular image of FW is the image created by Campbell and RQhinMIn: ~eral. . . ,cent 'guidebooks' seem to owe linle to my . uboequent invCSligalOU.
The difficulty of absocbing FW re>ulu nOl m<rdy from the highly fragmented natu", of ;t, t. "t but . bo from the fragmented nature of the absorption process inelf. In reading . . . . W onc makes ? suc. :. . . ion nf isolated di. . :ovcri. . pertaining to various di. . :;- plines and ". tinned rntdomly throughout the volume. Appearing in no speci. l OTdc:r, tbey ace soon forgotten unl. . . . ome form of ""taloguing i. anempted, which i. an oc<:up. . . ion rtpugnant to most penons in . . arch of . . . tbetic end? .
T hree books of the 19500 '''empled 10 "". . . logue ! heir ambon'
'By SlmUd Ikdet, and <Kh<r> (I. . <>ndon, F. oo ODd F. oo 'opgl? '},,,'w_Campl><~ . Dd Hen')" """'on _ _ A SJuk,. . Koy '" '1'"",,,,,,,, W""'" (N<w Von, IUr<oun Bro<< JOYSn<rri<h '9"'" LoRdon. F. M, and F. oo
'941).
? 2 Introduction
disrov~riesinthr. . ,f,eld? . ~y~reACmsu,of'F;nnqa~, Wake','n. . RooluatthoW~andSongi~theWorksofJ__ Joyce. ' Hut many of tht glo. . . ,. apprQpriate to parricular FW word. are n~ithe, peT! lonal, liter-ary n(>< musical, and the essential vehicle fnr publishil\3 scattered minutiae did not materiali. . . , Wltil
'9"\2. A[ [hil point Clive Hart and FrilZ Seen fnunded A Wa. Iu Nro;,lirr. . ,? Q ? f"rum for discu",ing approaches 10 FW IS wdl . . a n:ctptack fm Wltrttted data.
Apart [mm Mr Hart'. ('"",ccrdana to 'Finnegans Wak. " and the_econdeditinnoftheCmsu" themostimpomntpJ"OdUCtaof Ihe . 96<">0 "",re language Ii. ts. Tlte Ntw,/irltr published studies ofvariou. minor languages, and thr. . , extended linguistic analyses also appeared, S<a",jjnav"a~ EI'. . . en" of 'Fi~l1(Ka~, W ak. ',' A Gaeh'c1~ri<""f",'Fi_aIU Wak. ','and A uxium of t~ G. n=~ in 'H""'ZaIU Wako'. "
Unfortunately, much puhlished exegesi. exhihita I dcpresoing indifference to context and continuity, which ","ults r""" the di,- proportiona.
e acquaintance with the text po! lsessed by most exc- S"[. . . . Chap<<" I. . and 1,8, for example, are more familiar to mn"
"f u' than, . oy, the book II ehap[~u. T he cohesion <>f parts will be appreciated only whtn 'he reader has formulated canonl for diltil\3ui. hing them. I pn>p(>Se here to try to a? ? i,t him.
Ideally, we ,hould try to remain conscious of the dual function of e""ry word. Tltero i? ? linear function, a contribution to the 'ynIlCtic romplex in which the word "and,. We must be able tn account ro, the position nf any unit in FW . . ? tramifion hetwttn the uniu on either . ide of it. Secondly there i, a If'temic function, a contribution to the tone of the . ecti(>l), Very common word. are chiefly linear ill function; Ilames . uch a. the thounnd or . . , """'" m. nrioned in 1. 8 ar. chiefly if'. entic, in thi. case enhancing . h. wat~ry quality of tJut chapt(r. But . ""r)" word muSt bt allowed
i'~ e<>ntribution to texture. Jm' . . the eighteen chapteTS of UIy. . ts
' "1 Ad. ti"" GIHh<en << 9,6 ; oe<<>n<t edition, A S. . ",. J C. . ,. . " <I 'Fi. . . . . "'" W. . . . \ E. . nstOO, North_nun U. . . . . . i<)" Pr<M >96J~
'By ,. S. Arl><rt<>n (Londoo, Fab<r ond F. b<< >9'9)?
'ByM. . <t><wj,G,~"" . r. <! M. b<<P, Woo'h"'"""(NewV_,0:>1. . . . . . . ,. . U. . . . nity I'rno ! 959),
""bl~h<<I b y d > < T > < J - < m < " ' o f U << , . " " " U " ~ "Y o f R o K < ,
'Cu''''"'t.
'(Min""p>I". Uni""";<)" of M innft,)" Pt<>. r;>6) .
? By Doo. mi> BImi. ('J. ri" . . ni (I;:""""", S",h. . ,,<=> Uni"",,,. . Pr<M '1J6, ). ? By Bt<nd>n 0 H""~ (Ikri<d<r and l. oo A". . t<o. U. . . <ni<)" of Calif"",,", I'TU$
r;>61)?
,oB. Helmu, _ i m (Il<"'<I<y . "<l l. oo An",,,,", Uruve" "Y"",OtUforn;,, P " " ,
r;>61) .
? POO""' lr>divid. . . . . l . tyla, mood. and ItmO&pllercs, 00 each of ~ . . . ven<<<n FW chapten hQ ? private . . . . . . . II was ""'1' . . . . . . , (Dr Jora to t. . nsfer any panly-oompowd material r. . . . . . ont d>ipter to anocher. The only instana: of lOlly lmalh . . . hid> I can &:ivc: it m e p a . . . no p h 1 l ) . H - : l 2 4 - 0 7 , w h i c h i f r f l l i ne:d i n i l S o r i g U W p i a << would have Kpo. l'1ted )69-oS and 06. "
"J1>c: reader who has noo: rcc:ogniud chap,. . unification may u sume that, ,;nee a! most any pauise ind. . . d. . d>e main th=ea orob. . ,,,lon. of FW, I>e need only pick one: at random and admit e",,'1' aJJUlIQl'l ill word. can be a>nloncd 10 produce. "J1>c: Ulual COfIK(l. . . mcc It tcmp<>nry Iioocination folLowed by lou of me faculty for d"win& lines oradutlon, Iud". ,. '" conc:cprual ""er? load, P')'I:hi<: ' ' 'Ul'1tion.
I" d>? milia! . ,. . ,. than ~henlion. 10 reslrict lIIc: .
I consider familiarity 10 be m. ,. . , imPOflllll AltOOu&h in d>? I
01"".
h a " " a r o p y o f F W a l l > a n d whcne:~er . . . .
