HYPERION: ON THE FUTURE OF AESTHETICS
VOL VIII, NO. I SPRING 2014
Tsvetaeva Rilke Brocquy Szentkuthy Powys Fellini Joyce
Lou Castel Carmelo Bene Musil
James Purdy Vláčil
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MAST HEAD
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Vol. VIII, No. 1 (2014)
This issue of Hyperion is dedicated to Louis le Brocquy (1916–2012)
Nicholas Birns, Reenchantment is not Enough: Gosetti-Ferencei’s Post-Heideggeran Heidegger [0–4] Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei, A New Poetics of Dasein [5–36]
Carmelo Bene, I am Non-Existent: Therefore I am Tr. by Carole Viers Andronico [37–44]
Carmelo Bene, Being in Abandonment: Reading as Non-Memory Tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe [45–49]
Carmelo Bene, Well, yes, Gilles Deleuze! Tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe [50–57]
Emilio Villa, Litany for Carmelo Bene Tr. by Dominic Siracusa [58–67]
Louis le Brocquy, The Human Head: Notes on Painting & Awareness [68–87]
Miklós Szentkuthy, Prae (excerpt) Tr. by Tim Wilkinson [88–111]
Intro: Rabid Realism Out of the Confession-Box: Szentkuthy Reading Joyce, by Erika Mihálycsa [112–118] Miklós Szentkuthy, James Joyce: Summa Atheologiae Tr. by Erika Mihálycsa [119–145]
Miklós Szentkuthy, Why Ulysses Again? Tr. by Erika Mihálycsa [146–157]
Erika Mihálycsa, Horsey Women & Arse-temises: Wake-ing Ulysses in Translation [158–186]
Nicholas Birns, Pigeon-Quivering Test Idols: John Cowper Powys & Miklós Szentkuthy [187–205]
Balázs Kerber, Ancient Rome as Postmodern Metaphor: The Rome Interpretations of Szentkuthy & Fellini [206–243]
Robert Musil, Short Prose Tr. by Genese Grill [244–256]
Christopher Whyte, The English for an Anti-Elegy: Translating Tsvetaeva on Rilke [257–270]
Marina Tsvetaeva, Happy New Year Tr. by Christopher Whyte [271–277]
Lou Castel, My “State of Things” Tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe [278–280]
Lou Castel, Before / After the Filming of The Stoning of St. Stephen Tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe [281–288]
REVIEWS
Nicholas Birns, Powys & Purdy: An Epiphany of Cognitive Kinship [289–296]
Beatriz Leal Riesco, František Vláčil, Marketa Lazarová (DVD) [297–307]
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Nicholas Birns ! ! !
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! 1! excellence,! Hölderlin,! along! with! him,! she! also! reads! other! poets,! writers! unarguably! pertinent! to! the! questions! she,! and! Heidegger! himself,!raise.! !!!!!!This!would!perhaps!be!a!more!obvious!critique,!and!have!been!made! earlier! but! commentators,! especially! philosophical! ones,! and! those! looking! to! philosophy! for! some! sort! of! recourse! for! literature,! feel! so! desperately!in!need!a!defense!of!poetry,!one!suspects!from!utiltiarians!on! the!one!side!and!theorists!on!the!other,!that!it!has!sufficed!with"respect" to"Heidegger’s"own"thought!more!than!it!should!have."GosettiUFerencei! points!out!that!Dasein!—!in!a!way,!‘just!being,’!being!there,’!is!a!being!of! experience,!a!lived!being,!by!which!she!does!not!mean!the!everyday!as! some! like! Thoreau! or! Wordsworth! might! construct! it,! a! romantic! everyday,! or! a! modern! banality,! or! certainly! any! sort! of! reassuring! Gemütlichkeit.!Dasein!is!clearly!a!level!of!being!about!ordinary!being,!a! being!at!once!radically!natural!and,!at!least!as!our!default!sensibilities!can! formulate!it,!intrinsically!overdetermined!and!restless,!unable!to!be!still.! Dasein!is!a!posited!being.!But!it!is!not!a!predicable!one.!It!jeopardizes!the! self.!But!it!does!not!relinquish!it.!! !!!!!!!!!It! is! important! that! GosettiUFerencei! also! situates! the! thought! of! Emmanuel!Levinas,!as!well!as!conventional!constructions!of!Heidegger,!as! what!must!be!striven!beyond!here,!at!least!partially!because!Heidegger’s! politics!might!lead!one!to!suppose!they!were!the!cause,!but!the!politically! nearly! impeccable! Levinas! can! be! discussed! merely! in! terms! of! his! philosophical! limitations.! Levinas,! in! his! ethical! summons! to! heed! the! other,!urges!the!abandonment!of!the!self!in!order!to!enable!this!heteroU attendance.!But!for!GosettiUFerencei!there!is!always!a!self,!some!remnant! of! self.! At! the! very! least,! the! potential! of! the! self! to! be! included! as! a! manifestation!of!the!spectrum!of!self!to!nonUself!that,!like!ultraviolet!and! infrared,! are! two! extremes! of! a! band! whose! most! frequent! exemplifications! are! situated! inUbetween! are! fruits! of! what! GosettiU Ferencei! has! termed! ‘the! ecstatic! quotidian.”! This! is! precisely! not! as! a! tertium"quid!but!as!the!possibilities!of!a!spectrum.!Levinas,!in!so!strangely! demanding!a!focus!on!the!nonUself,!engenders!a!binary!that,!in!its!search! for! ethical! rescue,! rules! out! to! many! possibilities.! (Judith! Butler! has! similarly! critiqued! Levinas's! implied! and! explicit! politics).! What! Levinas! and! the! conventional! Heidegger! offer,! and! which! GosettiUFerencei's! resourced!Dasein"evades,!is!the!illusion!of!escaping!ontology!altogether.! What!GosettiUFerencei's!quotidian!exotic!suggests!instead!is!the!need!to!
! 2! rub! up! against,! abrade,! scour,! tweak,! chastise! ontology,! but! never! to! escape!it!entirely.!“The!immeasurable!height!/!Of!woods!decaying,!never" to" be" decayed,”! (Book! VI! of! Wordsworth’s! Prelude,! italics! my! own).! Words! for! GosettiUFerencei! are! beyond! denotative! sense,! but! do! not! fallout!of!the!orbit!of!meaning!entirely.!She!remarks:!“the!specificity!of! the!specific!content!of!original!speech”!not!just!“close!reading.”!GosettiU Ferencei!is!a!poet,!and!a!very!gifted!one.!One!of!her!greatest!poems,!the! diptych!“Minute!Observations!on!the!Sublime!and!Beautiful,”!sums!up,!in! its! inclusion! of! both! specificity! and! concealed! breadth,! her! poetics! of! ramified!transgression.!But!she!did!not!have!to!be!a!poet!to!achieve!what! she!has!achieved;!this!insight!is!not!just!a!corollary!of!craft.!Practitioners! of! the! craft! in! fact! can! often! succumb! to! the! fallacy! GosettiUFerencei! avoids,!to!substitute!a!global!idea!of!poetry!for!the!crunchiness!of!poetry! itself.! Too! global! an! idea! of! poetry! can! lead! to! a! Las! VegasUstyle! reenchantment,! a! bellsUandUwhistles! escort! of! poetry! to! the! central! position!philosophy!has!so!long!occupied,!an!enshrinement,!which!would! only! make! poetic! ascendancy! vulgar! and! tawdry.! The! stray! but! nonetheless! crucial! references! to! Celan! and! Radnóti,! two! poets! who! suffered!and!were!traumatized!by!the!dark!forces!of!totalitarianism!that! Heidegger! so! tragically! and! mysteriously! embraced,! is! sensitive! both! to! the!necessity!and!delicacy!of!this!juxtaposition.!The!poets!write!from!the! “vortex! of! disaster"! and! “express! inexpressible! loss”! while! retaining! "a! grasp!of!life.”! !!!!!!!!!It!is!important!to!note,!though,!that!GosettiUFerencei!is!not!rejecting! Heidegger's!Dasein!in!favor!of!a!more!moderated!or!adulterated!poetics.! She!is!deeply!sympathetic!to!the!rigor!and!attentiveness,!the!caring!about! and! stake! in! the! imagination! that! Heidegger! manifests,! and! her! own! aesthetics!are!closer!to!the!traditional!Dasein!model!than!any!heedless! surrealism! or! merely! ingenious! avantUgardism.! Even! had! Heidegger! and! Celan!not!met,!there!are,!against!all!odds,!commonalities!between!how! they!view!being.!!Both!poets!abhor!a!use!of!language!that!is!showy,!vain,! or!gratuitous.!Bravura!technique,!experiments!in!diction!that!do!not!go! beyond! hijinks,! slapping! the! face! of! public! taste! are! not! enough! for! GosettiUFerencei,! and! she! hears! Heidegger’s! clarion! call! to! poetic! awareness.! But! she! calls! for! texture! over! purity,! ramification! over! asceticism.!! !
! 3! In! a! sense,! this! might! have! been! a! deconstructive! response! to! Heidegger’s!poetics,!and!been!performed,!appositely,!a!generation!ago.! But!deconstruction!was!too!concerned!with!a!global!idea!of!language!and! not!enough!with!a!specifically!poetic!lyricism,!and,!in!addition,!Derrida's! relationship!with!Heidegger!was!profoundly!overdetermined!and!played! out!its!contradictions!in!areas!other!than!poetics.!In!a!sense!it!is!fitting! that!GosettiUFerencei,!generationally!and!institutionally!removed!enough! from! Heidegger! not! to! be! circumstantially! implicated! in! his! aura,! is! the! writer!to!frame!a!Dasein!poetics!as,!while!expanding!its!boundaries,!she! remains! faithful! to! the! qualities! of! palpable,! ambient! wakefulness,! that! Heidegger’s! own! language! cultivates.! Crunchy" and" refractory" as! newly! fallen!leaves!is!the!Black!Forest;!rife!and!strewn!with!muck!and!mire!the! way!true!Holzwege!invariably!are.!GosettiUFerencei’s!poetics!is!“tentative,! never!ontologically!final.”!GosettiUFerencei!bids!us!leave!Earth!as!poetry’s! inevitable! fastness! only! to! resituate,! in! multiple! perpetual! nooks,! the! worlds! of! shape! and! feeling! which,! rather! than! any! essentialization! or! boundedness,! was! what! Heidegger! spoke! of! when! he! spoke! of! Earth.! Dasein!remains!open,!neither!homey!nor!occult,!but!rarefied,!quickening.! Reenchantment!is!not!enough;!true!poetic!disclosure!requires!more.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Nicholas Birns, “Reenchantment Is Not Enough: Gosetti-Ferencei’s Post- Heideggeran Heidegger,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 0–4.
! 4!
A NEW POETICS OF DASEIN
Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei ! !
!
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1 See Rimbaud’s letters in Illuminations and Other Prose Poems, tr. Louise Varese (New York: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!New Directions, 1957) xxvii & xxix.
multiple! viewpoints! the! poet! assumes! in! “Enfance,”! a! poem! from! his! Illuminations,!when!he!proclaims:!! ! ! Je!suis!le!saint,!en!prière!sur!la!terrasse!comme!! les!bêtes!pacifiques!...!! Je!suis!le!savant!au!fauteuil!sombre!...!! Je!suis!le!piéton!de!la!grand’route!...!! Je!serais!bien!l’enfant!abandonné!sur!la!jetée!…!! le!petit!valet!! suivant!l’allé!dont!le!front!touche!le!ciel.!! ! I!am!the!saint!at!prayer!on!the!terrace!like!! the!peaceful!beasts!...!! I!am!the!scholar!of!the!dark!armchair!...!! I!am!the!pedestrian!of!the!highroad!...!! I!might!well!be!the!child!abandoned!on!the!jetty!...!! the!little!farm!boy!! following!the!lane,!its!forehead!touching!the!sky.2! ! One!surely!cannot!anchor!Rimbaud’s!poetry,!its!symbolism!of!shimmering! images,!to!a!singular!biography!of!self.!Yet!when!Rimbaud!describes!his! poetic! procedure! in! his! letters,! involving! the! upsetting! of! ordinary! perceptions,!even!the!disorientation!of!the!senses!that!accompanied!and! afforded!his!early!eruptions!of!genius,!what!is!implied!is!a!self!or!subject! “in!process.”!Explaining!his!method,!he!writes,! ! The! poet! makes! himself! a! visionary! through! a! long,! a! prodigious,!and!rational!disordering!of!all!the!senses.!Every! form!of!love,!of!suffering,!of!madness;!he!searches!himself,! he! consumes! all! the! poisons! in! him,! keeping! only! their! quintessences.!Ineffable!torture!in!which!he!will!need!all!his! faith.! ...! For! he! arrives! at! the! unknown!! Since! he! has! cultivated!his!soul!—!richer!to!begin!with!than!any!other!! He!arrives!at!the!unknown:!and!even!if,!half!crazed,!in!the! end,!he!loses!an!understanding!of!his!visions,!he!has!seen! them!3!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Ibid., 12–13. 3 Ibid., xxx–xxxi.
! 6! ! The! disorientation! that! Rimbaud! describes! need! not! be! aimed! exclusively! at! the! fantastical! or! the! sublime,! as! we! find! it! in! Rimbaud’s! work,!in!Charles!Baudelaire,!in!Guillaume!Apollinaire,!and!in!the!writings! of!Franz!Kafka.!For!us!it!can!signify!any!rupture!of!a!prosaically!practical! or! epistemologically! appropriative! horizon! through! which! the! world! appears,! disenchantedly,! within! the! framework! (Heidegger! would! say! Gestell)!of!the!subject’s!own!production,!its!exhaustive!knowledge,!or!as! there! for! its! utilization.! Contrary! to! Kristeva,! in! my! view! it! is! not! knowledge! as! such! but! rather! the! exhaustiveness! of! an! appropriative,! prosaic! attitude! toward! the! world! that! poetic! subjectivity! challenges.! Rimbaud! clarifies! further! that! although! in! some! instances! of! visionary! seeing!the!understanding!may!be!lost,!there!will!be!other!poets!who!“will! begin! at! the! horizons! where! he! has! succumbed,”! so! that! work! toward! foraging! into! the! unknown! will! have! nonetheless! been! accomplished.4! Attendance!to!the!unknown!or!ineffable!suggests!that,!flickering!through! the!quotidian!real,!another,!more!elusive!aspect!of!things!is!glimpsed.!We! could! describe! an! examination! of! such! in! somewhat! phenomenological! terms.! This! attendance! invokes! the! defixation! of! a! prominently! foregrounded! familiarity;! a! release! of! the! previously! receding! background;!an!alteration!of!focus!illuminating!the!background!itself;!the! bridging!of!logically!disparate!images!and!sensations!which!brings!forth! into! imagined! actuality! what! was! heretofore! merely! receding! into! potentiality;! and! a! resultant! but! contemporaneous! state! of! stepping! outside! one’s! own! ordinary! mode! of! seeing.! These! are! some! possible! nuanced! stages! of! a! poetical! suspension! of! the! natural! attitude.! This! is! clearly! what! Rimbaud! has! accomplished! through! language! by! way! of! a! disorienting!but!strangely!luminous!assemblage!of!images,!to!quote!from! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 Ibid., xxxi.
! 7! one! of! his! poems,! through! an! “unlookedefor! logic”! (“de! logique! bien! imprévue”).5!The! point! is! not! to! revel! in! disorder,! but! to! “arrive! at! the! unknown! through! the! disordering.”6!Beyond! revolutionary! poetics,! the! break! with! the! prosaic! is,! from! the! poetical! point! of! view,! an! accomplishment!of!what!Rilke!thought!to!be!“the!right!kind!of!seeing”;!it! can!serve,!as!in!Rilke!and!Hölderlin,!new!forms!of!clarity!and!structures!of! attunement.7!This!break!with!the!prosaic!points!to!the!ecstatic!nature!of! the! self,! the! beingedrawn! beyond! the! sphere! of! immanence! by! the! discovery! of! the! otherness,! the! mysteriousness,! of! what! is.8!A! poetical! mode!of!experience!is!engendered!by!this!rupture;!it!is!indicated!in!and! also! brought! about! through! poetical! language.! This! ambiguous! experience!—!of!disorientation!and!clarity!—!is!the!real!subject!matter,! for!instance,!of!Rilke’s!novel!Die2Aufzeichnungen2des2Malte2Laurids2Brigge! (The2 Notebooks2 of2 Malte2 Laurids2 Brigge),! but! also! of! much! of! modern! poetry!such!as!announced!by!Rimbaud.!As!Valéry!writes!in!“Poetry!and! Abstract!Thought,”!“I!discover!naive!impulses!and!images,!raw!products! of! my! needs! and! of! my! personal! experiences.! It2 is2 my2 life2 itself2 that2 is2 surprised.”9!The! poetic! indicates! not! a! renunciation! of! knowledge! —! Rimbaud!retains!the!terms!“rational”!and!“understanding”!—!so!much!as! a! revision! of! cognitive! boundaries! and! a! putting! into! question! of! the! categories! of! Platonist! and! modern! metaphysics.! Poetry! thus! aims! to! comprehend,!in!the!sense!of!grasping,!or!at!least!pointing!to!in!a!“formal! indication,”! that! aspect! of! the! real! that! is! unknowable! by! other,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 Ibid., 132–133. 6 Ibid., xxvii. 7 For a discussion of attunement in Rilke, see Jennifer Anna Gosetti, “Phenomenology of the Mysterious: A Reading of Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus,” Phenomenological Inquiry 26 (fall 2002) 87–98; and “Phenomenological Literature: From the Natural Attitude to ‘Recognition,’ ” Philosophy Today (summer 2001) 18–27. For a discussion of the breakdown of the prosaic or mundane by poetic seeing in the literary writings of Sartre, Rilke, and Francis Ponge, see Jennifer Anna Gosetti, “The Ecstatic Quotidian,” Journal of the Association of the Interdisciplinary Study of the Arts 7, No. 1 (2001) 51–61. 9 Valéry, The Art of Poetry.
! 8! exclusively!cognitive!means.!Here!rationality!is!not!unraveled!but!allowed! to!join!forces!with!what!Keats!termed!“negative!capability”:!the!ability!to! abide!in!uncertainties,!mysteries,!and!doubts,!without!renouncing!claims! to!the!real.!This!ability!I!will!suggest!later!in!this!chapter,!is!an!aspect!of! the! imagination,! the! retrieval! of! which! is! a! necessary! element! of! the! poetics!of!Dasein.! Despite!the!grammatical!and!semantic!challenge!to!the!self!in!“je! est,”! a! challenge! to! the! “I! am”! (je2 suis)! of! Descartes’! cogito2 ergo2 sum,! Rimbaud’s!formulation!does!not!erase!the!“I”!—!does!not!render!the!“I,”! as!did!Nietzsche,!a!“fiction!of!grammar”!—!but!formulates!a!subjectivity! endowed!with!an!unusual!capacity!for!what!we!might!call,!borrowing!a! term! from! Emmanuel! Levinas,! “excendence,”! my! use! of! which! will! become!clear,!I!hope,!in!this!final!chapter.!The!new!poetics!of!Dasein!I!set! forth! accounts! for! the! subtle! tones! of! giving! and! yielding! and! undere! going!that!belong!to!the!poetic!subject’s!experiences!of!creation.!Such!an! account! implies! a! radical! form! of! receptivity! and! ecstasis! —! stepping! outside!the!self!—!but!does!not!obliterate!the!subject’s!creative!initiation! or! the! phenomenologically! disclosable! features! of! the! subject! of! poetic! experience.!My!account,!I!believe,!is!not!only!inspired!by!the!reading!of! Hölderlin’s! poetics! I! have! offered! in! this! book! but! is! also! further! to! be! corroborated!by!a!spectrum!of!poetological!stances!that!I!would!like!to! work!out!here!in!brief!outline.! Turning!from!Hölderlin!to!a!broader!inclusion!of!modern!poetry,! we!might!mark!out!a!continuum!of!poetical!modes!of!experience!over!a! wide,! but! of! course! not! alleinclusive,! range,! the! continuity! of! which! is! sustained!by!a!maintenance!of!the!“self”!in!and!through!experiences!of! ecstasis!necessary,!but!not!sufficient,!for!the!advent!of!poetical!creation.! On! this! continuum,! were! we! to! engage! in! close! interpretations! of! the! works! of! many! poets! here,! we! might! be! able! to! situate! —! in! differing!
