Their
flexibililY
will have become appal'alt in the exampla which I have al?
Hart-Clive-1962-Structure-and-Motif-in-Finnegans-Wake
.
,r,cnt origin, having been coiued by nans ",n Wolzogen for specific applka_ tion to the music of'"agner.
?
In tlu: m>ci<:al world Waguer is,
of cou'""', the chief exponent of Ihe rru:thod, although il h. . . sometimes ~n ,ugge'ted that lu: hiIlW'lf derived Ihe idea in his tum from eadier literary modd. ,. D<:spite the faCI that it . pring> from a long list of ante<:e<ient<, lhe 1(ilmol;o proper, in tlu: ,"""ricted scme in whi(h I ule the word below, i. rare in literatu,"" before the prescnt century. In emhryonic fonn, how_ ever, as a corutantly repeated verbal formula aw>ciated Wilh
per",ms, pla= and thing>, the re<:um:nt mOlifis ofcourse to be found iu the formal lil(rat1l"" of virtually all weotem civili,a_ tions. Tlu: Homen( epithets and mrmulae, the rtfrairu aud hurderu in folk poetry and prayer are dire<:1 anc. ,. tors of the
{eilm. t;v, and Mann hinudf was fond of saying Ihat the tech_ nique can be tr-"e<:d al least as far back as Homer. The quaM. rituali. cic repetition of hy_phr""", in narrative goes back even funher, beyond the nrigin. of writing. A large class of follr_tal. . is WIISlIuctcd around a constandy recurring line of dialogue. Such ,tori. ,. 3. $ 'T"", Tit Tot' (,60. 02) 'Rumpel<liltskin' (:)70. 24) and all tl,cir many varianl. 'i a", the ultimate formal 5OU~ of joy<<:'. 'I'ranlrquean' (21-3) and 'Norwegian Captain' (3 ' 1-32) wilh their modulating 'riddle' motif.
The main r"'1uirement of a lIue lritmoti~;. that it should, 3. $ il. 'i name impli"', l({Id from poinl to point; il is, in fae! , an CDCIlrially dynamic device. Reiteration alone;' not enough 10 wnvert a phrue into a kiilfl(Jti~. Even Gertrude Stcin, who,
, A,""",on, u. . . p""5: 'L<:w:" C. ","l: The Unf<=K<Jl. l'=uroor'. , 0 . Wal. . ,l, Do. W. . - . . . . . . . . k, L<-i~, ,~, p. '5i.
,6,
? LdtmQti~
with Ihe pcmible exceplion of P~guy, must be: the greatest devotee ofrcpeliliven",-,wdlem lilerature hal ever known, Can_ nolraiKpurere""licion10lhenotu. ofkit. . . . Ii? . Rcal~tW entaib a u'"" of otatemenl and "",\:itemen, in 'u~h a way as 10 impel the ",ader to male part to part; eaeh recurrence of ,u"h a motif derives in some nec. . ". . . ry way from all ill previ<>", appearancet and lead. On 10 fulure resurgence', poinling 10 cotTetpondenceo and relationships far beyond Ihoo< ,hal hold bttwt<:n Ihe individual motif and ilS immediale conlext. 'lbe full roUl"Oe of ,uch a motif, appearing and d;'app"aring, now in full view, now fainlly ,uggctIW, mn,1 bt coruid"w a. a whole; like Mr. Brown', 'expanding . ymbob' every . ucceosIul UUm<l/i. lake. on a life of ilS own and continually . nrichet holt. itselfand il;$ contexll as il bean a m"", ofa;. wcialion from one app"an>. Ilce 10 anolher. ' II will be appareol Ihal an Ql. linato a,ide like 'Hurry np pIe"", iI" time', in Mr. Eliol'. Tkt W02SI, fATUI,;" nolleil. . . . ti" in Ihe ""lUt: in which I am "'ing the Ie"n, ,iorA: il don nOllead Ibe reader from part 10 part, but-with however ricb an irony-function. inde""ndently at e~h Ual<:- men\. Similarly, Iar~-Kale rep:lilion of material from tlte main body of a work dotS nol conslilllle IrilmDtiv. The r<:peated burden of a ballad, for example, which maket a verbal rondo out of narrative, has nothing to do with WtMtU; beca. . . ", even iflhe burden i. varied, il leach nowbere bul mainlain> a 'tali~ relationsbip 1<> Ibe narrati"" Ihemts. Leitmotiv, 10 be eff<xlive, mml in facl grow funclionally from the evolving material, yel nol recur regularly in a wholly predictable way; it mml aro"", exp:ctations ofilS ",app"arance and yet give new insighl! when il doe. recur; it mun be a . baping influence, nOllhe fulfilment of predelermined funnal ""Il. llremenlS; il musl bave an active,
rath. . than a paosive, function. "[be n"",,""ary qualit;e, are much Ihe . arne a. Ih"'" . pecifioo hy Mr. Forster f<>r 'rhylhm":
'not 10 be tbere all Ihe time like a pattern, but by il1lovely wax_ ing and waning to fill u. wilh ,urprise and frtshn. . . and hope. '
, E. K. 110"(1"". ~ "' IN X. . . t. Toron'o, '950, Chapt. . ~.
