No More Learning

? uitmotiv
'D. . . Leitmotiv fdgt,sowcit . . inhlitlicll deutet, nicht du dichlcrilchto form cine m,,';b lisehe an, KlIl<km es phi
dtm Inhalt du Woou durcb . cine eigent formung t lWaS hitml. '
Tht Iymbooc content of all three comJlO""nt paru in the tmtrai amalgarnatioo of motifs quoled abo"" it matk to inta. act in a ""ry vital way: Night and Day, two oppcmu:s, arc <<. SOlved in the oomcwhal I= l i l l image ofhunU! mtn clad in
thclr night? attire harr-owing tht hilll in Ihe morning, while tht obj<<t ofthtir hunt it id""tilkd u HCE, tht lIag in (<); 1M: oenIal <rn:rtoOCl of {. oj arc reinforud by the clearly lCltuai ligni6c. ance of ('1; the idcnlilication ofShaun'. barrel with the Hoati"l coffin of Ooiril ill ht", emph. . iec:d by the a. . echtlon
with Ihe hea. . . . ("'~).
The", remaim OOt othu highly imporu,nt applic<ition oflhe
ltitmom in Pirwl(J,1tS WOW which mUlt bt: rnentiontd. This is tht technique of Ol1I\llZing motif. into a matrix or compla:. L The", M e two main typca of motif. agglomeration in Pirw, 1lAJ W. . . . ,. The lint and oimplcr type is ! 'IOthi", more than a bloc;lr. ofj""u,p: I! d motifo and a. oocia! ed . ymbola-a further a:amplc ofthe RabfJajoi'ncataloguc-ttthniquetowbichJoycewu10 inclintd. Every 00 ofttnJ oycc ~irtLUllly baltl the lorwarn move- ment of the narrati"" in order 10 build up a great pile of un- diluted motifa, thematic lto. temcnll, UK! symbols, which, to the weary reader trying to WOI'k his way Itraight through the: book from covu to (ov'"", come as a welcome, wcll""arned r<:iicf from his llrugsl. . wilh the: ';nuooiti. . ofJoyce'. thought elK? wlttrr:. The longest of these r. . ling places is the list of 389 attri. buu:s of Finn MacCool in 1. 6 (121i-39). 0"" might . ,'optct. , or {car, lhal the jUUp<lllition of individual items in lbcsc li. w is of . orne obtcur<: lignilicar1a, but, although ther<: is anainly mud! 10 admire in the wit and :appoUtel1CSl of c:ach rr:ve:aling litlie
phraJc,Joyu'l WOI'mg nu:thodo make il clear thai the ord~r of ilema is uaually unimportant. So little atttntion did Joyce pay to their onicr that he allowtd fri. nds 10 m. . . rt his additiOlll, giving them coruiderable freedom in the details of pbccment.
, $H J>l'rtic,. wly (be 'Utler', Cha_ Eip>L, II, b<. low. '19
? uz"tmoliv
The fullowing unpublished mam,"cript note is revelalory', 'If possible pie"",, i"",n Ihe following . 't aenknce, in D, begin- ning aooul 2 lin. . from top at H;gular intervals and ending aoout ~ lin. . from end, of toUTle not breaking any phrase or
group ofphra,. . ,'
'Baile. Alha. Cliath, 3' J un, 1 1. 3~ A. D. ' 'Fit Dunlop and be Satisfied'
'In the March of Civili! ation'
'Buy Pattenen', Matche,'
'Boston (M. . . . ), 31Jan, 13? ? ~ P. O. '
By baiting the narrative for a moment and filling Ihe pau. e with ruch concentration. of motih, J oyce i. abk: to creale a . . ,ri. . of nodal points whe,"" the reader can C<lntcmpla. te Ihe primary materials at hi< le;"u,",,; the ~ ncc of the book is ,""fined offfrom the m"", impu,"" dillCuT1ive matter and;" . hown forth for a moment befo,"" the cycl. . begin again.
The ,"cond ty! '" ormotif. agglomeration, and by far the more important, is the true interacting /tilmolio-compk:x, of whicll the utter is the most outstanding exampie. The romple" of motifr, acting as a whole rather then '" a collection ofleparatc parts, is one of the = t inteu",ing "'peel:! of tlu: struetu,"" of F;",,"l"'" Wa. k It i. a technique which iI on the whole med ,paringly. hut it i, all the mOTe p<m"Crl"ul fOT that. A mmple" all""" motifS whieh have be<:ome highly cluTged fmm lheir
previouo---QI", in the c"",, of Fi. tug". . . Wakt, their futu,",,- contacts, to react with Qne aMther Qn a grand scale, and $<I creatc a harmony of idca, colour, and $<lund, which impr. . . . sivdy heightens the . ymooli~ p<m"Cr or all the cml$tituent parts.
