A little help with Finnegans

[Judy_O]

Dear forum members,

My name is Judy. I am an English-Hebrew translator. Recently I translated My Ear at His Heart by Hanif Kureishi. Kureishi quotes a line from Finegans Wake. Finegans Wake had never been translated to Hebrew (from obvious reasons, I suppose, though other books by Joyce had been translated).

This is the line from Finnegans:

"O, begor, I want no expert nursis symaphy from yours broons quadroons and I can psoakoonaloose myself any time I want (the fog follow you all) without your interferences or any other pigeonstealer."

(Joyce criticizes psychoanalysts, as you all know)

The editor insists on translating it to Hebrew. I know, it is outrageous!

Well, I guess I can somehow translate this one line to Joycian style Hebrew, if only I understood what it says, and if only I understood the puns .

Can you help me?

Thank you very much for any help you can give me

Judy

[nome1486]

Hi Judy,

I have not read Finnegan's Wake, but I have studied Joyce and from what I've read about the Wake it sounds like context is an important part of the meaning of any one part, just as in poetry. It might help you to read the surrounding paragraph(s) to get a better idea about the puns involved. Sorry I can't be more helpful

[Daniel A. C.]

Wow, that seems like an almost impossible task - I think you need to find an Israeli Joyce scholar, fast! If you do translate the line, I would be interested to see a post on how you did it, though I don't speak Hebrew, just like to hear how you went about it. When I read Ulysses in university, we talked a little about some translations, but I think this sort of line is way harder. Good luck!

[redhairedstrang]

Try this (hope its not too late for your project):

"O, begor, I want no expert nursis symaphy from yours broons quadroons and I can psoakoonaloose myself any time I want (the fog follow you all) without your interferences or any other pigeonstealer."

"Oh, gosh, I don't want any expert medical opinion from your (racial slur, literally 'bronze 25% african') bronze quadroon, and I can psychoanalyse myself any time I want (and you'll always be confused/ or bad luck to you) without your help or any other (economic slur, literally 'useless bird thief'/ colloquially mind reader)."

Its the kind of snide response an Irishman (an older one) would give to someone who was offering unsolicted advice.

Best of luck.

[lit-phile]

It sounds like you have done a lot of work on understanding Finnegans Wake. I have just begun my study. I have found many very useful links from Wikapedia's Finnegans Wake entry. What references did you use in your study?

[lit-phile]

It sounds like you have done a lot of work on understanding Finnegans Wake. I have just begun my study. I have found many very useful links from Wikapedia's Finnegans Wake entry. What references did you use in your study?

[mono]

I simply used the Cambridge Companion To Finnegans Wake, and found it very helpful, yet I still cannot debate the difficulty of reading the original book - either the most genius book I have ever read, or complete nonsense!

[redhairedstrang]

Sorry mono and/or lit-phile,

I'm not sure if your addressing each other or me, redhairedstrang, but I'll answer lit-phile anyway:

I didn't use any resource, nor am I reading the big F at the moment (read it 15 years ago in grad school). Also read Portrait a few times and am currently reading the big U. I am just very familiar with Irish dialect (a lifetime of conversation).

Your best bet is to abandon secondary sources, scholars and pedants (IMHO), and read the words aloud in your best fake brogue. A good stepping stone for the American reader is Mark Twain's use of dialect, reading Joyce (for me) is a lot like that.

Finally, I'd strongly recommend not worrying too much about 'getting it exactly right' or 'what Joyce really meant', rather enjoy the reading for what it means to you. Joyce is dead and has been for quite some time; and, there is really no way to confirm his original intent (regardless of the academic industry).

For me, reading Joyce helps me understand my humanity, weaknesses, indulgences and pleasures - and something of the wonderful spark that comes with being mortal in an infinite chain of experience. I find that if you can touch on this humanity in his work, reading it isn't so tough (or esoteric).

As with Rabelais, Twain, Cervantes and Chekov, I find that Joyce makes me laugh at myself and affirms my humanism. Maybe you can enjoy the work from that perspective - but any way you read it, please enjoy it. I hope (and my best guess is) that's what the author wanted.

Finally, I strongly recommend that you don't let 'studying' the art detract from your enjoyment of it. Look at the work holistically, if you will, and read whole chapters at a sitting without worrying if you comprehend all of it.

Every time I read 'The Cherry Orchard', I find something new. And for me, that's the best part of great literature - it's full of infinite meaning. And, sometimes I think that 'serious scholarship' rains on the parade.

Best wishes always,

Redhairedstrang

[lit-phile]

Redhairedstrang: Thank you for your advice.
One thing that I notice when just reading the original text is that I love the mere sound of the words. It is like poetry. You mentioned reading it aloud. I do this and really enjoy it.
With your advice, I'm now not worried about "studying" it. I will read it from an aesthetic perspective and from what it means to me.

Thank you again.

[mono]

Finally, I'd strongly recommend not worrying too much about 'getting it exactly right' or 'what Joyce really meant', rather enjoy the reading for what it means to you. Joyce is dead and has been for quite some time; and, there is really no way to confirm his original intent (regardless of the academic industry).
. . .
Finally, I strongly recommend that you don't let 'studying' the art detract from your enjoyment of it. Look at the work holistically, if you will, and read whole chapters at a sitting without worrying if you comprehend all of it.

I could not possibly agree more. Surely, I could see myself really feeling frustrated and driving myself to madness in attempting to understand a book such as Finnegans Wake, and, even though I still did continue some research on its complexity, I did not allow it to subtract from my mere enjoyment of the book, itself. No doubt, though it took James Joyce many years to write Finnegans Wake (some 17 years), he probably felt much enjoyment in writing it, too.