, though they amount to no more ,han three or rour wadequate
to direct the whole .
Hart-Clive-1962-Structure-and-Motif-in-Finnegans-Wake
.
.
"'" :
'Mere man'. mime: God has je. t. The old o. del" changeth and lasu likt the flllt. ' (~. 09)
IfJoyce'. motifi au lao dramatic tru. n thooc of Mann and Wagner, they an:: "'""0 mon:: highly chNgcd with oignif'Uot ront. . . . t. A n::pruenrntivc eumple of tile kind ofsymbolic COn?
densation made pouible by a Joya:an lm-tiD is the closing phr&$<: from Anna Livia Plurabelle: 'Baide Ihe rivering waten of, hitherandthithering water! of. Nightl' (216. 04). ' Thac wurds, in thenudve. suggestive enough perhap', but not very remarkable, form an epitome of the whole chapler and bear the . pirit of Anna with tbem wbenever they appear. Not Ortly arc: rippling . . . . . ter and darkness~, but aOO the tree and the toone and the tw o washerwonw:n of the immediate context. Hither and thither, a pair of oppDlite. , lejHIX,n Sbem and Shaun. Since the ph. . . . . . , illbc tail_d of a tale told of Anna L i v i a a n d t b e r o n c l u s i o n o f t h e m a j o r c y c l e o f B o o k I , i t 1 1' 01' &) ' 1 impli"', wh. " it reeu. . . . the end ofone (female) cycle and the beginning of the next (male) cycle, The wording provides a delr connexion with the whole GUlt Cycle ofFitontgaJU Wah, linee 'rivering' echoa the 'riverrun' witb which the book opens, Earlier we had met Anna in a highlighted paw. ge 'by the waten of Babylon' ('03. " ) and hence tlUs Riblico1 all. . . . . . . , " now faintly heard at a burden . . . nderlying 'I\c:$idc the ri\-ering waten', The motif thereb-e draWl inlO thaoe contexts into whic:h il intrudes, overtone. of captivity, eKik, and whorc:dom. But iu. ymbolic <;OIIlent U ltill not exhaUited, since in FiNwltuU Wu. the City-Dublin---i. wually the male, H CE. The intro- duction of Ihe female city of Babylon then:fou rc:lates the
, s. . App<ndu. A.
,,.
? uitmotiv
'change-of_oex' theme'--already pr=nt in the conver'linn of the wa$h~men into the ! KIllS, $hem and Shaun- to ! he parent figures Anna and HCE_A. . wu Bloom in nightmarish nighttown, HCE the city il; trammogrified into an unwilling whore and mITe", many indignities in that role. ' That Joyce i$ consciomly using thi$ potentiality of hil; moLir may k demon? . trated from another of ia occ",renca--that at 3. 15. 1. '>-20. Here the motif is amalgamated with another from IIl. >! ,' and is used to conclude the male word_battle of Butt and T aff, which forms a parallel to the dialogue or the two women in lJl.
In this latter context Joyc~ makes the change of ! oeX- from " male i><lc. k to a femlik cycle-quite explicit:
'Nightclothc. ed, amoned, the conqucrod? ? way. After ! heir
battlc thy fair bosom. ' (3. '>. '>? 19)
For a writer who delights in indirection, one of thc mo:! t
fruitful potentialitie, of the IeilnwtiD i. its capacity to bring off effects by remote control. J oyce Wa$ temptramontaily inclined to like the idea of ",,(ion at a distan"" by m)'1l<:riOUI o. mtrol. He Wa$ fond of manipulaLing people and events fr<lm Ix:hind
the scon. . , ,. . the all. ~thcr extraordinary 'Sullivan affair" make! ! dear. The diotant 'Godlike Artin' "'a$ nne ofJoyce'. early ideals which he never quite outgr<:w. Ther<: a,. . . , . everal varieties of remote control exhibited in F;nJIIIgont Walt, lOme ofwhich, luch al the 'anastomosis' idea, J hav~ alrudy touched On. MOI! t important of all is the way in which nne part of the
universe of FinJIIIgant Wah can Ix: modified and controlled, ,topped and . tarted, by the introduction ofmntifo from another pari at lOme ~uilabk point. These are the 'String. in the earth and air' that Jny"" take. mch pleuurc in pulling. ' T he ludden appcaran<;c nfmoLif. from the ~nd of 1. 8 in th~ children', bed- ro<>m ":en~ (51~) will serve a, an aamplc. At . '>7~. 07 there
begin. a ",rics of queuion. and exclamations:
, s. . J. M. Mon<, TM Syorrp. iNb. """", N=< yon. , 19r! o Chaf"'" III.