! 9! ways,! of! course! —! the! poetic! language! of! writers! as! diverse! as,! for! example,! John! Keats,! Walt! Whitman,! Friedrich! Hölderlin,! Anna! Akhmatova,! Osip! Mandelstam,! Miklós! Radnoti,! Paul! Celan,! Franz! Kafka,! Charles! Baudelaire,! Paul! Verlaine,! Rene! Char,! Robert! Frost,! Theodore! Roethke,!Wallace!Stevens,!and!perhaps!even!the!fragments!of!Sappho.!! On!the!two!ultimate!poles!of!the!spectrum!we!find!Rimbaud!and! Rilke.! The! spectrum! ranges! from! the! disorderingevisionary! poetics! of! Rimbaud!to!the!clarifying!poetics!of!Rilke,!my!view!of!which!I!will!briefly! describe.! For! Rilke,! “intimate”! or! “inner”! space! (vertrauter2 Raum,2 Innenraum)!is!the!experiential!structure!through!which!things!are!known! to! us! poetically;! such! experience! is! an! achievement! issuing! from! the! breakdown! of! ordinary! familiarity! with! the! real.! Not! by! renouncing! the! self,!but!rather!by!intuiting!the!ecstatic!nature!of!the!“inner”!self!and!the! intimate!nature!of!external!reality,!the!poet!is!brought!into!a!heightened! intimacy! with! the! receding! features! of! the! real,! unknown! structures! or! the!ineffable!background,!what!he!often!calls!the!“other!side!of!things.”! Such!things!are!approached!through!an!ecstatic!self,!but!the!self!is!also! intuited!and!experienced!through!a!poetic!glimpse!of!external!things.”10! Interiority!becomes!known!to!us!not!by!an!egological!meditation!but!by! intuiting! the! hidden! intimacy! of! “external”! things,! since! external! things! model!for!Rilke!a!form!of!inwardness!or!an!inner!landscape.!This!is!why! Rilke’s! poems! often! are! centered! on! things:! the! panther,! the! bowl! of! roses,!an!orange,!the!statue!of!Apollo,!a!tree.!Likewise,!things!Cartesian! metaphysics! considers! “out! there,”! reflected! only! in! representations! of! the! mind,! are! known! in! their! mysterious! elusiveness! by! grasping! how! they,! like! the! self,! are! full! of! intimate! spaces! analogous! to! (and! such!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 The most obvious examples are from Rilke’s New Poems, such as “The Archaic Torso of Apollo” (“Archaischer Torso Apollos”) and “Black Cat” (“Schwartze Katze”), but this double movement can also be seen in Sonnets to Orpheus.
! 10! analogy! is! perhaps! necessary! for! the! discovery! of)! our! own. 11 !The! spectrum!of!excendence!or!ecstasis!—!of!escaping!the!immanence!of!a! selfecontained!ego!—!that!is!involved!in!poetry!as!I!am!describing!it!here! is!thus!a!spectrum!ranging!from!disorientation!of!the!senses!as!an!access! to! the! unknown! to! the! accomplishment! of! a! pristine,! poetic! “clarity”! about!the!true!nature!of!the!real!aside!from!the!reductive!dichotomies!of! traditional!metaphysics.!It!is!my!view!that!Hölderlin’s!poetry,!when!taking! into! account! the! full! range! of! his! work,! from! early! dialecticaleidealist! poems!to!his!later!“paratactic”!works,!can!be!located!on!various!points!of! the!continuum!from!disorientation!to!clarity.!Certainly!his!Hyperion!and! Empedocles!trace!in!differing!ways!courses!of!an!aim!toward!the!clarity! Rilke!will!describe,!as!well!as!its!loss,!while!the!sparser!late!poems!(such! as!“Hälfte!des!Lebens”)!and!those!written!in!madness!suggest!at!times!an! almost! Rimbaudian! disorientation! through! which,! the! reader! supposes,! Hölderlin!tarries!with!the!unknown.!But!unlike!Levinas’s!engagement!of! the!term,!excendence!here!does!not!indicate!the!goal!of!an!abandonment! of! self! in! subordination! to! that! alterity,! that! otherness,! approached! by! poetical!seeing.!The!poetics!of!Dasein!is!a!poetics!of!existence!as!known! and!experienced!and!thus!as!phenomenologically!accessible!through!the! self,! however! altered! or! compromised;! if! the! self! is! too! radically! compromised,!as!in!some!of!Hölderlin’s!last,!and!least!accessible!poems,! the! phenomenological! thread! is! lost! and! there! is! no! trail! through! the! forest!by!which!to!trace!the!ineffable!or!the!unknown.!! ! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 Two poems, among many, come to mind. See Rilke’s poems “Das Roseninnere” and the uncollected poem that begins, “Durch den sich Vogel werfen, ist nicht der / vertraute Raum” (“What birds plunge through is not the intimate space”). Translation of the latter is found in The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and tr. by Stephen Mitchell (New York: Vintage Books, 1984).
! 11! In! offering! this! alternative! to! the! Heideggerian! models! of! the! resolute!and!the!selfless!poet,!I!by!no!means!wish!to!imply!that!all!poetry,! or! even! good! poetry,! is! principally! about! the! self.! The! mirroring! in! Verlaine’s!lines!“Combien,!o!voyageur,!ce!paysage!blême!/!Te!mira!blême! toiemême”!(“how!much!this!pale!landscape,!o!traveler!/!mirrors!your!pale! self!there”),!suggests!not!a!poetry!about!the!self!but!an!engagement!of! the!world!that!takes!up!the!self!poetically!rendered.12!The!image!of!the! pale!landscape!operates!in!contradistinction!to!a!metaphysical!separation! of! interiority! and! exteriority.! Thus! it! is! precisely! the! experience! of! excendence,! defined! as! a! provisional! escape! of! self! engendering! a! poetical!experience!of!the!world,!interpretively!still!anchorable!to!a!self! thrown!into!question,!that!much!of!the!poetry!I!am!thinking!about!here! concerns.! I! aim! to! read! through! poetic! language! the! residues! of! subjective!experience!through!which,!in!alterations!of!ordinary!language! and!ordinary!ways!of!seeing,!new!layers!of!meaning!are!created.!If!poetic! meaning!is!rare,!it!is!because,!in!Valéry’s!words,!“all!the!exigencies!of!life! are!against!it.”13!This!means!that!the!prosaic,!practical,!or!metaphysical! understanding!of!the!world!in!its!dominant!mode,!the!natural!attitude,! does!not,!in!the!main,!foster!excendence!or!a!notion!of!self!in!provisional! exile!from!its!ordinary!station.!! Of!course,!my!poetics!of!Dasein!cannot!account!for!the!geological! “layer”!of!self!in!all!forms!of!poetry,!nor!even!all!forms!of!modern!poetry,! but!it!does!structurally!formulate!the!experiential!element!discernible!in! the! poetical! address! to! the! world! that! is! evident! in! much! of! modern! poetical! language! since! Hölderlin.! My! account! corrects! what! Levinas! called! the! “disappearance! of! phenomenology! properly! speaking”! from!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12 Paul Verlaine, Selected Poems, tr. C.F. Macintyre (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1948) 114–115. 13 Valéry, The Art of Poetry, 75.
! 12! Heidegger’s!later!thought,14!which!I!addressed!in!the!first!chapter!of!this! book! as! being! in! tension! with! Heidegger’s! poetic! theory! of! ontologicale historical! founding.! A! new! poetics! of! Dasein! marks! the! subject’s! departure! from! absolute! immanence! or! selfesufficiency,! and! from! the! kind!of!transcendence!that!is!still!tethered!to!an!absolute!guaranteed!by! theoretical! knowledge,! but! it! attempts! to! trace! out! the! relationship! of! that!departure!to!the!self!transformed!through!it.!The!subject!of!poetic! language,! which! I! can! now! term! the! poetic! Dasein,! has! been! characterized! in! this! book! as! analeptic,! or! restorative,! its! immanence! exposed! to! interventions! of! alterity.! Here! I! have! used! language! of! the! ineffable!or!the!unknown!to!stand!in!for!an!experience!of!what!is!“other”! to! rational! cognition;! we! must! ask! what! this! implies! for! our! understanding! of! the! relation! of! poetic! language! to! truth.! As! I! have! hinted! throughout! this! book,! my! view! of! poetic! language! does! not! sanction!an!abandonment!of!the!notion!of!truth,!as!I!find!in!Haverkamp’s! and! Blanchot’s! readings! of! Hölderlin! (see! chapter! 3)! and! in! Kristeva’s! revolutionary!poetics!(see!chapter!6).!Yet!the!notion!of!poetical!truth!will! require!qualification,!as!I!begin!to!articulate!in!this!final!chapter.!! I!want!first!to!articulate!some!theses!that!initiate!a!new!poetics!of! Dasein.!These!theses,!woven!together,!present!a!model!of!poetic!Dasein! and!thus!a!new!poetic!theory,!still!incipient!here.!This!theory!serves!to! account! for! what! I! have! argued! are! modes! of! poetical! “cognition”! and! truth!neglected!in!contemporary!and!postmodern!poetics.!We!will!return! to!several!of!these!theses!in!the!description!of!Dasein’s!structure!below.! The!nine!theses!are!as!follows:!! ! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14 Levinas, Ethics and Infinity, 42.
! 13! 1.!A!phenomenological!attendance!to!poetic!experience,!such!as!I! have! indicated! in! the! account! of! Hölderlin’s! poetics! presented! in! this! book,! reveals! a! far! more! radical! sense! of! what! Heidegger! calls! “thrownness”!(Geworfenheit)!than!he!admits!in!his!attempts!to!reign!in! the!experience!of!alterity!so!that!it!serve!the!purpose!of!gathering!and! founding!history.!The!“essential!abode!of!the!self”!with!which!Heidegger! once!associates!the!poet!is!in!part!structured!by!this!Geworfenheit.!Such! is!the!atmosphere!of!the!factical!life!of!Dasein!that!poetry!serves!in!its! reflecting!and!sheltering!of!world,!as!well!as!its!loss!of!a!grasp!of!its!unity! —!as!a!unique!complex!of!formal!indications.!Here!the!“abode!of!the!self”! recalls!elements!of!the!existential!analytic!of!Dasein’s!self!and!its!radical! being!“noteatehome”!in!the!“nothing!of!the!world”!(BT!321/277).!But!it! also! affords! the! disordering! or! decentering! necessary! for! a! visionary! alternative! to! prosaic! metaphysics,! a! disordering! to! which! Rimbaud! attests,!one!that!is!not!unrelated!to!the!ecstatic!nature!of!the!experience! of! poetic! clarity.! The! “thrownness”! of! the! poet! on! both! ends! of! the! spectrum! described! earlier! indicates! an! excendence! incompatible! with! the! absolute! aims! of! founding! history.! In! both! situations! the! unknown2 approached2and2discovered2can2never2be2recovered2with2the2certainty2of2a2 founded2historical2destiny.! 2.! The! situation! of! poetic! Dasein! precludes2 anticipatory2 resoluteness,! which! Heidegger! claims! solidifies! the! identity! of! Dasein’s! self!as!the!one!who!possesses!a!singular!relation!to!Being.!Certainly,!the! recognition! of! one’s! own! finitude! might! yield! entrance! into! an! altered! understanding! of! the! world;! death! figures,! for! instance,! in! Rilke’s! Notebooks!and!his!Sonnets2to2Orpheus!as!illuminating!another!“side”!of! reality,! and! finitude! certainly! figures! in! Hölderlin’s! poems.! Yet! authenticity!is!achieved!not!in!beingetowardsedeath,!or!in!the!recognition! of!one’s!own!singularity!before!the!finality!of!death.!Poetically!rendered,!
! 14! authenticity! is! a! nonepossessive! attunement! to! alternative! horizons! of! meaning! which! render! the! world,! poetically,! pluriesignificant.! For! an! account!of!authenticity,!we!might!draw!upon!Heidegger’s!later!notion!of! Gelassenheit.!We!note!that!is!not!his!own!death!but!that!of!the!other,!the! loss! of! Eurydice! that! presses! Orpheus! into! new! modes! of! song.! Not! heroism!but!poetical!intuition!is!the!texture!of!the!poet’s!indirect!access! to!Being.!! 3.!Poetic!language!involves!excendence.!As!revolutionary!to!some! extent,! it! prevents2 the2 closure2 of2 identity2 of2 self2 suggested! by! resoluteness.! Poetic! Dasein! is! never! rid! of! alterity! —! in! this! sense! “I! is! someone!else”!—!and!so!the!return!home!is!never!completed.!The!very! grammar! of! Rimbaud’s! phrase! demands! a! recognition! of! the! mutual! indebtedness! of! “I”! and! other.! As! a! subjecteineprocess,! poetic! Dasein! is! prohibited! closure! in! any! other! than! a! poetical,! and! that! means! provisional,!sense.!This!also!applies!to!the!retrieval!of!a!Volk!or!national! identity,! despite! the! common! use! or! abuse! of! art! for! nationalist! ideologies.! Some! evidence! as! to! this! resistance! to! singular! identity! is! rendered! by! the! breadth! of! totalitarian! efforts! to! curtail! or! repress! the! work! of! poets! who,! even! if! nationalist,! render! doubtful! such! singular! closure.! What! we! have! said! in! this! book! about! the! provisionality! of! poetical!truths!renders!ambiguous!any!role!it!might!play!in!“settingeforth”! such!ideologies.!! 4.!While!poetic!subjectivity!breaks!with!the!everyday,!it!remains! ever2engaged2in2a2lifeworld2of2beings.!For!poetic!Dasein,!fallenness,!the! inauthentic!state!of!mind,!is!described!not!as!absorption!with!quotidian! beings! (for! it! is! among! other! things! an! intense! relationship! to! those! beings)! in! distraction! from! Being! and! the! singularity! of! death.! Rather,! fallenness!is!a!fixation!within!cognitive!and!scientific,!as!well!as!prosaic,! horizons! through! which! things! would! be! exclusively! interpreted.!
! 15! Heidegger’s! description! of! equipmentality,! while! opening! out! the! hermeneutic!nexus!for!his!ontological!grasp!of!the!world,!remains!prosaic! in! its! description! of! our! relation! to! beings! as! predominantly! practical.! From! a! poetical! point! of! view,! Heidegger’s! description! of! world! as! equipmentally! disclosed! remains! in! the! natural! or! prosaic! attitude.! As! Henri! Bergson! suggests,! an! “actual! contact! with! reality”! requires! an! emancipation!“from!the!ways!of!perception!engendered!by!action”!in!the! nonemajesculated! sense! of! the! word. 15 !Heidegger’s! nearly! exclusive! emphasis! on! the! equipment! of! work! neglects,! as! I! mentioned! in! the! introductory! chapter,! the! aesthetics! of! the! natural! world,! things! as! provocative!of!authentic!curiosity!and!genuine!wonder.!For!the!spectrum! of!poetic!seeing!from!Rimbaud!to!Rilke,!the!mysteriousness!and!elusivity! of! Being! is! authentically! approached! in! a! rupture! of! the! exclusively! prosaic! interpretation! of! the! world.! This! suggests! that! ordinary! experience!already!shelters,!though!does!not!emphasize,!possibilities!of! poetic! vision! —! the! glimpse! that! beckons! the! imagination! beyond! the! ordinary!grasp!of!things,!possibilities!that!are!neglected!by!Heidegger!in! his! account! of! world! in! Being2 and2 Time,! despite! its! call! for! poetical! expression.!! 5.!Poetical!truth,!and!I!would!like!to!retain!that!term,!is!one!that! troubles2the2ordinary2distinctions2between2the2real2and2the2imaginary,2the2 verifiable2 and2 the2 elusive.! When! the! poetic! subject,! either! in! disorientation! or! in! a! heightened! clarity,! approaches! the! unknown,! it! does! so! not! in! order! to! abandon! knowledge,! but! rather! to! expand! its! boundaries! toward! the! source! of! those! reverberations! of! the! uncertain! and!the!mysterious.!This!does!not!mean!that!poetry!is!characterized!by! mere!fantasy.!Even!here!poetic!Dasein!shares!something!in!common!with! certain!forms!of!scientific!cognition,!such!as!when!theoretical!physicists! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 The quotation is from T.E. Hulme, “Bergson’s Theory of Art,” in Speculations: Essays on Humanism and the Philosophy of Art (New York: Routledge, 1987) 149.
! 16! speculate! in! advance! of! the! mathematically! verifiable,! or! must! grapple! with! competing,! and! equally! verifiable,! views! of! the! universe.! I! have! in! mind! multiple! models! of! string! theory,! or! the! cognitive! imagination! required!to!hold!together!and!attempt!to!overcome,!such!as!in!a!possible! unified!field!theory,!incompatible!and!incomplete!views!of!the!universe!in! relativity!theory!and!quantum!mechanics.!In!chapter!two!I!argued!for!a! formal! resonance! between! the! poetical! articulation! of! Heidegger’s! Ereignis! through! Hölderlin’s! poetry! of! rivers! and! the! withdrawal! of! absolute! cognition! prescribed! by! Heisenberg’s! uncertainty! principle.! While! poetical! truth! cannot! be! adequate! to! the! scientific! aim! (and! scientific!truth!might!inspire!but!will!not!satisfy!the!poet),!the!work!of!the! imagination!in!both!poetry!and!science!is!at!some!specific!intersections! indistinguishable.! Thus! I! reject! both! Heidegger’s! polarization! of! poetry! and!science!and!Kristeva’s!view!that!poetic!speech!forever!abandons!the! realm! of! knowledge.! Rather,! poetry! might! serve! in! resolving! the! opposition! between! modernist! conceptions! of! (absolute)! truth! and! postmodern! deconstruction! thereof.! This! resolution,! however,! requires! attendance!to!the!notion!of!a!poetical!imagination,!to!which!I!will!turn! shortly.!! 6.! On! both! ends! of! the! RimbaudianeRilkean! spectrum! described! earlier,!the!unknown!is!approached!with!the!hope!of!grasping!it!in!some! form! of! what! I! will! call! poetical2 cognition.! Poetical! cognition! should! be! defined! as! a! grasp! of! something! that! is! not,! as! in! ordinary! cognition,! univocal!and!final,!in!the!sense!of!being!conceptually!settled!—!subsumed! under!a!final!legislation!of!the!understanding!to!use!Kantian!terms!—!but! rather! remains! openeendedly! reverberant.! The! content,! as! well! as! the! form,!of!that!cognition!must!be!perhaps!ascertained!in!the!case!of!each! individual!poetic!structure,!though!in!principle!categorization!of!varying! types!should!be!possible.!!
! 17! 7.!Poetically!understood,!we!must!be!able!not!to!escape!ontology! such! as! Levinas! prescribes,16!but! rather! to! admit2 within2 an2 ontology2 an2 account2 of2 the2 unforeseeable.! Heidegger’s! association! of! Being! and! thought! certainly! suggests! rigorous! pathways! of! approaching! the! “unthought”! or! the! “unsaid”! within! poetic! utterance.! Yet! it! does! not! acknowledge! to! a! sufficient! extent,! I! think,! the! possibility! that! the! unknown!will!elude!even!the!most!rigorously!poetic!thinking,!a!possibility! expressed!by!Rimbaud!in!his!acknowledgment!of!the!potential!failure!of! the! poetic! vision,! and! certainly! by! Hölderlin! when! I! have! indicated! his! sense!of!poetic!subjectivity!as!“analeptic.”!The!acute!possibility!of!failure! eludes! the! heroism! in! Heidegger’s! account! of! the! poet! as! founder! of! truth,!yet!it!is!an!aspect!of!the!provisional!nature!of!poetical!seeing.!The! history! of! Being! and! its! logic! prescribes! a! fate! that! obliterates! the! singularity! of! what! is! unforeseen,! what! is! not! of! the! origin! but! nevertheless!might!demand!poetical!articulation.!! 8.! A! theory! of! language! —! of! the! unsaid! that! is! tapped! into! by! poetic!thinking!—!ought!not!eclipse!the!specificity2of2the2specific2content2 of2 original2 speech.! The! specific! loss,! the! specific! joy,! an! accusation,! the! very!particular!texture!of!the!subject!matter!of!poetry!are!in!danger!of! absorption!into!a!general!theory!of!the!relation!of!Being!to!thought.!By! original! speech! we! mean! not! speech! that! arises! out! of! an! origin! itself! accessible! to! thought,! but! language! that,! in! its! factical! specificity,! is! irreducible!to!any!other!utterance!than!itself.!This!resonates!with!Levinas’! concern!for!the!“saying”!over!the!“said.”!Heidegger!indicates!a!hesitation! to! overwhelm! the! poem! with! the! thinking! that! attends! it,! yet! he! often! enough! does! not! sufficiently! recognize! the! irreducible! specificity! of! the! poem’s!utterance,!its!“truth!content.”!This!occurs!particularly!when!the! poem’s!subjective!elements!are!obliterated.!The!poem!indicates,!too,!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16 See Emmanuel Levinas, On Escape, tr. Bettina Bergo (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003) 73, where Levinas proposes “getting out of being by a new path.”