A good example of a rich kit""'tW-complex hdd I<lgclher in a tight 'ynthe:! i, of tone, rhythm, and imagery, i. the c;ck:brated clMingsectionof'Anna LiviaPlnrahdlc' towhi. ;}, Thave alrudy alluded several time:! (~,5- . 6). In the la. t two paragraph. ofthi, chapter almost every phTuc is . . majoTmotif. From lh<:ir $<Iurct he,"" they ,pr-cad either singly or in groups, and with varying
, On<of';",= ]""""~lS. h<et. in,hePo<uyC",Uectionof<heI. <><kwood Memoriat r. . ;b<a'l', Uruy"";ty '" 1Iuffio1o; 'ho ""'" . . und>. tod &nd be>n <>0
ind;c. ati"" . . '0 ,ho identity '" the w;;ipi<tI'; the p"'orc wen<:<! '0 . . now 400-:1 ' .
? uill7Wliv
deg. =ofwit and . . ,Ievance, inw almott all ngionsofthe book. "[h( th(ma "ith which tMy ckal- tm primary priocipk of hW! irical I'(CUm:nce and the a1temaUon of unity and diversity - au ,. "iled in thetc: qni(t and aimple JlatcmenlS far above the level ofshaping forca to become mediutive p! i<'try of the high. a, order. The OIotifs =m to emanate . . . (. senCeil from the being ofAnna i. i"i:l. h~=lf, from the slumbering CityofDublin, and from rem? covered Howth Head. After many 1000g ucu. ? lions through time and spa"", ha\ling ~hurned up mUOQ of tri\lia and quadri\lia whlch all u. U tile UDle story in miniature, we rurrivc at those oppoocd archetypal figures which ~ncnu.
every lcuc. manifestation.
. 8.
? CHAPTER EIGHT TWO MAJOR MOTIFS
In thit chapter I conclude my . rudy of HlltVgaJU W. . . t. Mth a disc"";",, of lOme aspects of twO important motifi. The fil'lt, bu ed on W quotation from Edgar Quinet in II. ~, it a Jing1e modubting ocntcn<<e of quite rernacbble arcwtec- rural beauty wweh i, fully ,Uted 00 W: occations and is alwaY' ~ cludy delineated. The oeoond, tbe 'kIter', is, by con? t'Nt, a . prawling and IOmcwhat formla t motlf. complea which, although it is only onct: qU()(ed complete (6[5-19), roCUI'I in literally hundreds of place. in more or Ic:sa fragmentary fOnn, making iu po=n<<e felt in the molt widdy divcrg<:nt contexts. ' I ,hal! Ir:aa: the Quioet motif Ihrough all iu major OCCUITUICCI in FiJwtll/lS W4kl, but in the caae of the more diffuse Letter I m m l c o n t e n t m y s e l f . . i l h ? ~eral s u r v e y o f i l l s y m b o l i l m a n d a brief diSCUllion of one hitheno undis",were<! source.
I: QUINET
The more repetition a book containa, the I. . . easy il mu", obYioUJIy be for the writer to create motiIJ whote recUITCD<<e will alTest the anent;on of tbc reader. In writing a book 10 con- IiItently repetitive . . FilWglUU W4kl J oyce Jet himldf the con? siderable Icchnic:al l>robkm ofcn:ating, for major architectonic or thematic PIlrJI<*I, a r",,?
ouuunding molili which would not be enlircly nI'1Imped by the general flow of mUlating material. His . impl. ,t IIOlmion to lhi. difficulty was 10 tum uidc from his Dormal c. . . rom of building up motiIt from in1ignificant liltle ph. . . . . ,. and to oomtruct, orbotlOW, a number
' s""k 'izA. ~.
? ? ?
? TIlJO Majll>' Motifs
of Vtry long motif. which, by virtue of their unUJuai propor- tioN migbt readily be picked out even on a e&sual ruding-if anrone ever read, Jo'iaqns W. . . u casually. The rnUquotation from Quinet;' in J<)"'" wayotm molt remarkable ofthtae long motili.