? f. M. Font<<, A,,,,,,, . fIN N. . . . I, Loodoo, '949, pp. ,65
' ~3-{-
? UitmlJliv
R. . th~rLikeOOI~ofPavlov'l dogI. the",aderisgentlyoonditioned to apec:t a motifw! . = he iI . . . bjor;led 10 certain 'Jtimuli'. Th_
rtimuli m;iY ~
symbols, thematic; aI1ll1ions, or \1\(. preseDeC of other moti&. ? ~ proesdifl'cn &nmphyucalcoDdltioning. howen. , in thill
I
of narrative aituations, configuntiona of
both lIimulul and raporut: ruWI ~ constantly valied 10 that what began as . . rimpk one-to-one relationship may expand into something ridlly and often myatc:riously . ugg""tive. It i, jlUt this dynamic flexibility and ever-increaoing power of the k;r_iD \0 e\"Ok and to widen ill bound, thaI sav. . the tech- nique from dcgenenting into a dry. pro6tlea and mechanical memory1lame. Af~mustemphaticallyDOlcomplywilh <he ckfinition offered by Mr. Robert Humphrey':
'il may be: ddlned as a recurring image, symbol, word, or phrase which carrie. . . Italic association with a cmain idta or theme. '
The most highly developed motifl in Fi"""I'1U Wd. allolin the maximum possible flexibility of cuntent. Joyce c",,,tCl, or boliOWl from popular lor<:. formal bnill wilh an easily recog. nUable . hape or rhythm; into lhe! . < empty . helli he is able to pour almOlt any kind of c. ontcnt, jult ill a poetic otI. . . . a. form
m. ay be filled ,,'lth vinually any ,,-oro. . Iu I hn. . , pointed out, popubr sayings, cliches, provcrbt and the lik an; wonderfully . uiledtoJoyce'. purposesin1"~tmU lYoA:. ;anheMeddois evoI<e a well? known rhythm ;1\ Ihe reader'l oomcioUlnQII, aner which he isfree to . . . . , his. . . . ro-play to luperposeon that rhythm alma. 1 Iny dcoircd nuan"" ofaeRIe. The rise and fall, Ihe p. ain and joy of the cha. ractcn, can ~ widely and lubtly rdl<< ted in Ihe changing 1urD. "" and tone of luch moti&.
Their flexibililY will have become appal'alt in the exampla which I have al?
ready had occasion to quote. TechnicallytheI~;'ahighlyoelf. . :. ontcio. . . <kvi<<. It
fun<;1ionl primarily at the outfa~ level, . . -ithin \h( verbal texture. a. arly it dna OOt commend itJclf to novdisu. who adopt a limple and . df? drac;ng . tylo, but it coma quite
I R. H~mpI<r<y, S"""" 'l/C_ _ II", 1M M. . tm. Now! , llefkdey . . . . . . r. . . ""lIdo, '958, pp. 9>-',
,66
? Ltitnwlio
naturally from the pen ofajoy<<. Thomas Mann, tb. moot . df- eon. dow of all expononta of the ltitm. ! ;" and the real architeet of the fully de. . . ,1opcd literary motif, mixed it into. lucid, tra~t, forward? moving namui. . . , uylc. We are, as a mult, ronsl. lntly impelled to Ihlft Our al(j:ntlon from the lubjcc:l? matter seen through the words to the worw thcrn5elves, and while thit change of focul can often be Itimubting in theory, tome readm find it, in practice, extreml'ly distracting. No IUch d~tion lia in the way of the . . . :adeT ofPiMq_ Wdt, in which surface_tature haa become aU. important. Within it nothing i, artificial because all is frankly artifice, nothing ;. lupcrficial because all il lunaee. The more dearly j oyce can IOcw our auemion On the IUrface details of his style, the ktt. . we are able to appreciate his meaning. There is ne""r any
quation ofreading through the "","", which has becn virtually engulfed hy the ltitrnl>li<> technique. It is prohably true to oay
that <;very paragnph in Pb"" glUU Wak. it both built up out of picct:s draWl:( from dJcwooe in the book and, ron",,~ly, capable of being broken down and related 10 all the divnse
t;Onte:x1S from which those piec. . ca"",.