! 18! specificity!of!the!self!who!speaks,!and!of!course!this!cannot!show,!up!in!a! theory!that!refuses!the!poetic!self!a!perceptible!role.!! This! point! might! be! illuminated! by! an! example.! Miklós! Radnoti! comes!to!mind:!he!was!a!Hungarian!Jewish!poet!who!wrote,!literally,!on! the!edge!of!disaster!and!killed!by!fascists!on!a!forced!march!from!a!labor! camp! where! he! had! been! interred! and! had! also! written! poems.! A! notebook! of! these! poems! was! salvaged! from! his! trench! coat! when! his! wife!later!found!his!body!in!an!unmarked!grave.!While!I!would!want!to!be! able!to!say!something!general!about!poetic!Dasein!that!could!take!into! account! even! Radnoti’s! extreme! distress,! his! so! fragile! hold! on! self! (as! when!he!writes:!“Palinode!/!But!don’t!leave!me,!delicate!mind!!/!...!Sweet! wounded!reason,!don’t!/!leave!me!now”),!a!self!sustained!by!his!writing,! by! poetic! language! itself,! I! am! certain! that! the! “essence”! of! his! poetry! would! be! missed! in! a! general! theory! of! the! revelation! of! being.17!The! specificity! of! Radnoti’s! address! overrides! the! categorization! into! structures!of!ontological!saying,!even!if!those!might!be!relevant;!yet!this! specificity! in! no! way! renders! Radnoti’s! poetry! unessential,! even! by! Heideggerian!measures.!Following!this,!a!poetics!of!Dasein,!must!be!only! as!selfeassured!and!scientific,!to!adapt!Aristotle’s!prescription!for!ethics,! as!its!subject!allows.!Poetic!theory!is!at!best!only!a!scaffolding!through! which!the!structures!of!poetical!experience!and!meaning!become!visible.! 9.!An!account!of!poetical!Dasein!must!reclaim2the2imagination,!for! all! the! merits! of! Heidegger’s! rejection! of! egological! aesthetics.! I! have! shown! in! previous! chapters! that! Hölderlin! locates! within! traditional! aesthetics! points! of! departure! from! an! egoecentered! or! idealist! metaphysics.!In!Rilke,!too,!the!imagination!is!essential!to!the!attainment! of!poetical!clarity;!it!is!by!virtue!of!the!imagination!that!we!allow!room! for!what!might!be,!as!he!suggests!in!one!of!the!Sonnets2to2Orpheus!about! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17 Miklós Radnoti, The Clouded Sky, tr. Stephen Polgar (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) 18.
! 19! a! nonexistent! creature! posited! by! the! imagination! (a! unicorn)! as! the! object!of!love.!For!Rilke!what!“scarcely!needed!to!be”!(“brauchte!kaum!zu! sein”)!provides!a!horizon!for!the!actual!which!immeasurably!enriches!it.18! Here! I! will! argue! that! the! imagination! is! a! necessary! element! of! poetic! subjectivity!and!poetical!existence,!and!that!it!is!the!imagination,!not!as! merely! reproductive! but! initiative,! which! preserves! the! freedom! of! the! poetical!self!within!the!specific!nature!of!its!experience.!I!will!turn!to!the! problem!of!the!imagination!again!in!this!chapter,!in!a!discussion!of!the! structure!of!poetical!Dasein.!! ! ! For! in! a! new! poetics! of! Dasein,! some! account! must! be! given! of! the! of! poetical!structure!of!Dasein,!for!an!account!of!which!we!will!interweave! the!theses!presented!earlier.!Here!revised!concepts!from!Being2and2Time! can!serve!as!initial!formulations!of!existential!structures.!We!remember! that! for! Heidegger,! Dasein! is! characterized! by! Sorge,! the! unity! of! the! temporal! ecstases,! the! past,! present,! and! future! brought! together;! Dasein! is! characterized! by! Befindlichkeit! or! thrownness,! discourse,! and! projective! understanding.! As! Heidegger! writes,! “when! fully! conceived,! the!careestructure!includes!the!phenomenon!of!Selfhood”!(BT!370/323);! and!it!is!through!care!that!the!world!appears!to!Dasein.!If!we!are!to!retain! certain! existential! and! phenomenological! features! of! selfhood,! the! ecstases! must! be! reexamined! poetically;! the! relationship! between! care! and!world!is!at!issue!here.!Phenomenologically!speaking,!world!is!not!the! given! material! substrate! within! which! we! dwell,! nor! merely! a! spatiotemporal!nexus!of!localities,!but!is!structured!by!how!Dasein!finds! itself! (Befindlichkeit),! what! it! has! to! say,! its! interpretive! and! projective! understanding.! When! that! understanding! is! poetical! in! nature,! rather! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 18 Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, tr. M.D. Herder Norton (New York: Norton, 1942) 76–77.
! 20! than!primarily!practical!as!in!Heidegger’s!account!of!equipmentality,!the! elusive!nature!of!existence!which!recedes!from!direct!appearances!—!the! relation! of! things! to! presence! and! absence! and! to! thus! to! what! is! not! directly! graspable! —! comes! into! play.! A! world! is! projected! that! is! inherently!poetical!in!nature,!keeping!in!mind!that!the!provisionality!of! poetical!truths!prevents!reification!of!world!into!any!univocal!mythos.!We! would!speak!not!of!poetical!features,!but!perhaps!of!poetical!undertones! or! nuances,! of! world! related! to! its! receding! into! the! unknown! and! unknowable.!This!is!explicit!in!Rilke,!for!instance,!whose!poetical!practice! involves! sustained! formal! indication! of! what! he! refers! to! as! the! “other! side”! of! things, 19 !and! in! Rimbaud’s! persistent! reference! to! the! “unknown.”!! Projection! (Entwerfen),! is! for! us! the! activity! of! interpretation! of! the! given,! which! is! aided! by! discourse! (Rede)! as! a! creative! relation! of! poetical!Dasein!to!its!world.!As!I!indicated!in!chapter!6,!projection!is!here! understood!in!terms!of!transformation!and!transcendence.!Rather!than! cognitiveerational! organization! of! likenesses! and! types,! informed! by! practical!use!(equipmentality)!or!scientific!examination,!poetical!language! breaks!with!ordinary!taxonomy!to!reveal!surprising!connections!between! prosaically!disparate!things,!feelings,!and!events.!Such!language!remains! rational!in!the!original!sense!of!logos!as!linguistic!order,!but!this!ordering! is!accomplished!only!as!an!indication,!rather!than!as!a!definitive!cognitive! possession,!of!truth.!Thus!poetical!cognition!is!brought!about!by!use!of,! for!instance,!metaphor,!wherein!a!“truth”!of!connectedness!between!two! logically!disparate!entities!is!presented!in!a!compelling!but!elusive!way.!In! terms!of!motivation,!rhythmic!and!phonic!characteristics!of!language!are! at! play! with! imagistic! denotation.! Through! the! engagement! of! poetic! language,!Dasein!discursively!interprets!and!as!such!also!transcends!the!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 19 For a discussion of Rilke in this context, see Gosetti, “Phenomenology of the Mysterious.”
! 21! given,!initiating!a!level!of!meaning!that!is!both!part!of!world,!as!reflective! of! it,! and! selfereferential.! However,! poetic! interpretation! limits! the! “trutheclaims”! of! its! language! to! an! acknowledged! finitude,! that! is,! circumscribes! them! as! specifically! poetical! truths.! Such! truths! are! revealed!in!their!disclosive,!and!thus!partial,!nature,!as!we!have!discussed! in! previous! chapters.! The! imaginative! and! linguistic! casting! of! world! as! poetical! in! nature! opens! up! a! reception! of! its! wondrous! and! elusive,! familiar! and! “other,”! pluriesignificant! nature.! The! futural! temporality! of! projection! is! preserved! by! its! infinite! deferral! of! telos! or! finality;! this! sustains! meaningfulness! for! the! present! without! achieving! total! disclosure! of! the! Being! of! the! world.! For! us! the! poetical! initiation! of! projective! interpretation,! the! spontaneous! accomplishment! of! composition! and! “building,”! or,! as! Heidegger! calls! it,! “settingeup”! of! truth,! cannot! serve! as! a! founding! of! historical! truth.! As! of! the! world,! poetical! truths! are! subject! to! the! same! features! —! elusivity,! finitude,! provisionality!—!that!characterize!the!world!itself!poetically!understood.! Thus! they! are! continually! subject! to! revision,! sincere! and! yet! decidedly! irresolute.!! In! the! same! tone,! we! might! also! then! reconsider! Befindlichkeit! and!Stimmung:!the!first!concerns!the!manner!in!which!poetical!Dasein!is! “thrown”! into! factical! life! and! how! it! “finds”! itself! within! such! life,! its! “state! of! mind”! (as! in! the! Macquarrie/Robinson! translation! of! Sein2 und2 Zeit)! or! state! of! being;! the! second! is! its! “mood”! or! being! attuned! (gestimmt),! a! situation! which! is! inherently! disclosive;! here! these! elements! are! closely! related.! Given! that! we! include! Dasein’s! embodied! life!as!integral!to!its!conscious!situation,!we!will!use!the!term!“state!of! being”! rather! than! “state! of! mind”! for! Befindlichkeit.! Poetical! Dasein’s! state! of! being! is! situated! by! its! concerns,! and! these! make! up! both! the! subject!matter!and!procedures!of!poetry.!!Poetical!concerns!include:!(1)!
! 22! the! concerns! of! factical! life! in! its! mundane! happenings! or! in! its! extraordinary! moments,! both! transformed! through! the! receptivee experiential! mode! of! poetical! attention! as! described! earlier;! (2)! attunement! can! also! be! focused! upon! language! itself,! to! words! themselves,!their!sound,!feel!and!tone,!their!multiple!capacities!realized! as!sources!of!provisional!revealing!of!Being;!or!(3)!upon!the!imaginative! initiation! that! stirs! within! the! locus! of! Dasein’s! sense! of! self.! Here! the! horizonal! possibilities! attending! things! are! mirrored! in! the! horizonal! reverberations! on! the! part! of! the! subject,! indicating! its! provisional! identity!as!well!as!other!ways!to!be.!Of!course,!engagement!with!poetic! language! is! various,! and! these! variations,! in! the! main,! can! be! distinguished! by! the! magnification! of! one! or! more! of! the! three! aforementioned! elements! of! poetical! state! of! being! or! attunement;! a! compelling! poem! is! likely! to! engage! all! three,! as! in! a! complex! of! alterations!of!tone.!As!a!matter!of!tenor,!poetic!language!can!be!colored! by!many!specific!feelings:!for!instance,!as!in!Radnoti,!a!sense!of!radical! loss! (of! immediacy! and! specificity! of! something! once! possessed! or! known)!or!by!the!joy!of!reconciliation,!as!in!Whitman!—!or,!characteristic! of!Hölderlin,!an!alteration!of!both.!The!fundamental!authentic!mood!that! characterizes! poetical! Dasein! includes! a! heightened! sense! of! its! own! finitude,! brought! about! less! by! a! confrontation! with! death! as! by! awareness!of!Dasein’s!rootedness!in!its!own!materiality,!irreducible!to!an! empirical!substrate!alone,!to!an!anthropology!of!instinct!or!a!psychology! of! drives.! This! materiality! is! reflected! in! its! formal! structure! in! the! makeup!of!the!lifeworld!as!it!is!perceived!and!lived!through!by!Dasein.! Perhaps!Rilke’s!notion!of!intimacy!as!it!pertains!both!to!the!inner!self!and! the! things! of! the! world! can! be! seen! as! indicating! this! materiality;! in! Rimbaud! it! involves! a! relationship! to! the! disoriented! senses.! Such! materiality! poetically! understood! is! subject! to! accident! and!
! 23! unforeseeability,! insofar! as! it! is! not! strictly! circumscribable! within! the! empirical!or!the!predictable!logic!of!instinct!or!the!traceable!unconscious.! Such!materiality!poetically!understood!is!unforeseeable!through!the!logic! of! a! Seinsgeschicte.! The! materiality! of! poetic! Dasein! joins! Dasein! intrinsically! to! what! underlies! and! makes! possible! utterance! but! is! not! fully!revealed!there.!Grounded!in!the!flesh!of!the!world,!the!poet!accepts! the! radical! limitations! of! its! access! to! the! world! inasmuch! as! its! own! finitude!is!already!coegiven!in!such!acceptance.!The!self!need!not!signify,! in! Rene! Char’s! words,! the! “intimate! unfolding! of! the! irreparable”! (“l’intime!dénouement!de!l’irréparable”).20!Yet!the!finitude!of!language!is! correlate!to!Dasein’s!own.! As! indicated! in! the! preceding! theses,! the! notion! of! existential! authenticity! must! be! revisited.! Authentic! repetition! (Wiederholung)! occurs!not!in!seizing!the!past!in!a!moment!of!vision!toward!a!totality!of! self! or! an! identification! with! history,! but! in! a! genuinely! Hölderlinian! Andenken,! the! remembrance! that! locates! the! elusive! and! other! within! the!deferred!promises!of!poetic!language.!The!revolutionary!features!of! language,! while! limited! also! by! the! productive! nature! of! poetry,! are! preserved!in!the!impossibility!of!expulsion!of!alterity!from!the!sphere!of! self,!even!by!means!of!absorption,!in!appropriative!resoluteness.!Poetical! language!breaks!up!the!illusion!of!a!totality!of!self,!as!well!as!the!illusion! of!the!totality!of!a!people!or!Volk,!nationalist!uses!and!abuses!of!poetry! notwithstanding.! Along! with! the! absolute! selfecertainty! of! the! subject,! prohibited! is! the! closed! identity! of! any! cultural! signification! such! as! a! “people”! or! “nation.”! As! enacted! by! certain! poets! —! not! only! by! the! poetry!of!later!Hölderlin!but!also!Celan!and!Radnoti!—!the!poetical!self! seems! to! be! a! tentative! accomplishment! resulting! from! the! very! unraveling! of! selfepossession,! a! radical! decentering! that! paradoxically! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 Rene Char, Selected Poems, ed. Mary Ann Caws & Tina Solas (New York: New Directions, 1992) 32–33.
! 24! holds!together!a!fragile!grasp!of!the!world!in!the!wake!of!destruction!of! one’s! ordinary! faith! in! it.! Thus! I! take! issue! with! Kristeva’s! notion,! discussed!in!chapter!6,!that!poetic!language!must!be!understood!as!an! “outright!destruction”!of!the!speaking!self.!Rather,!it!seems!to!enact!the! self!in!such!a!way!as!to!articulate!a!challenge!to!selfepossession.!One!also! thinks! here! of! the! poetry! of! Anna! Akhmatova! and! Osip! Mandelstam,! whom! Stalin! terrorized,! knowing! that! the! meaning! of! poetry,! though! powerful!in!its!ideological!potential,!could!not!be!unequivocally!tethered! to!a!constituted!objectepole;!language!was!always!slipping!out!of!reach.21! Poetical!joy,!such!as!in!some!of!Rilke’s!writings,!also!suggests!the!loss!of! selfepossession:! Rilke’s! Orpheus! must! lose! everything! to! attain! the! ultimate! promise! of! its! poetic! gifts.! Even! in! less! catastrophical! poetry! (consider! Robert! Frost! or! Wallace! Stevens! and! Christian! Morgenstern)! the!sense!of!self!achieved!is!either!courageously!tentative!(Frost’s!“Here! are! your! waters! and! your! watering! place! /! Drink! and! be! whole! again! beyond!confusion”)!or!playfully!mocked!(Stevens!and!Morgenstern),!or,! in! the! case! of! Walt! Whitman,! dilated! in! breadth! beyond! a! singular! location.!Authentic!repetition!is!an!analeptic!process:!not!a!gathering!of! self! to! itself! from! distraction! in! the! “they,”! but! recovery! that! is! never! total! or! final! and! from! which! the! “other”! is! never! fully! expelled.! Thus! existential!repetition!is!inadequate!for!the!Kampf!of!founding!history.! We!must!include!in!a!discussion!of!Dasein’s!structure!its!peculiar! specificity,! thus! marking! as! provisional! many! of! our! generalizing! concepts.!Although!we!accept!these!quasiephenomenological!structures! as! a! general! account! of! poetical! subjectivity,! we! can! locate! no! transcendental! ego! that! can! be! named! as! the! guarantor! of! its! truth! content.!Moreover,!the!history!of!Being!to!which!Heidegger!tethers!the! essence!of!language!can!be!taken!only!as!one!possible!and!partial!model! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21 A poetical enactment of Stalin’s terrorization of these poets has been given in a recent book by Tony Brinkley, Stalin’s Eyes (Orono, Maine: Puckerbush Press, 2003).
! 25! of! interpreting! the! relationship! between! language! and! Being! in! its! historical! unfolding.! Even! the! designation! of! “Being”! for! what! precedes! and!engenders!language!is!only!a!tentative!identification!in!the!absence! of! any! absolute! designation.! The! specificity! of! the! being! who! speaks! always! in! some! way! resists! enclosure! within! conceptual! designation! of! “existence!as!such”!even!if!it!is!subject!to!its!finitude.! Perhaps! most! importantly,! we! need! to! expand! the! sketch! of! poetical! Dasein! to! include! creative! production! and! its! ontological! spontaneity.! Contrary! to! Kristevian! poetics,! poetic! Dasein! is! not! principally! shattered! and! unsettled! —! and! Hölderlin’s! poetic! subject! always!aims!at!recovery!from!loss!—!and!its!initiative!movement!toward! creation! and! composition! need! not! be! reduced! to! a! psychoanalysis! of! drives.! Insofar! as! poetical! Dasein! has! certain! capacities,! this! might! be! analyzed! in! a! nonemetaphysical! —! that! is,! not! merely! representinge phenomenology!of!the!poetic!imagination.!While!featuring,!of!course,!the! phenomena!of!linguistically!motivated!images,!the!imagination!is!for!us! not!primarily!representative!but!intuitive,!disclosive,!and!productive.!By! means! of! projecting! and! connecting! cognitively! dissimilar! elements,! for! instance! in! metaphor! but! also! in! neologism,! the! imagination! creates! provisional! unity! within! difference.! Peculiar! to! poetic! language! is! its! relation!to!rhythm,!the!carryingethrough!of!the!undercurrents!of!natural! and! embodied! life! into! poetical! grammar,! a! passage! that! is! facilitated,! again,! by! the! poetical! imagination! in! its! creative! projection! of! the! none cognitive! levels! of! experience.! Although! the! deliberate! strategies! of! poetic!practice!enable!the!compositional!unity!of!formal!poetry,!we!find! implied!there!the!fragility!of!human!memory!and!the!destructive!entropy! of!history.!Although!much!of!my!discussion!pertains!to!modern!poetry,! perhaps! the! most! elemental! examples! are! Shakespeare’s! sonnets! concerning!the!brevity!of!beauty,!the!necessity!of!formal!means!to!retain!