, ? I"h. r< """" t o 1. 0< """",! <Werl<>? \es In '~;tl><raMthitl,,:ring ; d. ' tho """'Iuerods . . . . . . y' ,n the ,taten><:nl a( m "9.
? Su bckow. p. [76.
? Ellrnann. W . 63> If.
, ~ M",,-, <<I. W. Y. 1ind>. U. N=< York.
'9~. p. 109.
'75
? uitmcliv
'_ Wait! '
'-WhatI'
'- Her door! '
'-O pe? '
'- Sec! '
'-W hat? '
, C. ,. "fuL'
' - W h<:>? '
Taken iu illOlation, th. . . , wortk might nM oeem to echo any_
thing doe in Fill/ugan; lVake, but a quite un. ru. takeahle con_ den! oatian of 'he concluding paragraph of 1. 8 in 57~. I6--'7
pain! ) ta a carrespondence of the dialogue and the half_ ohocored questians and ""PO""" at 2'5. ~9 ff. 1be eotablish.
nu:nt of this r. orreopondcnce inducts the readeT to auribu te to th. . . , qu~. tion' and exclamations (S72. a7- '4) both a p. a<< and a rhythm in harmony with the strongly ,ugg""tcd mndd. The whole passage is brought to a quiet full cl"", in 572. '7. These change. . of tempo and tOne are not inherent in the writing at this point in "" far:t. 'i it relates to the immediate ront""t of the chapter; they arc imposed on it by the controlling ki/moliv-
r,(lmple" in 1. 8 from which the passage draM only a , [nall hand_ ful of verbal ech~. The"" eehoes.
, though they amount to no more ,han three or rour wadequate
to direct the whole .
.
:ene, Th~ 'oalting' of a p""""ge in th" way with snatcheo from other e""texU ;.
of W u.
.
.
.
not new in Fi.
ntlll1lS
lVake, but there i. perhaps ""me originality in joya', caurage_ oudy allowing the whole rhythmic unity and tone of a ""<luenee
to be dependent on ! lleh a IInall amount ofintrodu""d matter. Apa" from the very marked emphasi. on tt. . verbal le""l of the matir. , the method> I have bttn dtseribing are nat e. ",elusively j aycean in ~haraC1er and, indeed, many writc,," have achieved comparable results witb organioed ",e af . ymbol and image. Having eh"",n the verbal motif a. hi. unit, how- ever, joy. ,. did find application! fur it wruch made a dofinite wnlribution (:() the art of prose. joy<< shared Thoma. Mann', preoccupatian with the problem of h<:>w to make Ihe . poken word functian like music. In an attempt to approximate to the
,"
? uilmoliv
them~tic . tructure of musical forJll. '! Mano had e~perimented with large verbal block. built up from rich matricc. of motif>, io which the . . ,rpentine alternations ofsymbol. and theme would
produce something like hannony and counterpoint. By going beyond COOlventionallangu;o,ge in the 'Si",ns' episode of Ulysses joyce achieved something which approximated even better to the desiud effect, but always in thae experiments joyce failed to transform the NIUM""",f" into a true N,~. . . n"". ukr. The cw. e. t approach to verbal counterpoint in Ulyss. s il the kind
of syncopation by truru:a. tion excmpliJied in:
'Fint Lid, De, Cow, Ker, Doll, a fifth: Lidwell, Si DedallB, Bob Cowley, K<;truln and Big Ben Dollard. ' (U ~76)
The . arne device io to be fuund in FiMlglltlS Wah, though m o " , . killfully handled. The following line from 2~2. 06, for exampk,
re. . d. at fint like a ,ene. ofdactyt. : 'goodfor""illforUS illulall:IU?