Of course the motif. in Fi~". gallJ Work. are not all equally
functional or dynamic, and there are a considerahle number which appro:rimate to what Wahd colis tbe Visi~w, or what Mr. Fortier neatly design"t. . a 'banner''-although (""n in thc cue of jOY~'1 simplest adaptations of Homeric epithet and the catch_phrase of Dicke",ian caricature, he i. rarely seen to walr(; two hannen with ~ixly the . . . . me device. E:u. cl dupli<:ation is in fact to companti. . . ,ly rare in this boot. whooc main concern it with modality, Ibat the few "". mp'" wbich are to be found there nand OUt with particular cmph"';';
they may wdl have been used fnr just that reason.
Stephen Dedal",. nd the young joyce, at we know from the notCboo\:l,' oa great store by Itatic qualities in an. The pcrftttly poised static moment which made rev. :latlon possible Wat what
? uimwliv
SI"pllea called lh~ 'epiphany'. j O)'tt nev<:r ~ntirely abandoned this aesthetic th. . ,ry, bUI in F~,mu Wdt he . uoi",ilal(:d il into a mllure lechnique which soesfar bcyund the imalti""li~ range of the urly notcbookjollingt. Mrs. G]. ;uhecn'. an tllion Ihal Theodore S! ",r>Ccr _ talking non. . . . . . . , ,,? hen h~ II. J. ICd Ih. . . tJOYC~'15u"". ,. . i,""works are . . . U'illustration. , intcnai! icatioru . . . nd enlargement>' of the theory of epiphanie. ' i, not entirely j Ulti! ied for, mwl<liU "",I<I,. ,JU, the b6t of the motifs in Fin"'81U11
Wah se~ much the nme type offunction as do the epiphanies of the early book,. Those cpiphanifs, though frequently effee- tive enough in the,"",l". ,. , ICnded to halt all for. <<anl movement of the namlti~. . " as every ruder of StqJ4m IImJ ia aw! U-. :; the I,"_i",O{,. ~ W. u,an Ihog. :lher morelunmJined. nd IJUpple equi,-alcnl, ! U-. : O"Ue to Ihnr name and a1waY' lcad the reader on 10 funhe. variatioru and relationship . j w t as the individual Itatic frames of a motion. picture aTe given lire . . . nd
mOVement when resolv~don Ihe cinema-sc. . . ,. n, $0 each ""quen. e ofpenetrating motif. stat~ment> . . tnade to fUK into a dyoamic image of . . . ,ality. Evcn in isolation many of the longer motifl . . . . . . , triumphs of the epiphany technique. 'Vikingfalhcr Sleeps' il an exp"""'" of thc total paralysis 0{ h;"h civilisation that would hn. . , won th~ harsh Stephen" astoru. hed approval, while the d. . . . ? elopment of Ihe paaage through IWO major vari- anl. ! . ho>. . . . how much funherjora',llier mann~r ""abies him
to go in th~ analys;, of an inuanl of revelation,
'Liverpoor ? Sol a bit ofi! ! Hi. brayn('l coolt pamtch, his pelt na. . y, h;, heart'. adrone, hi, bluid. <! rcaJT\l acrawl, hil puff but a pifl", h;, '""trem~Iies ,""lremdy 10' renglcss, Pawmbroke, Cbilblaimend a nd Baldow! . IJ un oph iI in hil doge. WOl"ds weigh no no more to him than rnindrir- to R~lhf~rnhim. Which We allliu. Rain. When "'" o. lttp. Dro]ll. 8uI wail until our$leeping
Drain. Sdops. ' (14. 13)
'Ri,.