! 26! in! language! a! preserving! memory! of! such.! Poetical! “recovery”! —! as! transcending! the! given! state! of! dissolution! by! virtue! of! a! projected! wholeness,!a!recovery!I!have!argued!is!essential!to!Hölderlin’s!poetics!—! is! indebted! to! the! possibilities! of! the! poetical! imagination.! Yet,! as! we! have! seen,! a! phenomenology! of! the! imagination,! in! its! resonance! with! metaphysical! aesthetics,! was! necessarily! excluded! from! Heidegger’s! theory! of! art! and! language.! This! is! contrary! not! only! to! Hölderlin’s! procedure! but! also! to! Rilke’s! conception! of! poetry.! In! reference! to! Orpheus,! Rilke! declares:! “Mag! auch! die! Spieglung! im! Teich! /! oft! uns! verschwimmen:!/!Wisse!das!Bild”!(“The!reflection!in!the!pool!may!/!often! make!us!swim:!/!know!the!image”).22!! Although! Heidegger! provides! a! generous! ontological! account! of! the! imagination! in! Kant2 and2 the2 Problem2 of2 Metaphysics,! he! generally! abandons! the! terminology! of! the! imagination! when! he! attends! later! to! art! and! poetic! language,! because! he! is! unable! to! dissociate! the! imagination! from! metaphysical! (Cartesian)! subjectivity.! And! while! Heidegger!occasionally!refers!to!images!in!poetry,!he!also!expresses!(in! GA!13,!as!I!have!discussed!previously!in!this!book)!hesitation!with!regard! to!the!visualizable!element!of!poetic!language,!a!hesitation!no!doubt!due! to! the! metaphysical! alliance! between! images! and! representational! consciousness.! Yet! Kant2 and2 the2 Problem2 of2 Metaphysics! might! contribute!to!our!theory!of!poetic!Dasein:!according!to!Heidegger,!Kant! discovered!that!the!imagination!is!not!merely!a!mediation!between!sense! and! understanding.! It! does! not! only! reproduce! or! represent! but! also! “intuit[s]! ‘images’! which! it! forms! itself,! rather! than! relying! upon! representations! of! empirical! perceptions.”23!The! productive! imagination! is!responsible!for!original!“images”!that!form!the!conditions!of!possibility!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 22 Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus. I have not employed M.D. Herder’s translation here. 23 I am quoting here from Richard Kearney’s brief account of the “ontological imagination” in Poetics of Imagining: Modern to Post-Modern (New York: Fordham University Press, 1998) 47.
! 27! of!presenting!objects!for!understanding:!for!instance,!that!of!continuous! substance.! This! can! be! related! to! my! earlier! suggestion! about! the! capacity!of!poetic!Dasein,!by!virtue!of!imagination,!to!project!wholeness! or!permanence!on!the!basis!of!the!fragility!of!memory!and!finitude!of!its! world.!For!this!reason!a!new!phenomenology!of!the!imagination!must!be! outlined! in! response! to! Heidegger’s! disqualification.! The! poetical! imagination,!understood!not!in!subordination!and!service!to!cognition,!is! not!part!of!a!static!anatomy!of!the!subject;!it!is!not!a!“faculty.”!Rather,!I! argue! that! the! imagination! signifies! the! multiplicity! of! those! disclosive! strategies!by!which!for!Dasein!a!world!—!and!Dasein!as!self,!appear!with! features! of! being! both! knowable! and! unknowable,! both! present! and! ungraspable,!and!by!which!competing!possibilities!are!held!in!abeyance!in! order!to!enrich!an!understanding!of!the!real.!Within!the!self’s!response! to! world,! it! is! a! locus! for! spontaneity! and! productive! creation.! This! imagination!is!poetic,!but!it!is!not!limited!to!poetry!and!art;!it!is!engaged! in!theoretical!science,!in!religious!experience,!and!perhaps!even!in!moral! cognition.! If! I! am! right! concerning! the! possibilities! for! the! productive! imagination! in! this! new! poetics! of! Dasein! —! that! it! is! a! locus! for! spontaneity!not!exhausted!by!service!to!rational!cognition!—!such!might! also!be!the!source!of!freedom!that!poetic!language,!in!its!resistance!to! fixed!truths,!continually!suggests.!Freedom!would!then!not!be!described! as! rational! autonomy! or! deliverance! from! phenomenal! causality,! but! rather! the! suspension! of! telos,! which! governs! thought! toward! absolute! rational!expression.!Freedom!is!in!this!sense,!against!Hegel,!aligned!with! alterity!and!unforeseeability,!with!a!preservation!of!that!which!eludes!the! realm! of! absolutes.! Freedom! thus! described,! admittedly,! can! no! longer! serve!as!a!basis!of!a!Kantian!moral!reason,!but!it!need!not!be!opposed!to! moral!thinking!either,!just!as!poetry,!in!attending!to!the!mysteriousness!
! 28! of!the!world,!does!not!erase!knowledge!but!forces!a!confrontation!with! its!finitude.!! Assembling! together! these! features! of! the! structure! of! poetical! Dasein! with! our! nine! theses! above,! my! new! poetics! of! Dasein! can! be! summed! up! as! follows:! Poetical! Dasein! is! the! existence! of! a! conscious! being! aware! of! itself! in! reference! to! a! world! poetically! understood.! Poetical!projection!is!the!means!by!which,!in!compositional!spontaneity,! imaginative! understanding! presses! forward! into! possibilities! in! transcendence! of! the! given.! Poetical! mood! signifies! a! stance! toward! presence! for! which! the! distinction! between! the! real! and! the! illusory! is! provisional,! such! that! reality! exceeds! graspable! or! delineable! presence,! such!that!the!elusive!and!the!receding!can!be!included!within!its!sphere.! Poetical!attunement!is!the!generosity!of!the!receptive!imagination!in!its! attention!to!beings!in!suspension!of!cognitive!legislation.!Yet!mood!and! attunement!are!not!primarily!states!of!“mind”!but!of!embodied!beingeine theeworld.! Repetition! as! poetical! remembrance! is! correlate! to! the! granting!of!pluriesignificant!images!to!shelter!lost!elements!of!the!past!in! an! alwaysedeferred! reinscription! of! their! belonging! the! unity! of! life! or! Being.! Poetical! cognition! is! never! final! or! total,! not! of! the! order! of! possession! as! it! is! said! that! one! can! “possess”! knowledge.! Dasein! is,! moreover,! specific,! this! specificity! resisting! absorption! by! historical! ontology! or! even! by! an! ontology! of! language;! what! needs! be! said! in! poetic! language! can! be! indicated! formally! by! poetological! theory,! as! a! secondeorder! indication! of! the! formal! indication! that! poetic! language! itself!articulates!in!relation!to!the!known!and!the!unknown.!Because!of!its! productive! spontaneity! and! its! relation! to! the! unknown,! phenomenologically!of!poetical!Dasein!includes!an!account!of!the!poetic! imagination! that! must! be! recovered! from! the! model! presented! by! modern!philosophy!and!Heidegger’s!rejection!of!it.!!
! 29! This! new! poetics! of! Dasein! confirms! Heidegger’s! critique! of! the! metaphysical!subject,!without,!however,!abandoning!the!structure!of!the! self.! The! self! that! Heidegger! outlines! in! Being2 and2 Time! is! not! that! of! absolute!cognition!nor!of!a!“thinking!thing”!whose!own!static!presence! serves! the! basis! for! its! relation! to! the! world.! Heidegger! had! already! intimated,!though!in!Being2and2Time!had!not!fully!laid!out,!the!extent!to! which! hearing,! and! therefore! listening,! is! constitutive! of! language! (BT! 206/163),! as! well! as! the! fact! that! poetic! language! is! “a! disclosing! of! existence”! (BT! 203/160).! In! our! poetics! of! Dasein,! Geworfenheit,! extricated! from! the! law! of! return! that! characterizes! authentic! Dasein’s! resolute,! selfepossessed! totality,! is! subjected! to! the! principle! of! Gelassenheit.! Thus! the! poet’s! precariousness! might! admit! the! very! equivocality!that!Heidegger!in!the!“Der!Ister”!lecture,!and!even!in!Being2 and2 Time! in! the! discussion! of! ambiguity! (BT! §37),! attempts! to! avoid.! Indirectness! and! ambiguity,! rather! than! inauthentic! indecisiveness,! are! essential!to!the!transcendence!of!the!given!that!is!imaginative!projection,! so! what! is! inherited! is! subject! to! variable! interpretation! and! only! tentative! reinscription! within! a! present! understanding! of! the! world.! While! poetic! language! does! not! leave! altogether! the! “abode”! of! the! speaking! subject,! it! reveals! a! fundamental! deferral! of! telos,! and! an! alterity! that! cannot! be! eliminated! by! selfepossessed! resoluteness.! The! subject!of!poetic!language!is!eccentric!in!the!sense!that!it!is!never!a!selfe contained! or! circumscribed! totality! and! cannot! stand! in! for! or! “found”! one;! it! cannot! be! the! center! of! a! gathering! (Versammlung)! essence! of! what!is!its!own;!it!is!characterized,!rather,!by!excendence.!The!poet!is!set! on! a! course! which! never! completes! its! arrival! —! and! this! has! been! associated! in! studies! of! Hölderlin! with! the! “failure”! of! mourning! or! Andenken.24!It! is! in! not! arriving! —! being! noteatehome! —! that! poetic!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24 On this “failure” see Foti, Heidegger and the Poets, 69. Paul de Man claims that failure marks
! 30! dwelling! is! indirectly! accomplished.! As! poets! have! long! expressed,! the! “feeling! of! life”! —! and! here! we! mean! the! factical! life! of! Dasein,! the! phenomenological!lifeeworld,!as!much!as!the!principle!of!life!per!se!—!is! preserved! only! in! not! being! pinned! down! determinatively! by! ordinary! cognition,! but! rather! in! being! “formally! indicated”! in!poetical! discovery! and!preservation.!Exposed!here!is!the!incapacity!of!the!self!to!ground!its! relation!to!the!world!in!direct!statement.!Veronique!M.!Foti!accordingly! claims,! “Hölderlin,! indeed,! immediately! adduces! the! obstacles! which! resist!and!frustrate!preservation!and!remembrance:!in!being!drawn!into! conflagration,! the! ‘captive! elements’! go! wildly! astray;! and! above! all,! ‘a! longing’! tends! ever! toward! the! boundless.”25!This! longing! indicates! the! poetical!reverberation!of!the!unknown!beyond!what!can!be!grounded!in! rational!cognition!or!grasped!with!poetical!immediacy.! As!it!is!formally!indicated!in!poetry,!the!world,!though!inscribed!in! language,! continually! evades! description! even! when! the! poet,! such! as! Rilke,! achieves! the! “clarity”! of! poetic! seeing.! This! is! because! poetic! language!attests!to!the!inexhaustibility!of!the!real,!an!inexhaustibility!that! language! approaches! only! when! absolute! distinctions! between! the! real! and!the!imagined!are!suspended.!Blanchot!thus!refers!to!the!poet!who,! unlike!the!traditional!subject!of!metaphysics,!anchored!in!the!geometric! certainties! of! cognitive! consciousness,! finds! no! settled! home.! The! “caesura,”! which! is! so! important! for! Hölderlin’s! poetic! logic,! perhaps! symbolizes! the! disruption! of! the! subject’s! guarantee! of! return,! a! disruption!that!leaves!one!fragile,!evereineprocess.!The!poetic!Dasein,!set! adrift,!maintains!a!precarious!oscillation!between!identity!and!rupture!—!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the interstice between present and past, past and future, the gods and human kind. He writes: “The future is present in history only as the remembering of a failed project that has become a menace.” The Rhetoric of Romanticism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984) 58–59. 25 Foti, Heidegger and the Poets, 68.
! 31! and! so! the! moment! arises! when! it! can! be! ‘indicated! that,! as! Rimbaud! claimed,!“I!is!someone!else,”!or!I!is!an!“other.”!! This! transformation! is! associated! with! tragedy! and! the! formal! notion!of!the!caesura,!which!in! Hölderlin,! however,! is! involved! in! what! LacoueeLabarthe! calls! the! “deconstruction! of! the! speculative! matrix! of! tragedy,”26!which!I!take!to!mean!the!dissociation!of!tragic!poetry!from!a! grasp!of!the!absolute.!For,!as!I!discussed!in!previous!chapters,!the!tragic! turn!occurs!when!the!“Sign!=!0.”!In!The2Writing2of2the!Disaster,!Blanchot! gives! a! terse! reading! of! the! tragic! in! Hölderlin,! which! refutes! any! inscription!of!the!tragic!within!a!logic!of!history!or!destiny:!! ! “All!is!rhythm,”!he!is!supposed!to!have!said.!...!“All”!does! not!mean!...!any!already!ordered!totality!which!it!would!be! rhythm’s!job!to!maintain.!Rhythm!does!not!belong!to!the! order!of!nature!or!of!language,!or!even!of!“art,”!where!it! seems!to!predominate.!Rhythm!is!not!the!simple!alteration! of! Yes! and! No,! of! “givingewithholding,”! of! presencee absence!or!of!livingedying,!producingedestroying.!Rhythm,! while!it!engages!the!multiple!form!of!its!missing!unity,!and! while!it!appears!regular!and!seems!to!govern!according!to! a! rule,! threatens! the! rule.! ...! The! enigma! of! rhythm! —! dialecticalenonedialectical,!no!more!the!one!than!the!other! is!other—is!the!extreme!danger.!That!we!should!speak!in! order! to! make! sense! of! rhythm,! and! to! make! rhythm,! which!is!not!sensible!—!perceptible!and!meaningful:!such! is!the!mystery!which!traverses!us.27! ! Rhythm,!which!Hölderlin!thinks!as!the!course!of!a!tragic!poem,!ends!in! rupture!before!arrival,!at!that!moment!when!arrival,!the!authentic!grasp! of!Being,!seems!to!be!announced.!At!this!moment!the!oppositions!merely! “appeared! to! be! resolved”! in! the! transcendence! of! the! “ordinary! and! human!boundaries!of!knowledge”!(ELT!58,!60).!In!this!rupture!the!poetic! word! is! silenced;! the! “eccentric! path”! finds! no! essential! origin,! as! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, “ ‘La cesure du speculatif’ dans Friedrich Hölderlin,” L’Antigone de Sophocle (Paris: Christian Bourgeois, 1978) 43, cited in Foti, Heidegger and the Poets, 74. 27 Blanchot, The Writing of the Disaster, 112–113.
! 32! Blanchot!describes!how!“a!circle,!uncurled!along!a!straight!line!rigorously! prolonged,!reforms!a!circle!eternally!bereft!of!center.”28! Here,! resoluteness! on! the! part! of! poetic! Dasein! results! not! in! authenticity!but!in!disaster.!This!disaster,!escaping!the!play!of!Being!and! nothingness,!is!not,!however,!the!singular!goal!of!poetic!language,!even! when! it! aims,! as! in! the! poetry! of! Celan! and! Radnoti,! at! expressing! inexpressible! loss.! Even! in! Radnoti,! who! writes! from! the! vortex! of! disaster,! one! finds! that! poetic! language! maintains! a! grasp! on! life! that,! however! fragile,! exceeds! the! actual! by! virtue! of! a! poetically! enflamed! possibility!(of!survival,!of!life).!In!the!title!poem!of!Clouded2Sky,!he!writes! in!the!final!stanza:!! ! Clouds!pour!across!the!moon.!Anger!! leaves!a!poisonous!darkegreen!bruise!on!the!sky.! I!roll!myself!a!cigarette,!! slowly,!carefully,!I!live.29! ! ! This!tentative,!slow!maintenance!despite!the!sky’s!raging!bruises! and! the! horrible! absence! of! the! familiar! and! the! good! suggests! an! initiative!element!of!projective!transcendence!in!poetic!engagement!that! evades! simple! designation.! For! Radnoti’s! poetry,! along! with! Hölderlin’s! insistence!on!the!“feeling!of!life,”!shows!that!poetry’s!tasks!exceed!both! Kristeva’s! negative! revolutionary! poetics! and! Heidegger’s! historical! ontology.! In! Radnoti! remembrance! of! the! past! necessitates! first! the! struggle!to!preserve!a!hold!upon!the!present;!and!yet!his!poems!indicate! also!that!the!past,!things!in!the!world!worth!loving,!preserves!the!present! by!appearing!in!glimpses!through!the!oblivion.!! ! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 28 Ibid., 2. 29 Radnoti, The Clouded Sky, 17.
! 33! In!the!new!poetics!there!is!a!place!for!Dasein’s!self,!albeit!fragile,! as!the!eccentric!ungrounded!self!among!beings!in!the!world,!a!self!not! merely! statically! present,! but! a! horizontaleimaginative! nexus! of! possibility,! creation,! and! preservation.! In! being! itself,! poetic! Dasein! accepts! this! nexus! as! the! space! of! its! own! specificity! and! freedom.! If! denied! its! resolute! selfegrounding,! Dasein! finds! no! closure! even! in! overcoming!death!by!radically!accepting!it.!Dasein!does!not!embrace!the! nothing! in! a! heroic! struggle,! does! not! reach! the! absolute! in! a! tragic! collision! or! shattering,! but! lives! precariously! alongside! its! constant! insinuation.!This!fragility,!as!emphasized!in!Radnoti,!clings!to!life! in!the! face!of!extinction.!He!writes,!“This!is!how,!this!poem!walks!up!to!you!/! the!words!stamp!quietly,!then!they!fly!up!and!crash,!/!just!like!death.!And! afterwards,!a!full,!whishing!/!silence!listens.”30!But!possibility!and!joy!are! also!illuminated,!for!instance!in! Hölderlin,!as!our!creative!access!to!the! “feeling!of!life,”!and!in!Radnoti!most!tentatively!in!the!poetic!recollection! of!beings!in!the!world!worth!living!for.!! Rhythm! conceived! as! the! unsaid! layer! of! embodied! materiality! might! too! find! a! place! in! a! poetics! of! Dasein,! if! it! is! released! from! the! strict! confines! of! the! Freudian! notion! of! repression.! If! Kristeva,! in! her! predominantly! negative! notion! of! revolution,! does! not! think! this! ontologically! enough! (except! perhaps! in! reference! to! the! chora)! —! as! that! otherness! that! precedes,! but! exceeds,! even! human! corporeality,! psychic!and!social!life,!as!that!closer,!then,!to!what!Hölderlin!calls!“life!as! such”!—!her!view,!nevertheless!opens!poetic!Dasein!to!an!alterity!often! obviated!in!favor!of!the!determination!of!“home.”!There!is,!here,!another! kind!of!anamnesis!to!be!discovered:!that!of!the!fragility!of!the!subject!at! the! grounds! of! sayingeby! whom! the! world,! disclosed! in! the! shelter! of! language,! is! encountered.! Here! a! poetics! of! Dasein! is! opened! to! an!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30 From the poem “Like Death,” ibid., 15.
! 34! account! of! interconnected! embodied! life! that! had! been! left! behind! in! Heidegger’s!insistence!on!the!purity!and!isolation!of!the!poet’s!mission.! Released!from!the!destiny!of!return,!the!“tongue”!of!poetic!language!—! its!hovering,!ringing,!trembling!—!is!given!flesh31!in!a!postemetaphysical! subject,! and! is! opened! to! an! Ereignis! that,! recalling! no! singular! origin,! brings! poetic! language! into! a! more! radical,! and! more! poetic,! sphere! of! thinking.!Thus!in!poetic!language,!Blanchot!writes,!“we!do!not!repel!the! earth,! to! which,! in! any! event,! we! belong;! but! we! do! not! make! of! it! a! refuge”!for!the!being!who!speaks.32! The! earth,! conceived! as! the! site! for! being’s! poetic! disclosure,! is! indeed! one! substrate! of! poetical! articulation;! but! the! notion! of! spontaneity!for!which!I!have!been!arguing!in!conclusion!demands!rather! a!complex!of!points!of!departure!that!cannot!be!foreseen!in!any!singular! conscription!of!the!earth.!If!poetry!expresses!a!rootedness!to!the!earth,! how!can!we!address!the!poetry!of!the!refugee!and!the!persecuted,!the! uprooted,!who!as!in!Celan!or!Radnoti!sees!“lead!in!the!winter!sky,”!and! smells! “the! odor! of! scorched! human! flesh”? 33 !Or! when,! as! Anna! Akhmatova!writes,!“the!grave!I!go!to!will!not!be!my!own.”34!The!earth!is! only!one!point!of!departure;!others!include!accident!as!I!have!written!it! from! Hölderlin’s! terminology,! as! a! locus! of! the! unforeseeable;! the! intervention!of!spontaneity;!fragile!memory;!and!the!seeking!inscription! into!language!of!fragile!life.!Beyond!the!earthly,!here!Rilke’s!suggestion! from!Sonnets2to2Orpheus!rings!authentic:!! ! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 31 Akin to what I am suggesting here is Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notion of “flesh” in The Visible and the Invisible (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1968). 32 Blanchot, The Writing of the Disaster, 113. 33 From the poems “Like Death” and “Suddenly,” Radnoti, The Clouded Sky, 15, 51. 34 From “This Cruel Age Has Deflected Me,” Anna Akhmatova, Poems of Akhmatova, tr. Stanley Kunitz et al. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967) 129.