The preceding words, however, 'a chorale in canon', indicate that we ,,'" to read it '" a . . ,rico oftele,eoping stretti, thus:
VOICE I: good for u. all
VOICI:: ~: . . . . . . . . . . good for", all
V01CE3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . goodfur usafl VOICE 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . goodforu. all
Th;" ;". I . uppoac, quite amusing, but the . imultaneity of,tate- men! i. achieved by suggestion only. Et. . where in Fin"'g"" Wak? ? however, having created a polysemantic style wbich could . "'tain true counterpoin! , j oyce w. . . . able to . tale mctifs simultaneously in significant inte~n pattem. which are probably"" clOil<: ao analogy to polyphonic music as any lin_ guistic pro<:edure may be. The ,imultaneou. statement of two motif> io quite frequent in FiMtllJl" Wake but it ;" a devir. . whleh always pn:. eno. eomiderable technical difficulties since the re_ 'Iuir<;rnents are conllicting: the individual metif> mull remain
clearly identifiable, yet if the counterpoint is Ie> function pro- p e r l y t h e m a r r i a g e o f t h e twe> m u s t b e as c l o s e a s p < >> s i b k . j o y c e i . by no mea"" always entirely . uccesoful in these C1<perimenl$ wilh counterpoint, but quite a good example i. to be found at 3! J5. 1! i
,. '77
? Leitmuliu
wh"c there is a major "'currence of the 'rivering' motif, which I have already d~lI. . ed. l This is (ounterp:>inted agaimt the 'rolling barrel' motif,' which is OlaLe<l eight times (two four_part cycles) in IlI+ Specifically, the first and last-and hence, according to the laws ofJ. "iNugall. J Watt, identical-venions of the band motif are quoted in combination,"" that the binding together oftbe b. ginning> and end, ofeyd"" u made even richer. The separate element> of the . tatement may he I<:t Out a. folloW! : (. . ) 'Reside the rivering waters of, hitherandthithering watm of. Nightl' (216. 04)
(b) ',,",'hiIe elvery Ol",am winds selingon fur to krep thi, barrrl . ,f bounty rolling and the nightrnail afarfrom mcrning nears. '
(565. 3? )
(e) 'While the qurenhee he . taggerhorned bl=es her bl;" fur 10
feel her funnyman'. functions Tag. Rumbling. ' C~90. 27)
And in combination;
(abc) 'While the Heny Hunt they harrow the hill for to rout them rollicking rogues from, rule tho. e rackete" romp< from, rein their rockery rides from. Rambling. '
'NighlC\<>th<:Sed, arooned, the conqutrod. ' way'. (355. 15) Both ear and eye app"'hend the two motifs offemaL:: ALP and male Shaun; thU u true counterpoint. Mr. Melvin Friedman's camiom alS(rtion tltat Fin1ltglUlS Wake achieves counlerp:>int by implication only,' u accurate enough with regard 10 the Ie<! . uccessfu. 1 and 1= thoroughly digested part> of the book, such a ! the 'canon' quoted above, hut when everything was func_ tioning properly, a. here, Joyce fully achieved hi> aim. The achievement of thu technical analogy docs not, of coune, in itself add m""ical qualilie. 10 the text, hut in bringing about an even closer a<. 'lOCiation of oymboh and idea, than u p<dlible
with normal lingu. i. nic u,age, it lends word. some of the im_ mediacy and ,uccincrne. . of mmical expression. O w r Wai2el wa. careful not to conf""e the two arts':
, S<< At>J>=Iix A-
? O. W. luI, Dos W. ,I. i""'twtro, Leipzig, '9,6, p. '57. . ,8
? $u Appendix A.