SroUt Gilben quitt o;orrtttly defined lbe technique of F;n",K"1IS W4h aa ',mMlliJte throughout'. ' The d"""lopment of a . tyle which involVNI tM manipulation of ever 111UIIler and m O r e a u t OD O t I l O U I u n i c e v e n t u a l l y l e d J o y t t t o t h e p o i n t w h e r e , aa I have luggestcd above, bo: could insert ,hon, deached ph. . . . ,. " in anyone of a number of p1aceo in the lexl. Yet in 'Pile ofthe un,,",aUy fragmentary nature ofJoyce'H"wn mature literary meth",", he Ittll"lS never 10 have abandoned h" youth_ ful admif"~tion for 'supple periodic proae' in the work of other wrilen. " ,-en aa lu e as 1935 he . tuck 10 his nnpopul. . . . asaertion
thaI Newman _ Ih< grutat of EnglWl prooc~tylists. . ? Th. . love oflimplicity in othen may well have been a p'ychological reaction against the romplexity of his own writing very . imila. to that which iDdu~ him momentarily 10 lower his defcnCCl and pubLUh PO"t/U. I P". ftlU~. ? In a IOmcwhat lyrical mood he ;noorpon. led the Quine! I(;nlen<< inlO the tUI ofFilwl lW 1V4h in the original French (~81. ~). While this;, the only quotation orany length 10 be included in the book, it is interesting to note
thu J oyce has misquoted no less than iii,. rima, aimOilI certainly due to faulty memory':
'Anjoul"d'hui, oomme aux jonn de P\ine el de ColumeUe, 10. jo. cinlhe I(; plaIt daN leo Ganla, la pervenche en lIIyric, la
marguerite lUI" let ",ina de Numancc; e! pendant q\l'autour d'cU. . I. . villa on! changt de ma! lre! ct do: nom, que plu";cun IOnt rentre. . dam Ie neant, quela civilisa! iom I(; $Ont choquta e! bris6ea, leutI paiaibles gbltmtioru on! 1. n~ les igct ct I(;
, s. O;U><n,]o_' J _ " Uj,u. ,. London, '~~" p. <fj.
I u-" p. ~
I cr. abo "'" q. . . . . . . . . . . r. - x-"'" F<*tIk, _boo--<, P. "9- ? s. . ,beplatebe. """"',08. 00 '''9itoMn. . M. . . . Job<'. tJ_
J_ r. . . . kok, P. "" '9-19, whit\< rq><od""" "" 0V<n """. <<><n>pted ' u. ;"" in Joyce', Non<! ; thil . k"",. clear u,o" of NovUor ~ wriu ,," ou'
fi-omm<n. . . ,.
. "
? Two Major Motift
>ont . ucddt i'une II i'aub'c jusqu'a nom, fraich. . et rmntes commc auxjoun d. . balain. . . '
The senten"" is taken from the 11I1~I;,m . ; la phiJosophit 1ft l'hiJ/4irt dt rh""",lIit/, a general and atlracti,dy wrimn enay which j oyce probably found congenial, but which he docs not oeem to have used in Fimug= W4h in any other way. ' "Ill.
veninn in F;IlIItga", W4kt read. '" folio"",
'Auj<>urd'bui COmme aux temps de Pline ct de Columelle la
jacinthe v. piait darn I. . Gaul. . , la pervcnche en llIyrie, 111. marguerite . ur I. . ruin. . de Numance ct pendant qu'autour d'ell. . lcsviII. . ont chang~ de maitra ct de noIIU, que plmieun oont entre", dans Ie neanl, que I. . civilisations se oont choqu~. . cl bris&:. , leun pamble. g6>~ration. ont travem Ie, lig. . et IIOOt arrivee. . jusqu'iL nou" fraich. . et riant. . comme auxjou" oks balaill. . . '
J oyce', change of~urs 10 _ps renden the eehoe. < at the begin_ ning and end of the senten"" Ie", c:<act; the chang. . ofpunclua_ t i o n a n d t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n ( I f " " m f f u r "0'" a r c n o t , e r i o r n ( t h o u g h ""'" is the more usual French), but by rcading ",trw for ,,,,trw joyce h", . urdy thrown away much of the "'ntenee', power to "'gg. . t the cyelic natu,"" of history. The final change - ,o111 am""', for st so. 1 S7JLd,y I'un. '! I'dUI,_ may perhaps be intentional . inee it considerably improves the rhythmic balance, but this i. in any case just the lind of slylistic improvement we mould e:xpectjoyce 10 make uru:on<<;ioully when quoting from memory.
Thc,"" is rather more to Ihe ",nl""ce thM its simple con1<:ot might suggest for it may be interpreted 11. \ a type. . ,xample of
imiLativc form on a small scale-an idea which may never have occurred to Quinel, but ofwhicb. Joye~ make> rull me. A brief analysis will . how how well suited it i. to joyce', purposes. Perhaps tho most immediately obvioulthing about the senknce i. thaI, like F;nntglJllS WIlh, it is a clo. cd circle. After the word Aujourd'lIu; with which it begins, we . tep immediately back into the pa," CCmmt aiL>: I. mp. < 1ft PI;", tI d. C. lu",,/k. For ViC<),
, ~ ~",. p. ,. ;. , ,e57, ,? 01. II, W.