! 35! ! Und!wenn!dich!das!Irdische!vergaß,! Zu!der!stillen!Erde!sag:!Ich!rinne.! Zu!dem!raschen!Wasser!sprich:!Ich!bin.! ! And!if!the!earthly!has!forgotten!you,!! to!the!quiet!earth!I!say:!I!flow.!! To!the!rushing!water!I!say:!I!am.35! ! It!must!not!be!forgotten!that,!even!at!its!most!ontological,!even!at! its!most!revolutionary,!poetry!is!above!all!an!act!of!creation.!Poetry!is!—! and!perhaps!this!is!the!measure!of!authentic!poetry!—!a!tentative,!never! ontologically! final,! preservation! of! the! mysteries! and! possibilities! of! (beingeine)!the!world.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei, “New Poetics of Dasein,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 5–36.
This essay, republished with permission of Fordham University Press, is the final chapter of Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei’s Heidegger, Hölderlin, and the Subject of Poetic Language (New York: Fordham University Press, 2006) 237–58, 288–90.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 35 Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, my translation.
! 36!
Carmelo Bene I am Non-Existent: Therefore I am
Translated by Carole Viers-Andronico
!"#$%&'()*++",%!"#$%&$'()*+,'-#,-+%$(,+%,%-./01%2*3%4#%5'#6'7,%8-1/%59%:%;<%591%% &=7"=9%>4*?9'#7%@'#%>"=#*#("#,%!4++")A'9% Alles#ist#innig# Das#scheidet# So#birgt#der#Dichter.# Verwegener!#möchtest#von#Angesicht# zu#Angesicht# Die#Seele#sehn.# Du#gehest#in#Flammern#unter.% —Hölderlin%
%
I%am%nonFexistent:%therefore%I%am.%Elsewhere.%Here.%%
Where?%a%dream%appeared%before%my%eyes%%
of%She%who%never%was%The%one%who%never%lived%and%never%died.%
This%disquiet%of%the%nonFdead% What%tells%me%to%rise%a%somnambulist%% from%my%halfFclosed%coffinFbed?% I%rise%inside%my%room,%unlimited%by%human%borders.% I%am%at%times%my%selfFsame%black%attire%for%formal%occasions% % % % % % % % % % each%time%definitive.% What%reawakens%me%from%my%premature,%aristocratic% % % % % % % % % % interment?% The%doctrine%of%the%definitive%dead%commands%me%to%my% % % % % % % % % % usual%practices% that,%now%alone,%release%me%from% % % % % % % % % % human%will,% from%the%vain%logic%of%those%amorous%occasions% of%the%world%as%representation.% Why%nonFdead?%Why%not%yet?% What%in%the%world%tickles%my%indifference?% Which%voices%(of%women?)%weave%the%wind%encompassing% % % % % % % % % % the%castleFimage% of%my%nearly%absolute%aesthetic%derision?% Who%conceives%me?%What%in%the%world%worries%the%nonFdead?% % %% % % And%the%nonFdead%is,%in%fact,%prostrate%at%the%foot%of%an%immense,% empty% frame.% This% immense% frame% does% not% capture% the% image% of% She% who%never%was.%% % % %
%
! 38! And% it% does% not% even% serve% as% a% mirror% for% the% vampire,% since% vampires%cast%no%reflection.%
And%here,%in%what%appears%as%almost%a%confession:%
if%the%nonFdead%were%not%conceived,%evoked%in%the%narcissistic%unF conscious%of%his%“victims”%who%then,%“made%vampires,”%hastily%withdraw% their%fright,%he%would%not%even%dream%of%leaving%his%most%sought%out%fuF nereal%bed%(taking%for%granted%his%unfulfilled%prayer%of%never%waking),%just% as%a%dandy%would%never%pose%were%he%not%looked%upon.%
% Being%dead%is%hard%work.% —R.M.%Rilke% % % % % % Therefore,%every%night,%every%moment%night%falls,%having%attended% to%his%own%devotions,%to%his%huge,%empty%frame,%having%thoroughly%extinF guished%one%by%one%the%candles%of%his%“need%to%be”%—%but%not%so%thorF oughly%after%all%—%the%vampire%forces%himself%to%go%to%sleep%in%his%coffinF bed.%And%here%lies%his%anxiety%of%the%nonFdead.%His%non.%%%%%%%
He%is%nevertheless%attracted%by%the%“aleatory,”%by%the%“extension% of%life.”%%%%%
Here% the% drawing% room,% the% flirtations,% the% conventional.% % % Here%his%masochistic%readiness%toward%the%arrogant%narcissism%of%his%vicF tims.%
Here%our%nonFdead%preens,%dressing%himself%in%front%of%the%absent% mirror.%%%%%
Yes,%the%absence%of%She%who%never%was,%this%womanly%cocoon%is% intolerable%day%in%and%day%out.% % %
So%therefore,%away!%from%one%altar%to%another!%
Life,%the%ancient%fortuneFteller,%secretly% whispers%forgotten%words%to%me…%% —A.%Blok%
%
%
! 39! % % % The%only%thing%that%remains%for%the%nonFdead%is%to%“concentrate”% on%the%dressing%table,%an%end%unto%itself:%a%button%in%the%wrong%buttonF hole%(the%vampire%has%no%reflection,%he%dresses%like%a%blind%man)%it%deterF mines,%it%compromises%speech.%Aphasia%of%language.%(Nude,%he%expresses% nothing,%he%produces%no%sound,%neither%on%the%stage%nor%in%the%orchestra% for,%in%deed,%on%undressed%occasions,%he%is%paralyzed,%he%falls%silent)…%%%%%%
Aphasia%of%language%occurs%like%clockwork%between%the%acts,%beF tween% garments,% in% omission,% in% certain% clumsy% clothing% combinations,% clashes,%etc.%% % % %
In% such% cases,% stammers,% inhuman% spasms,% grunts,% excesses% of% convulsive% coughs,% cold% and% hot% sweat,% senseless% naming% dominate% the% scene.%%%%%%
The%Vampire@Actor%is%paradoxically%the%Feminine%elevated%to%Con@ sciousness.% %
“She%did%appear%to%me,%all%love.”%She%appeared.%%% % % %
The%little%theater%of%the%fracturedFI,%and%the%subject%falls%in%love% with%playing.%
But% stage% dressing% is% like% the% stage% itself,% a% parody% of% an% image% that%negates%itself%(it%negates%itself%from%the%beginning).%In%the%derisory% laugh% of% the% same% infinitely% profferable% gestures,% the% Actor’s% damned% practice%has%as%its%sole%purpose%to%draw%from%the%mind%every%other%thing% possible,% everything% but% that% unique,% nonFexistent% thing,% which% only% an% oral%writing%can%open%up%to%the%void.% % %
As%for%the%suspension%of%the%love%that%threatens%figures:%
…Do%not%appear%before%me,%O%Unheeded%one.% It%is%not%She.%She%does%not%exist.%She%is%from%elsewhere,% Unfaithful%even%to%herself,% Like%the%tranquility%of%the%dead%once%and%for%all.% You%are%missing.% I%hear%in%your%voice%how%tired%you%are.% Oh%rest,%oh%rest.%You%must%die% From%time%to%time…% % From%time%to%time.%“Time”%is%the%duration%of%the%spectacle.%And%the%specF tacle’s%task%is%to%not%take%place.%
! 40! And%my%weak%spirit%fails% To%think%how%the%dead%must%freeze%% Beneath%the%churchyard%mold.% —R.%Kipling% % % % % The%poor%dead%who%are%cold%beneath%the%churchyard%mold,%who% suffocate% —% precipitous% burials% —% under% the% weight% of% the% earth,% who% flounder%unheard%in%their%coffins…%It%is%impunity,#the#recurrent#immaturity# of#the#dead.%
This%and%only%this%can%produce%emotive%poetry.%
All%the%rest%is%theater.% %
%% % % The% starts% of% the% “wretched% dead”% are% interferences% in% the% susF pension% of% the% Tragic:% they% are% the% “heroic”% starts% of% the% conventional% tragicFI% that% the% child% subject% empowers% to% mock% them.% It% is% the% repreF sentative% identity% that% clumsily% peers% into% the% empty% desert,% where% he% wills%and%unwills%the%very%will%and%not%this%or%that%specific%object;%he%deF sires%his%own%sorrow.%
In%the%poverty%of%representation,%more%or%less%great%“actors”%alF ternate,% imitating,% without% ever% succeeding,% the% arrogant,% improvised% egoFdeprived%spectators,%encouraged%by%the%spectacle%of%the%ministers%to% the%senseless,%mundane%representation%of%the%state.%%
In%the%theater%of%the%nonFrepresentable,%the#Actor#is#infinite.%He%is% the%infinite%of%the%paraFstatal%disregard.%
He%is%the%infinite%that%constitutes%the%loss%of%himself.% %% % %%%Loss%is%not%a%temporary%shutting%down%of%being.%Existence%itself%is% a%shutting%down.%%% %% % % % The%subjectFActor%is%such%insofar%as%he%is%not%an%actor.%While%the% ever% more% powerful% superFego% is% watchful,% the% performerFI% refuses% his% own%role%right%before%the%spectacle%begins.%Sometimes%(always)%you%feel% the% performerFI% act% on% whims,% interfering% at% times% in% the% Actor’s% nonF being;%but%this%inconvenience%had%been%prevented%in%a%kind%of%masochisF tic,%contractual%stipulation,%and%the%impasse,%the%embarrassment,%the%unF ease%—%this%sacred%and%at%the%same%time%liturgical%incompatibility%—%is% humor:%to%pray%in%a%brothel%or%curse%in%church.%And%this%is,%after%all,%the% only%“adversarial%nature”%acceptable%in%theater.%Because%it%is%the%theater.%
! 41!
! 42! Translator’s Note
Reading%Carmelo%Bene%requires%an%act%of%translation;%it%requires%accepting% the%text%as%nonFtext%and%acknowledging%the%word%as%nonFword,%its%only% meaning% a% performance% that% varies% from% stage% to% stage.% Bene% would,% I% think,%rather%enjoy%the%idea%of%translation%as%a%metaphor%for%reading%his% work,%since%his%work%is%largely%about%becoming%in%a%perpetual%state%of%inF completion.%No%act%is%ever%accomplished,%thus%no%reading%and%no%translaF tion%will%ever%be%complete.%Nor%should%it%be:%according%to%Bene,%a%definiF tive%reading%or%performance%is%the%very%death%of%art.%% While%translating%this%essay,%I%realized%even%more%acutely%than%in% my%other%readings%of%Bene’s%works%that%his%use%of%“non”%is%paramount.% Consequently,%the%most%difficult%translation%choice%I%made%involved%favorF ing%a%slightly%awkward%formulation%in%English,%“nonFdead,”%over%the%familF iar%term%undead.%Bene%relies%on%the%image%of%a%vampire%throughout%this% piece,% and% he% refers% to% him% as% the% nonFdead.% In% English,% vampires% are% commonly%referred%to%as%the%undead.%Undead,%however,%suggests%a%close% proximity%with%death.%Vampires%are%near%to%death%but%they%cannot%comF pletely%cross%over%into%the%realm%of%the%dead.%NonFdead%as%Bene%would% have% it% suggests% something% rather% different.% NonFexistence% is% a% form% of% existence% and% nonFdeath% is% a% form% of% death:% it% is% death% in% its% negation.% Similarly,%in%Italian,%“non#esisto”%suggests%a%form%of%nonFexistence%that%is%a% negation%of%existence.%Therefore,%to%render%“non@esisto”%as%“I%do%not%exF ist,”%which%would%be%the%standard%translation%of%this%phrase%into%English,% would%not%capture%the%parallel%state%of%existence%and%negation,%or%nonF existence,%that%Bene%defines%as%the%actorialFbody,%which%is%existence%in%its% very%negation.%This%negated%existence%presents%itself%as%the%image%of%an% actor%preening%in%front%of%an%empty%mirror.%% %
! 43! If%this%essay%and%its%translation%reflect%a%performance%that%varies% from%stage%to%stage,%then%I%believe%I%have%captured%something%of%Bene’s% original,%which%is%not%a%mirror%image,%but%a%translation%that%looks%into%an% empty%mirror.%%% % %%%%%%%%%%%Carole%ViersFAndronico% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % Carmelo Bene, “I am Non-Existent: Therefore I am,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 37–44. This essay is taken from Bene’s La voce di Narciso (The Voice of Narcissus), a collec- tion of critical essays on the theater included in Opere con l’Autografia d’un ritratto (Bompiani, 2002).
! 44! ! ! CARMELO BENE BEING IN ABANDONMENT: READING AS NON-MEMORY 1
!
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! TRANSLATED BY RAINER J. HANSHE
! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 This is a translation of “Essere nell'abbandono: la lettura come non-ricordo,” an interview with Car- melo Bene made on Raidue TV in 1988. Gratitude is due to Germano Cecere for painstakingly tran- scribing the text as well as for suggesting corrections, as it is due to both Maura Del Serra and Erika Mihálycsa for making further clarifications and helping me to refine it. The interview can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkh6hd5vkm8 THE!THEATER,!THE!GREAT!THEATER,!IS!FIRST!OF!ALL!A!NON1PLACE,! therefore!it!is!protected!from!any!kind!of!story,!is!untestifiable:!that!means!that! the!spectator,!as!a!martyr,!is!a!witness!(here!in!the!etymology!of!martyr,!di#“mar( tire”).!Even!through!the!greatest!efforts,!he!should!not!be!able!to!explain!what! he!has!heard,!never!to!talk!of!the!things!by!which!he!was!“possessed”!in!his!self1 abandon!at!the!theater.!That’s!why!the!actor!is!not!sufficient!anymore,!not!even! the!great!actor:!we!need!to!be!an!actorial!machine,!as!I!defined!it,!in!parenthe1 ses.!What!is!an!“actorial!machine”?!First!of!all,!it!must!be!something!amplified;! but!amplification!is!a!strange!thing.!Amplification!is!absolutely!not!an#exaggera( tion,!a!magnification,!but!is!like!looking!at!this!page:!if!I!look!at!it!this!way,!here,! so,!here,!I!see!and!feel!it;!but!if!I!approach!this!more!&!more,!its!contours!vanish! &!I!cannot!see!anything.!Theater,!then,!is!everything!not!understood.! ! In! a! verse! from! the! Achilleide# Penthesilea! that! we! will! start! shooting! next! No1 vember–December!for!Raidue!(national!broadcast!TV),2!there!is!my!version!of!a! distich!by!Von!Kleist:!“For!this!feminine!darkness!within!us!/!daylight!is!but!a#dis( aster!”!So,!the!spectator!must!be!“at!mercy.”! ! ! What!is!the!actorial!machine?!It!is!reading;!meanwhile,!as!in!poetry!and!in!con1 cert,!I!always!need,!said!between!parentheses,!to!read,!to!be!said,!not!to!report! the!matter:!that!is,!of!re(view(ing,!of!re(ci(ting:!in!French!this!instead!is!jouer,!in! English!it!is!play,!that!is!game,!but!this!game!is!a!game!of!a!game!to!massacre.! The!theater!is!in!the!act/action![atto],!that!means!in!the!immedi1ate![immedi( ato],!it!is!in!what!a!philosopher!called!immediate!vanishing,!the!presence!and!at! the!same!time!the!absence.!And!this!is!to!overcome!the!great!actor,!that!is,!this! is!the!actorial!machine,!of!which,!I!say!again,!this!Macbeth#Horror#Suite#is!only!an! example,!among!others.3!
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! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Pentesilea la macchina attoriale – Attorialità della macchina, momento n° 1 del progetto-ricerca achillei- de. Da Stazio, Kleist, Omero. Milano, Castello Sforzesco (1989; 1990). 3 Bene is referring to his version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which was first performed on stage, then on television. The stage credits: Macbeth – horror suite, da Shakespeare (II edizione). Nel centenario della nascita di Antonin Artaud. Roma, Festival d’Autunno, Teatro Argentina (30 settembre 1996). For clips of the production and a dialogue (in French) with Bene, see “Carmelo Bene à propos de sa conception du théâtre”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFk4o2HkANA
! 46! If!someone!should!then!say:!“But!let’s!wait!just!a!moment,!everything!centers!on! the!oral”!—!just!so:!os,#oris,!“actor”!derives!from!“os,#oris,”4!by!the!act!of!rheto1 ric,!of!saying.!So,!the!Virgin!Mary!is!advocata,!and!then!“to!im(plore”!is!derived! from! agere! [to! speak]! not! from! agire! [to! act],! which,! unfortunately,! all! the! wretched!actors!do,!not!only!Italians,!but!also!Europeans,!on!the!stages!of!the! small! worldwide! planet.! Here,! they! bustle! about,! they! scrabble;! I! leave! this! to! the!laborers!to!do,!I!leave!it!to!the!dust1sweepers,!alright;!I!just!leave!it!to!the! street!cleaners.!It!is!not!agire,!it!is!agere,!agere,!and!agere!means!“to!act!orally”:! we!are!told.5!!
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I!mentioned!reading!earlier;!if!I!read,!even!together,!I!need!to!read!not!to!re( mem(ber,!nor!presuming!that!writing!corresponds!to!the!oral;!instead!there!is!a! profound!idiosyncrasy!between!the!written!and!the!oral:!I!do!so!in!order!to!for1 get.!So!reading!as!oblivion,!reading,!paradoxically,!as!non(me(mo(ry.!
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This!is!a!real!Copernican!revolution,!which!sweeps!away!every!avant1garde!and! all!the!repetitions!of!the!20th!century.!Once!when!a!Rossini!played,!he!was!useful! to!something,!behold,!he!was!in!the!act,!in!what!is!immediate;!but!now,!in!the! 20th!century,!it!is!like!putting!makeup!on!the!classics,!as!they!do!with!a!corpse!in! a!morgue:!a!playing!backwards,!this!is!the!“director#theater,”!here.!This!is!grant1 ed.!The!theater!cannot!be!reported;!the!spectator!must!surrender!only!to!listen1 ing.!But!also,!not!only!is!the!ear!listening,!but!the!eye!is!listening!too.!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 The two Latin words Bene uses here mean: 1) face, countenance; and 2) sight, expression. 5 Consider Nietzsche’s observation on the actual original meaning of the word drama, which, Nietzsche contends, has been distorted due to a pervasive mistranslation of the Doric word dran: “It has been a re- al misfortune for aesthetics that the word drama has always been translated ‘action.’ It is not Wagner alone who errs at this point; the error is worldwide and extends even to the philologists who ought to know better. Ancient drama aimed at scenes of great pathos — it precluded action (moving it before the beginning or behind the scene). The word drama is of Doric origin, and according to Doric usage it means ‘event,’ ‘story’ — both words in the hieratic sense. The most ancient drama represented the leg- end of the place, the ‘holy story’ on which the foundation of the cult rested (not a doing but a happen- ing: dran in Doric actually does not mean ‘do’).” See Nietzsche’s footnote to The Case of Wagner §9; KSA 6, 32; cf. KSA 13, 145[34] 235. One example alone serves to confirm Nietzsche’s observation: all of the “action” in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex occurs offstage — every major event of the play is recounted (we are told, as Bene says) by messengers, and it is they that are the only witnesses of the tragic events, which they act as mediators of, not only for the audience, but for the other figures of the play, too.
! 47! When!someone!asks!me:!“But!then!why!do!you!direct!television!this!way?”!I#also# destroyed#cinema;#why!this!wonder!for!television?!Television!can!be!seen,!can’t! it?!A!bending!of!the!head,!a!crushing!of!the!gesture!(one,!two,!three,!et!cetera),!a! disarticulation!of!the!bo1dy.!We!do!not!have!a!body!(I!say,!from!what!I!remember! from!Gilles!Deleuze),!this!is!not!true:!we!are!a!body,!because!we!are#not.!There1 fore!the!theater!is!this!non1being![dis(essere],!is!this!malaise!of!being!‘obscene.’! The!theater#and#the#stage![scena];!the!theater!is!what!is!obscene,!from!the!ety1 mology! “ob(scene”! [o(skenè],! that! is! what! is! beyond! the! stage! while! being! on! stage.!So,!when!you!see!me!on!stage,!you!are!listening!to!me!instead!(always! with!that!“me”!in!parentheses,!the!“soi”!or!“moi”!or!ego!of!the!enslaved!sub1 ject).!