'Mere man'. mime: God has je. t. The old o. del" changeth and lasu likt the flllt. ' (~. 09)
IfJoyce'. motifi au lao dramatic tru. n thooc of Mann and Wagner, they an:: "'""0 mon:: highly chNgcd with oignif'Uot ront. . . . t. A n::pruenrntivc eumple of tile kind ofsymbolic COn?
densation made pouible by a Joya:an lm-tiD is the closing phr&$<: from Anna Livia Plurabelle: 'Baide Ihe rivering waten of, hitherandthithering water! of. Nightl' (216. 04). ' Thac wurds, in thenudve. suggestive enough perhap', but not very remarkable, form an epitome of the whole chapler and bear the . pirit of Anna with tbem wbenever they appear. Not Ortly arc: rippling . . . . . ter and darkness~, but aOO the tree and the toone and the tw o washerwonw:n of the immediate context. Hither and thither, a pair of oppDlite. , lejHIX,n Sbem and Shaun. Since the ph. . . . . . , illbc tail_d of a tale told of Anna L i v i a a n d t b e r o n c l u s i o n o f t h e m a j o r c y c l e o f B o o k I , i t 1 1' 01' &) ' 1 impli"', wh. " it reeu. . . . the end ofone (female) cycle and the beginning of the next (male) cycle, The wording provides a delr connexion with the whole GUlt Cycle ofFitontgaJU Wah, linee 'rivering' echoa the 'riverrun' witb which the book opens, Earlier we had met Anna in a highlighted paw. ge 'by the waten of Babylon' ('03. " ) and hence tlUs Riblico1 all. . . . . . . , " now faintly heard at a burden . . . nderlying 'I\c:$idc the ri\-ering waten', The motif thereb-e draWl inlO thaoe contexts into whic:h il intrudes, overtone. of captivity, eKik, and whorc:dom. But iu. ymbolic <;OIIlent U ltill not exhaUited, since in FiNwltuU Wu. the City-Dublin---i. wually the male, H CE. The intro- duction of Ihe female city of Babylon then:fou rc:lates the
, s. . App<ndu. A.
,,.
? uitmotiv
'change-of_oex' theme'--already pr=nt in the conver'linn of the wa$h~men into the ! KIllS, $hem and Shaun- to ! he parent figures Anna and HCE_A. . wu Bloom in nightmarish nighttown, HCE the city il; trammogrified into an unwilling whore and mITe", many indignities in that role. ' That Joyce i$ consciomly using thi$ potentiality of hil; moLir may k demon? . trated from another of ia occ",renca--that at 3. 15. 1. '>-20. Here the motif is amalgamated with another from IIl. >! ,' and is used to conclude the male word_battle of Butt and T aff, which forms a parallel to the dialogue or the two women in lJl.
In this latter context Joyc~ makes the change of ! oeX- from " male i><lc. k to a femlik cycle-quite explicit:
'Nightclothc. ed, amoned, the conqucrod? ? way. After ! heir
battlc thy fair bosom. ' (3. '>. '>? 19)
For a writer who delights in indirection, one of thc mo:! t
fruitful potentialitie, of the IeilnwtiD i. its capacity to bring off effects by remote control. J oyce Wa$ temptramontaily inclined to like the idea of ",,(ion at a distan"" by m)'1l<:riOUI o. mtrol. He Wa$ fond of manipulaLing people and events fr<lm Ix:hind
the scon. . , ,. . the all. ~thcr extraordinary 'Sullivan affair" make! ! dear. The diotant 'Godlike Artin' "'a$ nne ofJoyce'. early ideals which he never quite outgr<:w. Ther<: a,. . . , . everal varieties of remote control exhibited in F;nJIIIgont Walt, lOme ofwhich, luch al the 'anastomosis' idea, J hav~ alrudy touched On. MOI! t important of all is the way in which nne part of the
universe of FinJIIIgant Wah can Ix: modified and controlled, ,topped and . tarted, by the introduction ofmntifo from another pari at lOme ~uilabk point. These are the 'String. in the earth and air' that Jny"" take. mch pleuurc in pulling. ' T he ludden appcaran<;c nfmoLif. from the ~nd of 1. 8 in th~ children', bed- ro<>m ":en~ (51~) will serve a, an aamplc. At . '>7~. 07 there
begin. a ",rics of queuion. and exclamations:
, s. . J. M. Mon<, TM Syorrp. iNb. """", N=< yon. , 19r! o Chaf"'" III.