of cou'""', the chief exponent of Ihe rru:thod, although il h. . . sometimes ~n ,ugge'ted that lu: hiIlW'lf derived Ihe idea in his tum from eadier literary modd. ,. D<:spite the faCI that it . pring> from a long list of ante<:e<ient<, lhe 1(ilmol;o proper, in tlu: ,"""ricted scme in whi(h I ule the word below, i. rare in literatu,"" before the prescnt century. In emhryonic fonn, how_ ever, as a corutantly repeated verbal formula aw>ciated Wilh
per",ms, pla= and thing>, the re<:um:nt mOlifis ofcourse to be found iu the formal lil(rat1l"" of virtually all weotem civili,a_ tions. Tlu: Homen( epithets and mrmulae, the rtfrairu aud hurderu in folk poetry and prayer are dire<:1 anc. ,. tors of the
{eilm. t;v, and Mann hinudf was fond of saying Ihat the tech_ nique can be tr-"e<:d al least as far back as Homer. The quaM. rituali. cic repetition of hy_phr""", in narrative goes back even funher, beyond the nrigin. of writing. A large class of follr_tal. . is WIISlIuctcd around a constandy recurring line of dialogue. Such ,tori. ,. 3. $ 'T"", Tit Tot' (,60. 02) 'Rumpel<liltskin' (:)70. 24) and all tl,cir many varianl. 'i a", the ultimate formal 5OU~ of joy<<:'. 'I'ranlrquean' (21-3) and 'Norwegian Captain' (3 ' 1-32) wilh their modulating 'riddle' motif.
The main r"'1uirement of a lIue lritmoti~;. that it should, 3. $ il. 'i name impli"', l({Id from poinl to point; il is, in fae! , an CDCIlrially dynamic device. Reiteration alone;' not enough 10 wnvert a phrue into a kiilfl(Jti~. Even Gertrude Stcin, who,
, A,""",on, u. . . p""5: 'L<:w:" C. ","l: The Unf<=K<Jl. l'=uroor'. , 0 . Wal. . ,l, Do. W. . - . . . . . . . . k, L<-i~, ,~, p. '5i.
,6,
? LdtmQti~
with Ihe pcmible exceplion of P~guy, must be: the greatest devotee ofrcpeliliven",-,wdlem lilerature hal ever known, Can_ nolraiKpurere""licion10lhenotu. ofkit. . . . Ii? . Rcal~tW entaib a u'"" of otatemenl and "",\:itemen, in 'u~h a way as 10 impel the ",ader to male part to part; eaeh recurrence of ,u"h a motif derives in some nec. . ". . . ry way from all ill previ<>", appearancet and lead. On 10 fulure resurgence', poinling 10 cotTetpondenceo and relationships far beyond Ihoo< ,hal hold bttwt<:n Ihe individual motif and ilS immediale conlext. 'lbe full roUl"Oe of ,uch a motif, appearing and d;'app"aring, now in full view, now fainlly ,uggctIW, mn,1 bt coruid"w a. a whole; like Mr. Brown', 'expanding . ymbob' every . ucceosIul UUm<l/i. lake. on a life of ilS own and continually . nrichet holt. itselfand il;$ contexll as il bean a m"", ofa;. wcialion from one app"an>. Ilce 10 anolher. ' II will be appareol Ihal an Ql. linato a,ide like 'Hurry np pIe"", iI" time', in Mr. Eliol'. Tkt W02SI, fATUI,;" nolleil. . . . ti" in Ihe ""lUt: in which I am "'ing the Ie"n, ,iorA: il don nOllead Ibe reader from part 10 part, but-with however ricb an irony-function. inde""ndently at e~h Ual<:- men\. Similarly, Iar~-Kale rep:lilion of material from tlte main body of a work dotS nol conslilllle IrilmDtiv. The r<:peated burden of a ballad, for example, which maket a verbal rondo out of narrative, has nothing to do with WtMtU; beca. . . ", even iflhe burden i. varied, il leach nowbere bul mainlain> a 'tali~ relationsbip 1<> Ibe narrati"" Ihemts. Leitmotiv, 10 be eff<xlive, mml in facl grow funclionally from the evolving material, yel nol recur regularly in a wholly predictable way; it mml aro"", exp:ctations ofilS ",app"arance and yet give new insighl! when il doe. recur; it mun be a . baping influence, nOllhe fulfilment of predelermined funnal ""Il. llremenlS; il musl bave an active,
rath. . than a paosive, function. "[be n"",,""ary qualit;e, are much Ihe . arne a. Ih"'" . pecifioo hy Mr. Forster f<>r 'rhylhm":
'not 10 be tbere all Ihe time like a pattern, but by il1lovely wax_ ing and waning to fill u. wilh ,urprise and frtshn. . . and hope. '
, E. K. 110"(1"". ~ "' IN X. . . t. Toron'o, '950, Chapt. . ~.