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What!should!we!do!not!to!fall!into!the!hands!of!signifiers?!To!try!to!read!as!in!a! non1memory,!etc.,!etc.,!et!cetera:!well,!then,!you!have!to!start!with!being!more! modest,!that!is!starting!with!the!great!actor!and!finishing!with!the!actorial!ma1 chine.!You!have!to!complicate!your!life,!as!Edoardo!said.!To!complicate!your!life! means!to!make!a!series!of!handicaps!for!oneself,!that!is,!to!make!for!oneself!a! preparation,!beyond!and!in!spite!of!a!text.6!There!are!no!texts.!In!spite!of!hu1 manism,!of!the!museum,!of!an!eternally!consoling!art,!which!is!always!decora1 tive,!in!spite!of!culture!—!Derrida!is!right!in!recalling!the!etymology,!which!de1 rives!from!colo,!colo1nization!—!in!spite!of!intelligence,!one!must!be!stupid,!stu1 pid,!endlessly!stupid,!in!order!to!be!in!a!condition!of!possession.!
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Schopenhauer!glosses,!explaining!in!one!of!the!books!of!The#World#as#Will#and# Representation:!the!end!of!the!world!means!the!end!of!the!will!and!representa1 tion,!the!end!of!art!too.!Here,!I!add:!one!cannot!be!the!author!of!something,!of!a! work!of!art:!you!are!a!masterpiece.!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Bene is referring to the following passage from De Filippo’s Napoli milionaria (Side Street Story): “A mustache attached crooked on purpose is a monument to the artificiality of the theater, is the glove thrown down to the public by the actor, is the advantage conceded to the artist, sure that his art can still transport the spectator into the territories of illusion; it is a way of complicating his life, not to fall into routine, to maintain a distance between himself and the character. It is precisely that distance that who- ever acts always tries to fill, knowing that he will never be able to fill it, to constitute one of the main pleasures of the theater.” Edoardo de Filippo, Teatro, Vol. III, ed. by Paola Quarenghi & Nicola De Blasi (2007) 1178–1179. Tr. by RJH. Emphasis added. De Filippo made Napoli milionaria into a film, which he directed in 1950 and entered into the Cannes Film Festival in 1951.
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! Carmelo Bene, “Being in Abandonment: Reading as Non-Memory,” tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 45–49.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 See The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, book III, §52. 8 Bene adds “ancora una volta” to San Juan’s original statement, which translates as: “nothing, nothing, nothing, and even on the mountain, once again nothing.”
"j ! ! CARMELO BENE “Well, yes, Gilles Deleuze!” 1
TRANSLATED BY RAINER J. HANSHE !
! ! ! ! "#!"$%%%!#&"$!$#'()!'*!+)!#,-.#)!/01#"2-3!)-0($!".!#&-!/#&-0#-(43! #&-$-!#,-.#)!)-0($!0*#-(!+)!#,-.#)!)-0($!5!!"#$%!&%!.'#&".6! "$!077!*'(!/'()*43!.'#&".6!*'(!#&-+%%%!.89!:;<=!:>?@!>A8B:!/C8DE>?F GHE3! <;4! = 1 I would like to express my gratitude to Germano Cecere, Maura Del Serra, and Stefania Por- celli for helping me to refine this translation. more!need!for!the!Dasein!in!me...!Yes,!Gilles!Deleuze!!you!know!that!well! —!language!and/or!speech!aside!—!one!must!be!“in!form”!every!night! during!the!day.!You!know,!like!any!“elementary!school!teacher,”!the!story! of!the!vanity!that!speaks!every!language.!...!You!know!very!exactly!that! the!many!will!not!be!able!to!persuade!us!—!think!of!the!“Rhizome”!—!of! our!“lack”!of!“Mass.”! You!know,!as!a!dancer!and!a!philosopher,!that!what!we!are!“is”! only!in!a!“unique”!key.!You!know!the!unspeakable,!the!contempt!to!show! off!night!after!night!with!all!that!idiotFgladiatorial!effort!which!follows...! What!do!you!know!if!not!the!cipher!that!belongs!to!you!notwithstanding,! in!the!middle!of!the!void!that!we!are,!even!if!the!morons!of!the!futureF past! will! always! eternally! ignore,! today,! that! we! are! just! that! unique! signed!and!subscribed!nothing.! Vanity!...!Vanity!...!What!is!Theatre?! And!they!tell!me!(themselves)!of!Narcissus,!apprentices!from!the! suicide!school!and!not!masters!of!selfBdestruction...!Not!students!of!the! method!that!prescribes!the!wisdom!of!the!moment!that!is!never!repreF sented.! “Let’s!repeat!”!they!continue!to!repeat!themselves...!Exactly:!Let’s! “repeat.”! The!fact!is!that!they!are!stuck!at!some!sort!of!Freudian!“compulF sion!to!repeat”!that!gives!the!cue!to!their!superFfoolish!analyses!(the!exF ample!of!the!child!who!throws!a!toy!away!from!himself!and!then!recovers! it!just!to!throw!it!away!again)!and!it’s!all!here.!But!BeyondEtheEPleasureE Principle,!how!are!you?! “RepetitionEisEdifferenceEwithoutEconcept,”!you!said...! But!they!don’t!mean!the!difference!that!is!not!different!from!this! or!that!thing.!Journalists!! 51 Why!talk!about!it,!then?!That’s!the!“point.”!It’s!in!that!mental!orF deredForganic!category!of!their!own,!here!is!the!detailedFeternal!return! of! our! innocentE becoming...! (poor! us,! but! really! poor,! if! we! know! a! lot! about!the!uncultivated!story,!I!say,!about!the!anecdotes!that!want!them! so:!contesting.!Contesting!is!enough...!So!they!have!the!little!theater!they! deserve!(“let!us!know!what!we!know”),!have,!poor!them,!peace!of!soul,! yes,!because!they!do!not!really!suspect!the!anxiety!(anxiety!with!no!soul! and!no!peace).!And!it’s!true,!if!monumentally!“chaste”!(“ignorance!is!not! holy”),! they! have! never! knowingly! established! that,! “pushed! to! the! exF treme,!generosity!coincides!with!the!loss!of!decency...”! !“Generous!to!vice,”!glosses!GideFSaul...!! “Let’s!repeat!”!they!repeat!to!recurrence.!But!god!forbid!trying!to! remove!them!from!a!beautiful!fatherly!truth!! “Come!on,!then,!to!the!East,!to!Turkey,!where!slavery!still!exists!”! Imagine! it!! they! are! selfFdefeating,! not! Masoch!! It’s! enough! for! them!to!just!have!a!“gimmick,”!a!memorable!evening!gimmick.!It!is!conF trolled! gonorrhea.! I! know! for! certain...! let! it! go! (certain! things! have! to! remain!suspended)...!to!let!the!nothingEcome!into!play!and!carry!out!selfF destruction.!“Repetition”...!Yes,Eworkers,Etherefore,EdoubtEinEme!...! Maestro!Foucault!paid!you!a!tribute!in!what!follows:!“Intelligence! does!not!respond!to!stupidity,!since!it!is!stupidity!already!vanquished,!the! categorical!art!of!avoiding!error.!The!scholar!is!intelligent.!It!is!thought,! though,!that!confronts!stupidity,!and!it!is!the!philosopher!who!observes! it.!Their!private!conversation!is!a!lengthy!one,!as!the!philosopher’s!sight! plunges! into! this! candleless! skull.! It! is! his! death! mask,! his! temptation,! perhaps!his!desire,!his!catatonic!theater.!At!the!limit,!thought!would!be! the!intense!contemplation!from!close!up!—!to!the!point!of!losing!oneself! in!it!—!of!stupidity;!and!its!other!side!is!formed!by!lassitude,!immobility,! excessive! fatigue,! obstinate! muteness,! and! inertia! —! or,! rather,! they! 52 form!its!accompaniment,!the!daily!and!thankless!exercise!which!prepares! it!and!which!it!suddenly!dissipates.!The!philosopher!must!have!sufficient! ill! will! not! to! play! the! game! of! truth! and! error! badly:! this! perversity,! which!operates!in!paradoxes,!allows!him!to!escape!the!grasp!of!categoF ries.!But!aside!from!this,!he!must!be!sufficiently!‘ill!humored’!to!persist!in! the! confrontation! with! stupidity,! to! remain! motionless! to! the! point! of! stupefaction! in! order! to! approach! it! successfully! and! mime! it,! to! let! it! slowly!grow!within!himself!(this!is!probably!what!we!politely!refer!to!as! being!absorbed!in!one’s!thoughts),!and!to!await,!in!the!always!unpredictF able! conclusion! to! this! elaborate! preparation,! the! shock! of! difference.! Once!paradoxes!have!upset!the!table!of!representation,!catatonia!operF ates!within!the!theater!of!thought.”2! Maestro!Foucault!sees!in!a!longFrange!“shortly.”!For!a!long!time!I! recognized!that!I!am!an!idiot.!“CogitoEergoEest”…! You!shall!doubt!in!me...!But!what!does!it!mean?! What!is!it!to!doubt?!“Variation”…! “And!what!is!it!when!there!is!abjection?”…! But!yes,!my!dear!ladies,!you!take!off!backstage!what!you!dress!up! in!on!stage...!It’s!just!like!burying!the!dead,!“brother!Damiano”!! !“The!last!works!of!his!maturity!are!formal,!perfect,!foreseeable”:3! the!fact!is!that!I!imagine!that!maturity!is!the!unpunished!and!the!eternal! return!of!the!same,!almost!a!calm!that!has!no!nostalgia!nor!death,!but! against!the!whole!mortality!of!the!event!(“AmorEfati”)...! “All!things!have!the!sadness!of!the!end”...!(Hegel)...!But!“sadness,”! in!the!eternal!return,!is!never!the!end,!in!the!same!manner!as!a!finished! actor!is!never!great:! ! 2 “Theatrum Philosophicum,” Aesthetics, Method, & Epistemology (1998) 362–363. 3 Unlocatable source, perhaps a review on Bene from an Italian periodical. 53 The!great!actor!is!aEquid!beyond!the!concept!(much!less!of!himF self):! The!great!actor!is!that!nothing!which!is!capable!of!expressing,!a! naive!and!perverted!Heliogabalus!engulfing!his!hungry!people!with!flowF ers! from! his! imperial! windows,! in! order! to! deconceptualize! hunger! (he! will!be!reduced!to!fragments!inside!a!sewer,!because!his!harassed!servF ants! meant! nothing! but! to! offer! him! a! service,! to! pay! a! tribute! to! the! mass! of! atoms! that! was! against! the! banal! idea! of! an! imperial! superF ego...)...!Heliogabalus,!the!result!of!various!religions!and!mothers,!an!adoF lescent!fixed!in!his!eternal!transgression...!almost!as!if!dismembered!exF actly! in! this! way,! he! almost! had! some! sort! of! unreasonableness! of! the! State! and! why! not?! as! he! went,! converted! to! another! sort! of! organic! monotheism!and!earned!by!the!emperor!day!by!day.!Is!not!this!a!way!like! any!other!to!fix!brutality!by!being!so!(but!very)!so!close!to!forget!oneself! —!antiFnarcissus!—,!finally!at!peace!with!one’s!Self?:! !“If!we!are!to!take!it!as!a!truth!...!that!every!living!thing!dies!for!inB ternal!reasons!—!becomes!inorganic!once!again!—!then!we!shall!be!comF pelled!to!say!that!‘theEaim!ofEallElifeEisEdeath’!and,!looking!backwards,!thatE ‘inanimateEthingsEexistedEbeforeElivingEones.’!”!(Freud)...4! ! ! So!Lord!Byron!said:! “All!tragedies!are!finish’d!by!a!death,! All!comedies!are!ended!by!a!marriage…”5! Eh!yes,!the!comedy!wedding!(or!the!comedy!of!marriage)!negates,! just!as!generation,!becoming!(it!has!only!the!illusion!of!it):! ! ! 4 Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1961) 45–46. 5 Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto III.9. 54 The! tragic! mortality! —! as! frequency! —! traces! back! to! the! selfF destructive!consciousness!of!the!Ego!(the!tragic!milieu!of!Deleuze).!DifB ferenceE andE repetition:E repetition! (mirabile! dictu)6!=! differenceE withoutE concept...! But! you! see,! Gilles! Deleuze,! we! rave! about! the! “non! concept,”! while! ever! since,! on! stage,! there! is! talk! and! that! is! all...! Even! on! the! stage!...! The! stage! (above! all! in! France)! is! everFforever! a! family! church! where!we!get!married!every!night!and!sometimes!in!the!afternoon.!But! even!the!most!squalid!of!the!marriage!candy!and!orange!blossom!is!the! grotesque!theatrical!requiem!mass!of!our!western!tragedies!(at!least!as! they! are! staged)! where! all! the! arrogant! actors! mourn! the! dead! really! dead,!dead!dead!before!the!curtain!goes!up,!indeed!before!the!text!and! the!already!buried.!Death!does!not!mean!to!die.!Death!is!dead.!Dying!is! not!so.!Ah,!Klossowski!!what!did!Béjart!make!of!your!prince!of!changes?7! You!told!me!in!Paris:!“so!many!people!danced!around!a!still!Baphomet.”! You!did!not!like!it.!I!hope...!So!(much!worse!on!the!stage)!one!is!usually! already!dead.!One!never!dies!from!death!(and!instead!the!great!masoF chism!of!the!actor!(if!great)!that!plays!an!orgasm!with!himself,!and!bets,! always!bluffing!with!the!eternal!struggle!of!the!instincts!against!his!own! Ego)...! ! ! So!the!actor!(and!when!I!say!great!I!mean!one!who!exceeds!“himF self”)!can!only!attend!the!scene!of!sorrow!that!belongs!to!him.!In!sorrow! he,! an! adult,! finds! the! “repetition! compulsion”! “beyondE theE pleasureE principle.”!In!sorrow!his!“instincts”!fight!—!restrain!his!awareness!of!the! wise!Ego!(death)...! 6 Wonderful to relate, amazing to say. 7 Maurice Béjart (1927–2007), a dancer, choreographer, and opera director. He ran the Béjart Ballet in Lausanne, Switzerland. One of his dances included Héliogabale (1976). 55 But!repetition!=!differenceEis!sorrow.!The!sorrow!that!is!not!a!preF lude,!a!promise!of!the!“final”!orgasm.!The!finale!is!the!applause,!always! after!the!end!of!the!work...!Acting!is!dying.!AndEtoEdie!is!to!languidly!fight! death.!(Now!the!Text!is!Death.)!Life!light!exempt!from!charity.!Sad!and! not! sad! is! such! a! profession.! Sad! in! the! awareness! of! the! presentation! (sad!is!the!representation!of!it)...! And! that! maybe! my! “ruthlessFironicFlyricalFsynthesis”! (Flaiano)8! belies!your!TheatrumEPhilosophicum!with!which!Foucault!crowns!you!in! his!beautiful!preface!to!your!great!book!on!difference?...! “Nobody! is! the! father! of! another...”! My! friend,! digression! as! a! Woman,!I!subscribe!in!the!holy!quadruple!alliance!of!Fourier:! !“It!is!not!enough,!therefore,!to!propose!a!new!representation!of! movement;!representation!is!already!mediation.!Rather,!it!is!a!question! of!producing!within!the!work!a!movement!capable!of!affecting!the!mind! outside!of!all!representation;!it!is!a!question!of!making!movement!itself!a! work,!without!interposition;!of!substituting!direct!signs!for!mediated!reF presentations;! of! inventing! vibrations,! rotations,! whirlings,! gravitations,! dances!or!leaps!which!directly!touch!the!mind.!This!is!the!idea!of!a!man! of!the!theater,!an!idea!of!a!director!before!his!time...”!(GD).9! ! 8 CB is paraphrasing Ennio Flaiano’s review of his original 1964 theater production of Oscar Wilde’s Salome, which was performed at the Theater of the Muse in Rome and featured Fran- co Citti as St. John the Baptist and Carmelo Bene as Herod: “[I think that Bene], an artist so personal, so stinging, lazy, distracted, sharp and iconoclastic, is on the right path, although in a dangerous way, out of his love of theater, [putting] […] a lack of rationalism in it. But thanks to that his shows, even when they are at the boundaries of indignation, they are fascinating and always go beyond the thinkable [...]. [In] his direction, in his inventions, he never thinks about the current trend, least of all the public. He has the gift of ironic synthesis, is lyrical, ruthless. In Salome he was able to give aestheticism literary and figurative corruption with a few hints, leaving aside the historical reconstruction, the lure of the furniture, the ignorant pomp of our directors [...]. As for the public [...] that loves concrete things and hates madness, this well- tanned Salome can make the effect of a joke insolent. But it is not a joke. To speak better: I hate those who put a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but I have nothing to say to anyone who us- es it to stab and wound her.” Title (March–April 1964). Bene later made Salome into both a film (1972) and radio play (1975). Cf. also Carmelo Bene, Vita di Carmelo Bene (1998) 154. 9 Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition (1994) 8. 56 Already! History!...! The! Oppressed! and! the! Oppressors...! (Kafka– DeleuzeFGuattari)...! Bureaucracy...! The! “Machine”:! there! is! no! escape! from!the!cog!of!the!Machine,!not!only!in!the!assembly!line.!You’re!never! out!of!the!Machine!even!in!solitude,!in!love,!in!“free”!time,!on!vacation,! et!cetera:!this!was!my!ServantBMasterES.A.D.E.!And,!yet,!the!younger!ones! especially!do!not!“resign”!to!consider!their!age!an!age!of!man!(immaturiF ty!of!the!mechanism!stage).!No,!as!if!that!were!not!enough,!a!bourgeoisF antibourgeois!demon!makes!it!a!party.!It’s!a!Faustian!daemon!reversed:! the!Conscience!of!the!Machine.!So!what?!Eh!!there!are!Problems!!Which! ones?!if!“the!universe!is!the!infinity!ofEmyEcarelessness”!(I!do!not!know! who! said! it)?...! And! instead,! no.! These! young! souls! (“ugly”?)! regret! beF cause! they! are! marginalized.! From! what?! From! the! mechanism! of! the! Machine! or! from! the! actionFconscience! of! the! Machine! itself?! How! to! say?!Is!it!really!selfBmarginalization!that!they!hold!in!contempt,!this!posiF tion!coinciding!with!the!only!conquest!(even!this!illusory!choice)!possible,! if!“possible”!is!only!beyond!history...!If!actressBpolitics!is!only!the!continF uous!variation!of!my!stupor.!If!indeed!it!is!unthinkable!to!die!of!death.! And!then,!gone!with!the!wind?!But!yes!!The!way!of!the!theater,!as! we!examine!in!RichardEIII.!“A!horse?”