, ? I"h. r< """" t o 1. 0< """",! <Werl<>? \es In '~;tl><raMthitl,,:ring ; d. ' tho """'Iuerods . . . . . . y' ,n the ,taten><:nl a( m "9.
? Su bckow. p. [76.
? Ellrnann. W . 63> If.
, ~ M",,-, <<I. W. Y. 1ind>. U. N=< York.
'9~. p. 109.
'75
? uitmcliv
'_ Wait! '
'-WhatI'
'- Her door! '
'-O pe? '
'- Sec! '
'-W hat? '
, C. ,. "fuL'
' - W h<:>? '
Taken iu illOlation, th. . . , wortk might nM oeem to echo any_
thing doe in Fill/ugan; lVake, but a quite un. ru. takeahle con_ den! oatian of 'he concluding paragraph of 1. 8 in 57~. I6--'7
pain! ) ta a carrespondence of the dialogue and the half_ ohocored questians and ""PO""" at 2'5. ~9 ff. 1be eotablish.
nu:nt of this r. orreopondcnce inducts the readeT to auribu te to th. . . , qu~. tion' and exclamations (S72. a7- '4) both a p. a<< and a rhythm in harmony with the strongly ,ugg""tcd mndd. The whole passage is brought to a quiet full cl"", in 572. '7. These change. . of tempo and tOne are not inherent in the writing at this point in "" far:t. 'i it relates to the immediate ront""t of the chapter; they arc imposed on it by the controlling ki/moliv-
r,(lmple" in 1. 8 from which the passage draM only a , [nall hand_ ful of verbal ech~. The"" eehoes.
, though they amount to no more ,han three or rour w
lVake, but there i. perhaps ""me originality in joya', caurage_ oudy allowing the whole rhythmic unity and tone of a ""<luenee
to be dependent on ! lleh a IInall amount ofintrodu""d matter. Apa" from the very marked emphasi. on tt. . verbal le""l of the matir. , the method> I have bttn dtseribing are nat e. ",elusively j aycean in ~haraC1er and, indeed, many writc,," have achieved comparable results witb organioed ",e af . ymbol and image. Having eh"",n the verbal motif a. hi. unit, how- ever, joy. ,. did find application! fur it wruch made a dofinite wnlribution (:() the art of prose. joy<< shared Thoma. Mann', preoccupatian with the problem of h<:>w to make Ihe . poken word functian like music. In an attempt to approximate to the
,"
? uilmoliv
them~tic . tructure of musical forJll. '! Mano had e~perimented with large verbal block. built up from rich matricc. of motif>, io which the . . ,rpentine alternations ofsymbol. and theme would
produce something like hannony and counterpoint. By going beyond COOlventionallangu;o,ge in the 'Si",ns' episode of Ulysses joyce achieved something which approximated even better to the desiud effect, but always in thae experiments joyce failed to transform the NIUM""",f" into a true N,~. . . n"". ukr. The cw. e. t approach to verbal counterpoint in Ulyss. s il the kind
of syncopation by truru:a. tion excmpliJied in:
'Fint Lid, De, Cow, Ker, Doll, a fifth: Lidwell, Si DedallB, Bob Cowley, K<;truln and Big Ben Dollard. ' (U ~76)
The . arne device io to be fuund in FiMlglltlS Wah, though m o " , . killfully handled. The following line from 2~2. 06, for exampk,
re. . d. at fint like a ,ene. ofdactyt. : 'goodfor""illforUS illulall:IU?