? f. M. Font<<, A,,,,,,, . fIN N. . . . I, Loodoo, '949, pp. ,65
' ~3-{-
? UitmlJliv
R. . th~rLikeOOI~ofPavlov'l dogI. the",aderisgentlyoonditioned to apec:t a motifw! . = he iI . . . bjor;led 10 certain 'Jtimuli'. Th_
rtimuli m;iY ~
symbols, thematic; aI1ll1ions, or \1\(. preseDeC of other moti&. ? ~ proesdifl'cn &nmphyucalcoDdltioning. howen. , in thill
I
of narrative aituations, configuntiona of
both lIimulul and raporut: ruWI ~ constantly valied 10 that what began as . . rimpk one-to-one relationship may expand into something ridlly and often myatc:riously . ugg""tive. It i, jlUt this dynamic flexibility and ever-increaoing power of the k;r_iD \0 e\"Ok and to widen ill bound, thaI sav. . the tech- nique from dcgenenting into a dry. pro6tlea and mechanical memory1lame. Af~mustemphaticallyDOlcomplywilh <he ckfinition offered by Mr. Robert Humphrey':
'il may be: ddlned as a recurring image, symbol, word, or phrase which carrie. . . Italic association with a cmain idta or theme. '
The most highly developed motifl in Fi"""I'1U Wd. allolin the maximum possible flexibility of cuntent. Joyce c",,,tCl, or boliOWl from popular lor<:. formal bnill wilh an easily recog. nUable . hape or rhythm; into lhe! . < empty . helli he is able to pour almOlt any kind of c. ontcnt, jult ill a poetic otI. . . . a. form
m. ay be filled ,,'lth vinually any ,,-oro. . Iu I hn. . , pointed out, popubr sayings, cliches, provcrbt and the lik an; wonderfully . uiledtoJoyce'. purposesin1"~tmU lYoA:. ;anheMeddois evoI<e a well? known rhythm ;1\ Ihe reader'l oomcioUlnQII, aner which he isfree to . . . . , his. . . . ro-play to luperposeon that rhythm alma. 1 Iny dcoircd nuan"" ofaeRIe. The rise and fall, Ihe p. ain and joy of the cha. ractcn, can ~ widely and lubtly rdl<< ted in Ihe changing 1urD. "" and tone of luch moti&.
Their flexibililY will have become appal'alt in the exampla which I have al?
ready had occasion to quote. TechnicallytheI~;'ahighlyoelf. . :. ontcio. . . <kvi<<. It
fun<;1ionl primarily at the outfa~ level, . . -ithin \h( verbal texture. a. arly it dna OOt commend itJclf to novdisu. who adopt a limple and . df? drac;ng . tylo, but it coma quite
I R. H~mpI<r<y, S"""" 'l/C_ _ II", 1M M. . tm. Now! , llefkdey . . . . . . r. . . ""lIdo, '958, pp. 9>-',
,66
? Ltitnwlio
naturally from the pen ofajoy<<. Thomas Mann, tb. moot . df- eon. dow of all expononta of the ltitm. ! ;" and the real architeet of the fully de. . . ,1opcd literary motif, mixed it into. lucid, tra~t, forward? moving namui. . . , uylc. We are, as a mult, ronsl. lntly impelled to Ihlft Our al(j:ntlon from the lubjcc:l? matter seen through the words to the worw thcrn5elves, and while thit change of focul can often be Itimubting in theory, tome readm find it, in practice, extreml'ly distracting. No IUch d~tion lia in the way of the . . . :adeT ofPiMq_ Wdt, in which surface_tature haa become aU. important. Within it nothing i, artificial because all is frankly artifice, nothing ;. lupcrficial because all il lunaee. The more dearly j oyce can IOcw our auemion On the IUrface details of his style, the ktt. . we are able to appreciate his meaning. There is ne""r any
quation ofreading through the "","", which has becn virtually engulfed hy the ltitrnl>li<> technique. It is prohably true to oay
that <;very paragnph in Pb"" glUU Wak. it both built up out of picct:s draWl:( from dJcwooe in the book and, ron",,~ly, capable of being broken down and related 10 all the divnse
t;Onte:x1S from which those piec. . ca"",.