!It!is!this!ass!here.!For!going!where?! Eh,!well,!yes:!byEwayEofEtheERigor.! Carmelo Bene, “Well, yes, Gilles Deleuze!” tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, Hype- rion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 50–57. This is a translation of Carmelo Bene, “Ebbene, sì, Gilles Deleuze!” from Carmelo Bene, Gilles Deleuze, Sovrapposizioni (Macerata: Quodlibet, 2002; 2012) 117–126. All ellipses are Bene’s own and do not signal an omission of text. 57 Litany for Carmelo Bene Emilio Villa Translated by Dominic Siracusa les$colombemots$ont$toutes$troujour$un$ciel$à$éventrer$ pour$en$abattre$la$mémoire$sur$le$miroir$des$instants$sonores$ $ les$lé$ $ ta$nie$à$lécher$ $ en$dérogatoir$ $$$ $$pour$ $ carmelo$bene$à$ $ redomander$érection$ $ rédemption$et$ $ vigueur$de$ $ $ $vous$voix$voir$de$toi$ $ $ $qui$nous,$les$tous,$oblige$et$nous$opte$ $ Héron$iridescent$aux$éclats$vert;noir$ en$éclat$verbevoir$des$glandes$sans$limite$ tu$aura$bien$pu$saisir$entre$tes$crocs$ la$grêle$du$Temps$Dur,$exilé$mûr,$ du$Temps;Dieu$de$Blessure,$Tant$d’Yeux$ en$trace$des$Golfes$d’Ombre,$et$l’Ombre$ qui$beugle,$du$Tout$d’Yeux,$ le$long$les$Feuillages$sans$racines$ liées$aux$rêves$des$vivants$—$$ et$pu$trouer$pu$crever$le$Collapse$ oratoire$des$Vidéo;Je$des$Jeux$ Imprévisible$rhéteur$revolé$revolu$des$représailles$ en$défaite,$Arbitre$pour$aveugles$ aux$rats$tués$aux$raids$d’ouir$ voix$diacre$voix$à$raid$grenu$ $ pour$plaindre$pour$te$plaindre$sur$les$ongles$ sur$les$As$sur$Bois$sous$Poudre$sous$Cendre$ entre$Thèbes$et$toi$tout$Vu,$Thèbes$ règne$et$défait$ta$voix$toute$nue$noircie$ toute$desquamée$dessaisie$polluée$ qui$fasait$disparaître$le$Lieu$à$descendre$ in$con$nu$ir$rité$chaque$grain$ ritué$du$Symbole$Paresseux,$à$Vœux$ et$à$Symbole$Santgrenue$Voile$ où$gît$ta$Grande$Vide$Pearls;Words$ $ Grandevoix$Vivante$dont$deferle$$ $ L’eau$collab$ $ se$a$l’Ab$su/à$l’Ab$ $ side$des$choses$des$mystères$en$joues$luxées$ Bien,$Béné$!$c’est$ta$Voix$en$Goître$ 59 ta$Voie$Sablé$qui$t’Alignée$ tarissable,$l’A$qui$beugle$impalpable$ déjà$dit,$ta$Voix$oblique$remplie$d’air$ à$la$chasteté$du$jeu$innombrable$ qui$éloigne$le$monde,$le$monde$ qui$retient$absent$le$,,,$l’horizon$ escarpé$d’horizon$froissé$ $ c’est$ta$Voix$en$Gouffre$ aux$luxures$exposées$dégorgées$vives$ les$fourrures$alarmées$d’A$bsinthe$ $ $ $ d’A$psou$ $ $ $ d’A$bsous$ du$jeu$à$la$chasteté$corrive$ $ en$latrat$aboyé,$A$infrason$breuvé$ en$faim$et$en$soif$dégorge$de$L’A$byrinthe$ issu$bobine$l’A$voix$byrille$ $ $ $ qui$lappe$l’O$lascif$ en$fines$scènes$de$Lèvres$les$l’ivres$ livrées$sur$l’A$raignée$ du$Mime$qui$règne$Sublime,$Béné;$ du$Mime$qu’un$Monde$anime$et$éreinte!$ les$mots$hâlés$$ rosier$ en$jeux$d’échecs$ ruisseaux$ en$jeux$d’éclats$ rugeux$ en$despote$chaque$grain$de$ton$bûcher!$ les$mots$allés$ $ à$rigolade$ en$jeu$d’échéances$et$regret$ les$mots$en$chagrins$poinçon$ les$maux$en$échanges$chas$grins$ les$maux$hélés$par$A$bol$ en$jeu$d’essence$ je$d’incences,$insens$jeu$d’inceste$des$croyances$détériorées$ bien$béné$bien$née$parabole$ folle$voix$écrite$martyrisée$sur$l’écran$ rompu$de$terre$rie$eau$rhée$à$passerelle$ $ mon$ami$aimé,$le$Grand$aimé,$des$tempêtres!$ qu’est;ce$que$c’est$qui$te$libère?$ qu’est;ce$que$c’est$qui$te$possède?$ le$mots$hululés$en$vacarmes$ en$jeux$sulfurisés$de$charmes$ en$jeux$supplique$supplice$d’élan$ $ 60 $ pour$A$A$et$ripaille$donc,$pu$ta$haine$ $ pour$C$B$et$engendre$donc$ $ pour$B$C$et$vielle$donc$ $ pour$A$A$et$ $ aux$souffles$cruels$ mon$ton$nom$Carmel$le$Bien$du$Béné$ en$vain$le$souffle$du$Carmel,$Déveine,$ ira$s’éteindre$au$bout$de$poitrine$ et$la$pétillante$puissance;prince$des$saintes$saisons$Rien$ aux$Détroits$raisonnés$par$famine$ $ mère$aisée$ $ $ $ par$se$siens$géometriques$ mère$et$sémence$de$la$mensonge$infinie$ses$filanges$fléaux$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$$$d’ardeur$ douce$mensonge,$de$la$syllabe$assez$$ ses$forêts$fouets$pour$pies$ arbre$grenadier,$touffu,$de$syllabes$ $ arrosées$en$phono$—$!$ abreuvées$dans$le$faux$sang$grenus$ $ par$bébé$très$né$ou$traîné$ d’un$mensonge$à$tenue$impénitente,$ $ qui$témoigne$son$ respect$ pour$baptister$un$membre$grains$$ $ pour$les$nondieux$à$flair$ $ $ $ $ pour$une$vengeance$en$pleine$rosée$ $ Immense$Vétérinaire$de$la$Vache$ Grande$qui$beugle$fadasse$ $ en$trachée$somatestésiale$ $ par$prévénance$lésinée$ $ et$démonicité$en$vestie$ $ du$Paysage$défaillant$ pour,$obviam$Carmelo$in$aëra,$pour$ le$Grand$Jeu$en$brides$ de$la$Suggestion,$pour$le$Je$Grand$ en$bribes$d’A$mour$murmures$ tout$ou$vert$tout$ou$l’on$voit,$ de$l’A$rbre$eau$imaginaire$trémie:$ au$feuillage$no$cturne$habillé$ caressant$rongé$assoupli$sur$fixité$de$fougue,$ it$all$seems$that$way,$yet$happens$through$subtle$ indulgence,$and$at$the$same$time$doesn’t$happen,$yet$it$opens$ wide$to$sickly$colored$changing$crowds$ of$truant$or$summoned$or$contested$vowels;$to$ spread$seeds$of$the$intransitive$ idolatry,$eidololatry,2$eh!$ $ $ $ 61 $ poupées$drolatiques$en$masques$interdites,$ voix$de$Matière$séduite$par$scissures$ voice$of$seduced$Footprint,$voice$of$fluid$grit$ for$regeneration$and$separation$of$the$iconic$ Orgasm,$shattered$in$hypotipóseis,$ the$Coming$and$Going$in$Hepotenuse$is$to$be$found$at$the$peak,$$ vanishing$from$cell$to$polished$polyhedric$cell,$ $ in$ritual$of$genuflections$of$mirabunda$ blindness,$mirabilis$Unda,$when$it$rises,$ the$vain$vulva$of$the$labial$eidolon,$ like$a$beautiful$Prey$and$very$breathable$ equilateral$sail,$voucher$of$scummy$lexicons$ as$thick$as$the$three$hundred$walls$of$cynara$solymus$ and$worshiping$the Queen of the incarnadine Death, incarnadine Death of Star,$ she$herself,$the$same,$and$together$ sa$ma$ri$t’haine,$jaspure$de$haleine$ euchariste,$mari$tène,$samaritaine,$gouffre$diadème$ s’amar$item,$triage$de$ténia,$elle$même$ la$Voix,$elle$là,$elle$mène$ en$érème$en$hérésie$en$herbe$autres,$ elle$même,$seu$ipsa$ipsaque$salus$ animae$animatae$salus$eremi$ jardin$du$délire$autre$du$repas$du$trépas$ illa$ipsaque$Comestibilitas$Undae$ illa$Grandis$imaginum$Unda$voculata,$ vox$hi hi,$vox$hi fi,$vox$hieroglypha$ vox$labilis,$vox$lubidinis,$vox$labyrintha$ $ la$Houle$toute$Houhoule$des$Images$Emues$qui$errent$ Images$Absoutes$à$l’Assaut$des$Spécifs,$ à$l’arrache$de$l’Araignée$des$Pierres$ soul$of$Absolute$voice$to$the$labia3$$ reclining Ear$ad$burned Amygdale$ A$ Myg$ $$Dal$ et$munda$Mundi$A$nimula$ et$blanda$Fax$Faciebus$(Di)vitiata,$ numina$mun$dii$mund$is$ h.e.$omnia$munda$mundis$undis$ l’audelà$de$tout$Mi(ni)stère$obrué$ min$ystère$mystère$Fêlé$miroir;mésentère,$ du$aux$yeux;grains$secoués$par$la$Larve$ 62 intrasmissible$enfin,$in$pilicula$Salomé,$ et$la$non$occultable$Auditio$ auditionem$audientes$audibitis$ par$trombes$et$tuyaux$murènes$ ganglions$et$vives$salives$ angles$et$tue;yeux,$tuyaux,$ tout$je$nous$en$tout$genoux$ $ en$gambade$et$akrobatie$vives$reculées$ en$paraphonésis$autour$des$épaules$nues$ noue;ramures$nues;blessures$ de$chaleurs$silumées$ouvertes,$nu$feu$du$feu$ incessant$ pour$l’A$ntagoniste$résumé$imperturbable$ véritable$A$(e)ndrogyne$jouant$ carmélange$mélange$en$voix$et$lait$ pour$les$treize$répertoires$de$l’éclairage$enseveli$ great$tempestuous$Act$ more$magnificent$Actor$ or$Histrio$or$Clown$or$great$millenary$ Shaman,$intact$Shaman$of$the$Eon$ for$whom$I$pull$from$my$hymnology:$ Vocis$Voce$Iridescens$Ridens$vix$ Inve$ $$$$$in$ictu$vocis$ terascens$Optuma$Librata!$ summe$ergo$Histrio$culmine$A$rbor$ rubescens$vigeas$Haruspex$ et$Fulguriator$Carmen$τοῦ$El$ Carminator,$genialiter$ultima$Umbrae$ genio$vocis$vox$Uta$maxima$Mundi,$ flatus$Mundi$ and$I$no$longer$know$what$or$what$ $ voice$suits$the$immature,$Demetriac$mane$ of$your$voice.$ Bene!$good!$Bene$dicas$illud$Benebene$ in$venis$ultimis,$in$vanis$ultimis,$in$ultimatis$vocibus:$ $ $ $ $ Bene$is$the$ un;caused,$l’histrio$aeternalis,$from$Eleusis,$ yet$causing$pluvial$memory$judged$ in$conference,$in$sections,$in$meetings,$in$secret$rotating$ menisci,$jovenile$ever;lasting$heifer$$ to$celebrate$like$corpus$simulans$atqui$dissimulans:$ teeth$ $ blood$ $ whip$ $ hips$ the$flashenings$of$archaic$cinereal$aggressions,4$ 63 sumptuous$dragonflies,$scantly$clad$knots,$unknottings,$and$emery$ of$lowered$glottises,$never$born,5$ in$infinite$ugule$pendule$nodule,$ where$the$Ideogram$of$Alarm$sews$and$re;sews,$ delightful$of$the$Erratic$Grace$on$inclines$of$effigies,$ of$the$Invocation$in$Delta$of$the$impeccable$$ trans;nourishment,$blacker$suture$ of$the$innumerable$leaden$Proximity/Corporeity$ in$formula$of$mystery$of$parthenian$Ceremony,$ from$Eleusis,$parthenogenic$ear,$precisely$called$ Ear reclining,$in$a$$ single$solitary$unique$word$ unknowable,$backed$for$the$protection$ of$not$knowing,$of$not$dwelling,$of$dis;appearing$ in$flashenings$and$sunken$face$faze$about$face$ that$radiates,$ray;diates,$it$opens$in$bursts,$ the$inaccessible$flux$of$errors$ in$sweet$sweet$docile$disorganized$ Ypokalipsis$precisely$of$the$raw$Womb$ in$the$free$soaring$enemy$Discourse$ in$the$pure$sense$of$icy$alliteration,$ of$friction,$of$the$complete$daze$ of$the$Precious$Orga(ni)sm$of$yes,$ of$the$Simulacrum$in$Monstrance$of$Breath$and$Trace$ in$ictus$of$fantastic$Cells$ that$dare$weep$upon$the$Sickly$Waters$ $ $ of$the$summoning$shade,$ in$the$threatening$veiled$air$from$the$phonocryptic$ whirlwind,$of$the$far$off$eve$ntuality,$ $ la$Rêve;Elation$Celtique,$ like$a$passing$tax$of$tenderness$and$Zoocentric,$ $ pity,$ banner$of$lightning$fast$crossing$ $ Eros$and$Deception$ Ejection$en$Courbe$d’Accent$ du$Bout$qui$rejette$son$sommet$dans$le$Gouffre$ $ $ $$ $ l’Epi$de$Voix$en$ce$qu’elle$souffre$ $ the$Ear$of$voice$in$Eleusis$ extremely$nourished$nourishing$that$nourishes,$en$outre$ the$Mare$pregnant$with$the$most$varied$lights,$ that$spills$in$an$arrogant,$proud,$ferocious,$broken$ line,$riotous$materies,$matrix$à$foutre,$arch,$ c/hurled$sexual$cupola,$vocalized$wasps$where$ 64 I$stumble$(or$you$stumble)$the$proteic$reasons$ of$the$wind$simulating$fiery$litanies,$ hair;brained,$bored,$broods$of$bands$ for$eating$the$long$chain$of$the$impossible$syllable$ à$foutre$the$corpus$Hermiticum,$the$esseculum,$ on$cliffs$of$erectile$glimmers$and$crown,$ golden$right,$gloomy,$febricital6$temple,$ booed$detention$of$corporeal$comedy,$ from$whose$foramen$slides,$hisses$ and$flees$the$amazing$miraculous$ $ Corporeity$of$Actor,$of$hungry$ $ Histrio,$as$I$saw$saw$saw$and$saw$again$ $ $ $ et$inquam$ $ $ $ sic$est$com$edia$ $ $ $ et$in$edia$ eating$together$and$never$eating$ $ et$alors$ $ les$sources$les$sœurs$chatouillées$ inaugure$entame$et$engouffre$l’incandescence$du$Serpent$ $ $ $ $ maladroit$d’Inouï$ et$dans$tout$ça,$la$Forte$Flamme,$ ça$tout$fort$la$lui$même$lui$dit$qui$dégringole$ le$tout$lui$même$qui$bouleverse$l’obscurur$ d’$son$Â$me$même$qui$s’aime$ qui$sème$ce$qui$s’aime,$son$Â$me$d’indifference$ ou$bien$de$déliverance,$son$épopée$chanchate,$épaisse,$ plus$rare$son$Â$me$pousée$de$périr$ épousée,$son$époupée$de$la$vestition,$ son$Â$me$car$mêle$tout$ qu’est$ce$que$ai;je$connu$de$la$première$Brume,$ toute$mêlée$incisive$dans$le$tout$ recourbe$vocalisé,$dans$son$os,$dans$le$son$ de$son$Â$me$inclinée$sans$destin,$ son$Â$me$léchée$son$Use$démie$et$cou$ronnée$ démystifiée,$hâtive$Â$me$ dans$le$Trou$de$son$Trou$exhorcisé$ serré$de$près$le$chemin$vain$de$ses$pièges$durables$—$ pledged$and$offered$through$ $ photosensitivity through$zoom-zoom,$between$nebulas$ of$sequences$cardiac$consequences$ $ $ 65 $ and$wisteria$of$mortal$mots,$and$thus$misunderstood,$ between$frost,$thaw,$and$fading,$ between$bush-house$and$selenic$fragments,$ and$shreds$tatters$flakes$of$carotids$to$be$shed…$ et$sources$anciennes$ébouriflées,$et$après$ tranchée$hachée$découpée$la$vert$e(m)brale$avilie$ simple$où$terrible,$variation$et$Fugue$défaillance,$évanouissance$ like$saying,$or$to$be$said,$of$the$seesaying7$in$offering,$ ‘Dioscoure$en$hypogée$véritable’:$ sur$l’inelucté$vide$symétrique,$crise$à$défendre:$ perpetuated Body in B and C in or in Indemonstrable Drudgery, in Passing Over, in the unawoked Variety in the unrevealed$Involucrum!$ $ Pour$ainsi$dire,$sur$le$bord$du$désert$qui$avance$ou$s’éparpille:$ j’irais$chercher$le$trou$où$me$coucher$ avec$le$Grand$Chien$Tétracéphale$ en$fait$de$Mémoir$phonétisée$sur$face,$ sur$sa$Front$l’Ange$Acteur$de$l’Action$d’Âge$supérieure,$nimbe$ monté$su$Eter$Nuement$en$gloses$périmées,$ en$fait$de$l’Agacement$Ultérieur,$Utérie,$ utérus$dédale$méandre$aux$feux;croisés$ mot$sur$mot$de$l’idée$du$Destin$Histrionné$Immanent$ $ à$l’A$bri$de$l’Egide$tachetée,$ par$A$gonie$d’A$go$ni$sante,$ nous$irons,$en$jouet$et$en$masque$exténuant,$ nous$irons$flairer$plonger$partager$étendre$ sa$voix$Charmehêlée,$soumise$ où$gît$la$machine$grotesque$fardée$ des$mots$qui$égarent$même$les$yeux$ des$Climats$Improbables,$dont$retombent$ $ les$ailes$de$l’égarement$ténébreux,$ et$tu$iras$crier$par$hymène$vocal$ jusqu’à$ce$que$ton$époux$apparaîtra;$ ou$lorsque$C.B.$ira$se$réciter$ en$l’êtranglé$pour$l’être$anglé$Trout$ en$se$refuser$au$Salut$à$l’Â$me,$à$l’A$nonyme$ $ $ $ 66 $ everything boils down everything irreversibly boils down to everything outline sets everything in stark radical nuances enfant$que$je,$Carmel$le$Bien,$j’irais$dire:$ oh$mes$Mots$troués$par$ma$voix,$brûles$ dans$la$baie$de$mon$cœur$ $ est;ce$que$vous$en$savez$quelque$chose$ $ d’une$Resurrection$sans$fin?$ 1 Carmelo Bene (1937–2002) was an Italian playwright, actor, and poet. He was known for his many innovations in the field of theater, his incandescent stage presence, and his extraordinary ability to declaim poetry, not only his own, but also that of major Italian poets such as Dante Alighieri, Giacomo Leopardi, and Dino Campana, as well as others, including Russian poets such as Mayakovsky, Esenin, Blok, etc. (cf. Bene’s 1974 production Quattro modi di morire in versi: Majakowski, Blok, Esenin, Pasternak). In many ways, he was very similar to Villa: both were as erudite as they were ill-tempered and wrote poetry in a language all their own, creating macaronic mixtures with a predilection for wordplay. More importantly, they were equally obsessed with the phonetic side of language, of which Villa’s homage to Bene serves as a perfect example. Villa never intended to print this litany; it was Bene himself who contacted Aldo Tagliaferri (the custodian of the poet’s intellectual property after he suffered a stroke in 1986) and insisted on its publication. * Villa’s original English is set in Footlight MT Light. 2 Villa plays on the word eido in different ways throughout his oeuvre. Here, he is using it in conjunction with the terms “idolatry” and “ideology.” 3 In the original, all’elabia is most likely an intentional misspelling of “alle labia” (to the labia). 4 Cinerule is a combination of “cinereo” (ashen, cinderly) and “ceruleo” (cerulean). 5 In Italian the adjective “ammainate” (to haul down or lower) contains the morphemes “mai nate” (never born). 6 Febbricitale is Villa’s creation and is derived from “febbre” (fever). 7 With vedodire Villa combines the first person singular form of the verb “vedere” (to see) and the infinitive form of “dire” (to say). Emilio Villa, “Litany for Carmelo Bene,” tr. by Dominic Siracusa, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 58–67. An excerpt from Emilio Villa, Selected Poems, tr. by Dominic Siracusa (New York & Berlin: Contra Mundum Press, 2014). 67 ! ! !The Human Head Notes on Painting & Awareness1 ! Louis le Brocquy ! ! ! ! !"#$%&%'())#*%*(!$%)"#+#%)"(,-")+%&$%./0/%&%!1+%23#(44,2&#*% ! 56% )"#% 4#7)&4% &81-#% (9% )"#% ",81$% "#1*% 1+% 1% 81-&4% 5(:% 4($)1&$&$-% 4($+4&(,+$#++;% )<=>?% &% @AB=% C?DEF@% DGAFF% HI 1 The Eighteenth International Health Lecture, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin. Presented on November 14, 2005. The%human%body%is%a%constantly%recurring%theme%of%both%poet%and% painter,%but%their%two%arts%—%each%a%whole%continent%of%consciousness%—% do% not% touch% directly,% I% think,% at% any% point.% They% have% no% common% frontier,%no%bridge%other%than%their%shared%state%of%aesthetic%awareness.% Turning,%then,%in%the%direction%of%that%bridge,%I%shall%try%—%as%a%painter%—% to%speak%of%painting%and%awareness.% William%Blake%believed%that%“man’s%perceptions%are%not%bounded% by%organs%of%perception.”%Evidently%painting%lies%within%these%bounds.%Yet% I%think%of%the%art%of%painting%as%another%way%of%seeing,%another%approach% to% reality,% another% porthole,% as% it% were,% in% the% confined% bathysphere% of% our%consciousness.% In%the%context%of%our%everyday%lives,%painting%must%be%regarded%as% an%entirely%different%form%of%awareness,%for%an%essential%quality%of%art%is% its%alienation,%its%otherness.%In%art%at%the%most%profound%level,%actuality%—% exterior%reality%—%is%seen%to%be%relevant,%parallel,%but%remote%or%curiously% dislocated.% Where% actuality% plays% an% immediate% role% —% as% in% photographic% images,% in% kite% flying,% in% Christo’s% Running& Fence,% in% other% forms% of% recording% or% in% the% descriptive% or% environmental% arts% —% aesthetic% perception% and% elation% may% be% experienced% but% scarcely,% I% think,% deep% recurrent% insight.% Such% insight,% when% it% occurs% in% painting,% is% due,% I% suggest,%to%an%essential%ambivalence%in%the%role%of%the%paint%itself,%which% is%characteristic%of%significant%painting.