The preceding words, however, 'a chorale in canon', indicate that we ,,'" to read it '" a . . ,rico oftele,eoping stretti, thus:
VOICE I: good for u. all
VOICI:: ~: . . . . . . . . . . good for", all
V01CE3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . goodfur usafl VOICE 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . goodforu. all
Th;" ;". I . uppoac, quite amusing, but the . imultaneity of,tate- men! i. achieved by suggestion only. Et. . where in Fin"'g"" Wak? ? however, having created a polysemantic style wbich could . "'tain true counterpoin! , j oyce w. . . . able to . tale mctifs simultaneously in significant inte~n pattem. which are probably"" clOil<: ao analogy to polyphonic music as any lin_ guistic pro<:edure may be. The ,imultaneou. statement of two motif> io quite frequent in FiMtllJl" Wake but it ;" a devir. . whleh always pn:. eno. eomiderable technical difficulties since the re_ 'Iuir<;rnents are conllicting: the individual metif> mull remain
clearly identifiable, yet if the counterpoint is Ie> function pro- p e r l y t h e m a r r i a g e o f t h e twe> m u s t b e as c l o s e a s p < >> s i b k . j o y c e i . by no mea"" always entirely . uccesoful in these C1<perimenl$ wilh counterpoint, but quite a good example i. to be found at 3! J5. 1! i
,. '77
? Leitmuliu
wh"c there is a major "'currence of the 'rivering' motif, which I have already d~lI. . ed. l This is (ounterp:>inted agaimt the 'rolling barrel' motif,' which is OlaLe<l eight times (two four_part cycles) in IlI+ Specifically, the first and last-and hence, according to the laws ofJ. "iNugall. J Watt, identical-venions of the band motif are quoted in combination,"" that the binding together oftbe b. ginning> and end, ofeyd"" u made even richer. The separate element> of the . tatement may he I<:t Out a. folloW! : (. . ) 'Reside the rivering waters of, hitherandthithering watm of. Nightl' (216. 04)
(b) ',,",'hiIe elvery Ol",am winds selingon fur to krep thi, barrrl . ,f bounty rolling and the nightrnail afarfrom mcrning nears. '
(565. 3? )
(e) 'While the qurenhee he . taggerhorned bl=es her bl;" fur 10
feel her funnyman'. functions Tag. Rumbling. ' C~90. 27)
And in combination;
(abc) 'While the Heny Hunt they harrow the hill for to rout them rollicking rogues from, rule tho. e rackete" romp< from, rein their rockery rides from. Rambling. '
'NighlC\<>th<:Sed, arooned, the conqutrod. ' way'. (355. 15) Both ear and eye app"'hend the two motifs offemaL:: ALP and male Shaun; thU u true counterpoint. Mr. Melvin Friedman's camiom alS(rtion tltat Fin1ltglUlS Wake achieves counlerp:>int by implication only,' u accurate enough with regard 10 the Ie<! . uccessfu. 1 and 1= thoroughly digested part> of the book, such a ! the 'canon' quoted above, hut when everything was func_ tioning properly, a. here, Joyce fully achieved hi> aim. The achievement of thu technical analogy docs not, of coune, in itself add m""ical qualilie. 10 the text, hut in bringing about an even closer a<. 'lOCiation of oymboh and idea, than u p<dlible
with normal lingu. i. nic u,age, it lends word. some of the im_ mediacy and ,uccincrne. . of mmical expression. O w r Wai2el wa. careful not to conf""e the two arts':
, S<< At>J>=Iix A-
? O. W. luI, Dos W. ,I. i""'twtro, Leipzig, '9,6, p. '57. . ,8
? $u Appendix A.