Of course the motif. in Fi~". gallJ Work. are not all equally
functional or dynamic, and there are a considerahle number which appro:rimate to what Wahd colis tbe Visi~w, or what Mr. Fortier neatly design"t. . a 'banner''-although (""n in thc cue of jOY~'1 simplest adaptations of Homeric epithet and the catch_phrase of Dicke",ian caricature, he i. rarely seen to walr(; two hannen with ~ixly the . . . . me device. E:u. cl dupli<:ation is in fact to companti. . . ,ly rare in this boot. whooc main concern it with modality, Ibat the few "". mp'" wbich are to be found there nand OUt with particular cmph"';';
they may wdl have been used fnr just that reason.
Stephen Dedal",. nd the young joyce, at we know from the notCboo\:l,' oa great store by Itatic qualities in an. The pcrftttly poised static moment which made rev. :latlon possible Wat what
? uimwliv
SI"pllea called lh~ 'epiphany'. j O)'tt nev<:r ~ntirely abandoned this aesthetic th. . ,ry, bUI in F~,mu Wdt he . uoi",ilal(:d il into a mllure lechnique which soesfar bcyund the imalti""li~ range of the urly notcbookjollingt. Mrs. G]. ;uhecn'. an tllion Ihal Theodore S! ",r>Ccr _ talking non. . . . . . . , ,,? hen h~ II. J. ICd Ih. . . tJOYC~'15u"". ,. . i,""works are . . . U'illustration. , intcnai! icatioru . . . nd enlargement>' of the theory of epiphanie. ' i, not entirely j Ulti! ied for, mwl<liU "",I<I,. ,JU, the b6t of the motifs in Fin"'81U11
Wah se~ much the nme type offunction as do the epiphanies of the early book,. Those cpiphanifs, though frequently effee- tive enough in the,"",l". ,. , ICnded to halt all for. <<anl movement of the namlti~. . " as every ruder of StqJ4m IImJ ia aw! U-. :; the I,"_i",O{,. ~ W. u,an Ihog. :lher morelunmJined. nd IJUpple equi,-alcnl, ! U-. : O"Ue to Ihnr name and a1waY' lcad the reader on 10 funhe. variatioru and relationship . j w t as the individual Itatic frames of a motion. picture aTe given lire . . . nd
mOVement when resolv~don Ihe cinema-sc. . . ,. n, $0 each ""quen. e ofpenetrating motif. stat~ment> . . tnade to fUK into a dyoamic image of . . . ,ality. Evcn in isolation many of the longer motifl . . . . . . , triumphs of the epiphany technique. 'Vikingfalhcr Sleeps' il an exp"""'" of thc total paralysis 0{ h;"h civilisation that would hn. . , won th~ harsh Stephen" astoru. hed approval, while the d. . . . ? elopment of Ihe paaage through IWO major vari- anl. ! . ho>. . . . how much funherjora',llier mann~r ""abies him
to go in th~ analys;, of an inuanl of revelation,
'Liverpoor ? Sol a bit ofi! ! Hi. brayn('l coolt pamtch, his pelt na. . y, h;, heart'. adrone, hi, bluid. <! rcaJT\l acrawl, hil puff but a pifl", h;, '""trem~Iies ,""lremdy 10' renglcss, Pawmbroke, Cbilblaimend a nd Baldow! . IJ un oph iI in hil doge. WOl"ds weigh no no more to him than rnindrir- to R~lhf~rnhim. Which We allliu. Rain. When "'" o. lttp. Dro]ll. 8uI wail until our$leeping
Drain. Sdops. ' (14. 13)
'Ri,.