%It%may%be%relevant%here%to%quote% from%something%I%wrote%in%London%in%1956:% Since% painting% first% interested% me,% I% have% been% drawn% to% a% constant%tradition%which%I%think%of%as%central%to%this%old%European%art.%This% implies%a%peculiar%use%of%oil%paint;%not%to%symbolize,%not%to%describe%the% object,% nor% to% realize% an% abstract% image,% but% rather% to% allow% the% paint,% while%insisting%upon%its%own%palpable%nature,%to%reconstitute%the%object%of% 69 one’s%experience:%to%metamorphose%into%the%image%of%an%apple,%a%sky,%a% human%back.% This%is%an%indefinable,%mysterious%process%and%is%accordingly%rare.% Giorgione,%Titian,%Tintoretto%used%paint%in%this%way.%Caravaggio%sent%it%on% its%way%to%Spain,%to%Velázquez.%Rembrandt%epitomized%it.%Turner%pushed%it% to%its%metaphysical%limits.%Watteau,%Chardin,%Delacroix,%Courbet,%Manet,% Monet,%and%Cézanne%were%among%its%great%French%exponents.% In%certain%works%of%all%these%artists,%the%paint%(with%its%qualities%of% color,% tone,% and% texture)% has% been% transformed% into% the% experienced% object.% Obversely% the% image% of% the% object% has% become% paint.% This% dichotomy,%this%tension%pulls%taut%the%nerves%of%insight.%Reality%is%stripped% down%to%a%deeper%layer%and%the%ordinary%is%seen%to%be%marvelous.% Indeed% you% may% say% that% such% a% paintdimage% is% itself% a% manifestation% of% the% minddbeyonddreason,% grasping% at% the% natural% fact% which%it%mirrors.%I%think%of%Ahab’s%cry%in%Moby&Dick:% % O% Nature% and% O% Soul% of% Man!% How% far% beyond% all% utterances% are% your% linked% analogies!% Not% the% smallest% atom%stirs%or%lives%on%matter,%but%has%its%cunning%duplicate% in%mind.% % And%then%again%I%ask%myself%whether%this%“cunning%duplicate%in%mind”%may% not% be% another% way% of% naming% the% ‘claritas’% of% Thomas% Aquinas’s% definition%of%beauty,%which%—%as%Mark%Patrick%Hederman%has%pointed%out% —%James%Joyce%translates%as%radiance.%Joyce%writes%in%Portrait&of&a&Young& Man:% % The% aesthetic% image% is% first% luminously% apprehended% as% selfdbounded% and% selfdcontained% upon% the% immeasurable% background% of% space% and% time% which% it% is% not% …% The% connotation%of%the%word%‘claritas’%is%rather%vague.%Aquinas% uses%a%term%that%seems%to%be%inexact.%It%baffled%me%for%a% long%time.%It%would%lead%you%to%believe%that%he%had%in%mind% symbolism% or% idealism,% the% supreme% quality% of% human% 70 KE>MG?% KEABH% >% FAHLG% @I % % 9:3%(&+4&;3:(8&;+-)(&b=EG>AFcP%./00% )>GE%4 71 % Here% Joyce% is% presumably% thinking% specifically% in% terms% of% writing,% of% poetry.%But%it%is%evident%that%this%“whatness”%of%the%image%is%equally%the% essence% of% the% art% of% painting.% For,% contrary% to% a% generally% held% view,% I% think%that%painting%is%not%in%any%direct%sense%a%means%of%communication% or%selfdexpression.%For%me%at%any%rate,%it%is%groping%towards%an%image,%a% “whatness.”% When%you%are%painting%you%are%trying%to%discover,%to%uncover,%to% reveal.% I% sometimes% think% of% the% activity% of% painting% as% a% kind% of% archaeology%—%an%archaeology%of%the%spirit.%As%in%archaeology,%accident% continually%plays%an%important%part.%The%painter,%like%the%archaeologist,%is% a% watcher,% a% supervisor% of% accident;% patiently% disturbing% the% surface% of% things% until% a% significant% accident% becomes% apparent,% recognizing% it,% conserving%this%as%best%he%can%while%provoking%the%possibility%of%further% accident.%In%this%way%a%whole%image,%a%whatness,%may%with%luck%gradually% emerge%almost%spontaneously.% Thus,% what% counts% in% painting% is,% I% believe,% recognition% of% significant%accident%within%a%larger%preoccupation%and%not%dexterity%and% calculated% imposition.% Ironically% enough% I% myself% have% frequently% been% reproached%for%possessing%too%much%dexterity,%too%much%technical%skill.% Recently% I% was% given% a% rather% dramatic% opportunity% to% disprove% this% charge%when,%after%a%bonedgrafting%operation%to%my%right%hand,%my%whole% arm% was% immobilized% in% plaster% for% a% number% of% months.% During% this% period%the%images%that%emerged%under%my%ignorant%left%hand%were%in%no% way% distinguishable% from% those% induced% by% my% practiced% right% hand% before%or%afterwards.%Neither%better%nor%worse.% % ___% % % 72 Some%seventeen%years%ago%I%was%still%painting%the%torso%as%an%image%of%the% human%presence,%when%I%stumbled%into%what%I%call%a%blind%year%—%a%year% in%which%I%had%no%luck,%in%which%no%image%emerged.%At%the%end%of%that% year%I%destroyed%fortydthree%bad%paintings.%As%you%can%imagine,%I%was%by% then% in% a% bad% way% myself,% when% my% wife% Anne% Madden% —% herself% a% painter% —% brought% me% to% Paris% as% to% a% place% of% discovery.% And% there% indeed%I%did%discover%at%the%Musée%de%l’Homme%the%Polynesian%image%of% the%human%head,%which%like%the%Celtic%image%I%discovered%the%following% year,% represented% for% me% —% as% perhaps% for% these% two% widely% different% cultures%—%the%mysterious%box%that%contains%the%spirit:%the%outer%reality% of%the%invisible%interior%world%of%consciousness.% In% Dublin,% now% some% sixty% years% ago,% the% great% physicist,% Erwin% Schroedinger,%astonished%me%with%the%thought:% % Consciousness%is%a%singular%of%which%the%plural%is%unknown% and%what%appears%to%be%the%plurality%is%merely%a%series%of% different%aspects%of%this%one%thing.% % Much% later% in% Provence,% faced% with% the% CeltodLigurian% head% cult% of% Entremont%and%Roquepertuse,%I%asked%myself%if%it%were%not%perhaps%this% “singular”%which%so%preoccupied%our%barbarian%ancestors%in%their%oracular% use%of%the%severed%head.% Such% a% concept% of% an% autonomous,% disseminated% consciousness% surpassing% individual% personality% would,% I% imagine,% tend% to% produce% an% ambiguity% involving% a% dislocation% of% our% individual% conception% of% time% (within% which% coming% and% going,% beginning% and% end,% are% normally% regarded)% and% confronting% this% “normal”% view% with% an% alternative,% contrary% sense% of% simultaneity% or% timelessness;% switching% the% linear% conception% of% time% to% which% we% are% accustomed% to% a% circular% concept% returning%upon%itself,%as%in%Finnegans&Wake.% 73 Likewise,%if%indeed%the%aesthetic%image%in%a%painting%by%Rembrandt% is%illuminated%by%Joyce’s%radiance%or%whatness,%and%if%that%revelation%of% whatness%is%achieved%by%an%ambivalence%in%the%role%of%the%paint%(involving% a% transmogrification% of% the% paint% itself% into% the% image% and% vice% versa),% then% these% circumstances% also% may% be% said% to% produce% that% timeless% or% paradtemporal% quality,% which% we% instinctively% recognize% in% such% a% painting.% It% would% therefore% seem% that% the% realization% of% the% aesthetic% image% or% whatness% of% things,% outside% and% to% one% side% of% the% linear% progress%of%time,%is%an%essential%characteristic%of%the%art%of%painting%and,%I% imagine,%of%art%generally.% In% the% modern% world,% however,% we% appear% to% resist% such% significant%integrating%imagery,%which%was%more%evident%perhaps%in%past% cultures,% wherein% people% seem% to% have% regarded% the% passage% of% time% rather% more% ambivalently,% as% being% at% once% related% to% their% personal% predicament%and%to%a%larger%cosmology.% It% would% appear% that% this% ambivalent% attitude% to% time% was% especially% linked% to% the% prehistoric% Celtic% or% Gallic% world,% and% there% is% further%evidence%that%it%persists%to%some%extent%in%the%Celtic%mind%today.% It% is% consistent,% I% think,% with% Yeat’s% tragic% view% of% life% —% an% essentially% cosmologic% and% aristocratic% attitude% in% opposition% to% the% narrow% expediency%of%the%“greasy%till”:% % We%Irish,%born%into%the%ancient%sect% But%thrown%upon%this%filthy%modern%tide% And%by%its%formless%spawning%fury%wrecked% Climb%to%our%proper%dark,%that%we%may%trace% The%lineaments%of%a%plummetdmeasured%face.% % % % 74 In%my%own%small%world%of%painting%I%myself%have%learned%from%the%canvas% that% emergence% and% disappearance% —% twin% phenomena% of% time% —% are% ambivalent,%that%one%implies%the%other%and%that%the%state%or%matrix%within% which% they% codexist% dissolves% the% normal% sense% of% time,% producing% a% characteristic%stillness,%characteristic%of%the%art%of%painting.% After%a%number%of%years%I%recall%Beckett’s%Watt,%regarding%from%a% gate%the%distant%figure%of%a%man%or%a%woman%(or%could%it%be%a%priest%or%a% nun?)%which%appeared%to%be%advancing%by%slow%degrees%from%the%horizon,% only%surprisingly%“without%any%interruption%of%its%motions”%to%disappear% over% it% instead.% Here% going% is% confounded% —% if% not% identified% —% with% coming,%backwards%with%forwards.%The%film%returns%the%diver%to%the%diving% board.%The%procession%of%present%moments%is%reversed,%stilled.% Elsewhere% in% Finnegans& Wake% does% not% the% fallen% Finnegan% become%“Finn%Macool%lying%beside%the%Liffey,%his%head%at%Howth,%his%feet% at% Phoenix% Park,% his% wife% beside% him,% watching% the% microcosmic% ‘fluid% succession%of%presents’%go%by%like%a%river%of%life”?% And% is% not% Yeats’s% circular% lunar% system% of% redincarnation% —% the% winding% stair% of% Thoor% Ballylee,% climbed% and% descended% repeatedly% —% itself%a%cosmic%arrangement%of%this%fluid%succession%of%presents,%of%timed consciousness% in% this% profoundly% Celtic% sense?% Is% this% indeed% the% underlying%ambivalence%which%we%in%Ireland%tend%to%stress;%the%continual% presence% of% the% historic% past,% the% indivisibility% of% birth% and% funeral,% spanning% the% apparent% chasm% between% past% and% present,% between% consciousness%and%fact?% % % ____% % 75 % % 9:3%(&+4&<=&>=&5(328P%./0Y% h%#DG>GE%<@%7 76 be%interpreted%as%implosive,%accretive.%Thus%conversely%it%can%become%the% mythical%Crane%Bag%of%the%Irish%sea%god%Mannanán%Mac%Lir,%a%magic%sack% made%from%the%skin%of%a%woman%who%had%previously%been%transformed% into%a%heron%or%crane:%a%legendary%receptacle%sunk%in%the%sea,%gathering% or%expelling%its%treasures%with%the%tides,%breathing%and%exhaling%like%a%lung% “a% fluid% succession% of% presents,”% daydconscious/nightdconscious,% like% Ulysses%and%Finnegan,%or%like%a%living%human%head,%image%of%the%whole%in% the%part,%the%old%synecdochism%of%the%Celt.% But% turn% to% the% heads% themselves% in% the% powerful,% shattered% sculpture% of% CeltodLigurian% Entremont,% or% to% the% later% multiple% heads% within%the%“plummetdmeasured”%face%of%Romanesque%Confert%cathedral% in%County%Galway.%Its%multiple%heads,%at%once%persons%and%stone%bosses,% both%durable%and%timeless,%forever%emerging%and%receding,%they%signify%a% profound% paradox,% a% balanced% ambivalence,% a% succession% of% present% moments%dredged%up%from%time,%spread%out%before%us%without%beginning% or%end.% % % ____% % % % For%over%fifteen%years%I%have%tried%to%draw%from%the%depths%of%paper,%or% from% the% white% canvas,% a% human% face.% As% I% have% remarked,% this% quiet% activity%has%little%to%do%with%communication,%or%with%selfdexpression%for% that%matter.%It%aims%rather%to%make%visible%a%lurking%image,%to%identify,%to% name%some%trace%or%aspect%of%a%personal%reality.%Which%means%to%me%the% giving%of%a%possible%form%to%that%which%is%impalpable%or%interiorized.%For%I% imagine%that%reality%is%that%which%is%possible,%conceivable,%and%not%merely% what%is%actual,%phenomenal.% % % 77 So,% when% painting,% I% try% not% to% impose% myself.% Discoveries% are% made%—%such%as%they%are%—%while%painting.%The%painting%itself%dictates% and,% although% the% resultant% image% may% seem% rhetorical% to% some,% it% appears% to% me% to% be% almost% autonomous,% having% emerged% under% one’s% hands% and% not% because% of% them.% A% subjectively% conceived% image,% deliberately%imposed%by%the%painter,%may%be%represented%easily%enough.% A%conventional,%popular%image%of%W.B.%Yeats%is%immediately%recognizable% to% those% who% share% it.% Such% a% conceived% image% may% be% sought% and% repeatedly%rediscovered%in%the%flux%and%movement%of%life,%but%what%of%a% photograph%where%factual%appearance%is%momentarily%and%permanently% stilled% and% which% sometimes% defies% identification% with% the% known% conceptual% image?% If% two% contemporary% photographs% of% Yeats% provide% acceptable% images% of% him,% a% third% does% not.% For% the% successive% factual% appearances%of%each%one%of%us%are%necessarily%dissimilar,%since%each%one% of%us%has%many%layers,%many%aspects,%and%none%more%than%Yeats.%In%the% 100% studies% towards% an% image% of% W.B.% Yeats,% which% were% exhibited% in% 1976%at%the%Musée%d’Art%Moderne%de%la%Ville%de%Paris,%I%therefore%tried%as% uncritically% as% I% could% to% allow% different% aspects% of% Yeats’s% head% to% emerge.%These%I%recalled%largely%from%photographs%taken%throughout%his% lifetime%and,%for%the%most%part,%without%referring%to%them%directly.%Where% I%have%worked%from%them%directly,%I%have%consulted%two%or%more%at%the% same% time% and% —% since% these% photographs% bear% little% consistent% resemblance%to%each%other%—%I%have%encouraged%differing%and%sometimes% contradictory% images% to% emerge% spontaneously% in% order,% as% it% were,% to% exorcise%my%own%rather%conventional%memory%of%Yeats%and%in%the%hope%of% discovering% a% more% innate% image% —% stilled% and% free% of% circumstance% —% underlying%the%everdchanging%aspect%of%this%phenomenal%Irishman.% 78 My%mother%was%a%friend%of%the%Yeats%family%in%Dublin%and%so,%as%a% child,% I% was% fairly% familiar% with% “W.B.’s”% appearance% and% with% his% extremely%impressive%manner.% In% 1938% I% left% Ireland% and% my% grandfather’s% business% abruptly% to% become%a%painter.%Having%no%training,%I%studied%at%museums%in%London,% Paris,%and%Geneva,%where%the%great%Prado%collection%was%then%exhibited,% having% been% sent% from% Madrid% by% the% elected% government% in% face% of% Franco’s%artillery.% The%following%year,%when%Yeats%died%in%Roquebrune,%I%was%painting% a% few% kilometers% away% in% a% minute% house% on% the% Cap% Martin.% To% my% lasting% regret% I% knew% neither% of% his% presence% nor% of% his% death.% I% am% conscious% that% the% long% series% of% studies% towards% an% image% of% Yeats,% which% I% made% thirtydfive% years% later,% was% in% some% sense% a% personal% adventure% to% try% to% rediscover,% to% touch% the% fringes% of% his% enormous% personality;%to%enter%perhaps%into%the%interior%landscape%which%lay%behind% his%“ancient%glittering%eyes.”% For%me,%as%perhaps%for%our%Celtic%and%Gallic%ancestors,%the%human% head% can% be% regarded% ambivalently% as% a% box% which% holds% the% spirit% prisoner,% but% which% may% also% free% it% transparently% within% the% face.% Paradoxically,% as% we% know,% the% face% is% at% once% a% mask% which% hides% the% spirit%and%a%revelation%of%this%spirit.% % % % % % % % % % % % 79 % % % % 9:3%(&+4&<=&>=&5(328%b=EG>AFcP%./0Z% &IADL%8MDEMC%<@%8<=EIB%1IG%h%#DG>GE%<@%7 % % 80 % As%I%conceive%it,%there%lies%behind%the%face%an%interior%landscape% which% the% painter% tries% to% discover.% But% I% know% too% that% this% landscape% may%also%be%a%reflection%from%within%the%painter%himself.%In%this%sense%you% peer%at%this%Other,%searching%for%a%larger%image%of%yourself,%just%as%Yeats% himself,%the%contemplative%man,%peered%at%his%own%antithetic%mask,%his% opposite%—%the%swift%indifferent%man%—%and%tried%to%bring%that%opposite% to%the%surface%of%his%personality.% ———% Yeats%was,%I%imagine,%an%essentially%interiorized%mind%witnessing%the%slow% dissolution%of%an%outwarddlooking%era.% As%we%know,%since%the%Renaissance%and%until%the%beginning%of%the% last% century% our% imagery% has% remained% largely% outwarddlooking% and% evidently%equated%with%exterior%phenomena.% Previously,%however,%it%was%thought%that%reality%was%to%be%found% within% the% mind% itself,% within% those% conceptual% images% of% a% world% transformed%by%religious%belief.% In% our% own% time,% true% enough,% our% popular% imagery% is% largely% based%on%the%photograph.%Nevertheless,%since%the%beginning%of%the%20th% century,% a% profound% change% occurred% in% painting% when,% inspired% by% Cézanne,%Picasso,%Matisse,%and%other%visionary%artists,%we%awoke%to%the% renewed%conceptual%tendency%of%our%age.% Likewise% in% literature,% Beckett,% while% still% in% his% twenties,% expressed%“awareness%of%the%new%thing%that%has%happened,%namely%the% breakdown% of% the% object,”% “rupture% of% the% lines% of% communication,”% &% “the%space%which%intervenes%between%[the%artist]%&%the%world%of%objects.”% 81 Today%we%begin%to%understand%anew%the%nature%of%this%ambiguous% space.%To%see%is%to%transform.%Art%is%a%transformer.%The%hand%can%act%as%an% independent% being% to% bring% about% the% emergence% of% the% image.% The% painter%must%wait%for%this%without%imposing%his%ideas,%watching%intensely% and%critically%for%what%may%happen.%I%am%convinced%that%Paleolithic%man% acted%in%this%way.%He%was%an%artist,%but%above%all%a%seer.%There%is%a%brain%in% the%hand.%The%hand%in%the%cave%of%PechdMerle%is%a%personality.%A%handd print%is%a%personality.%A%footprint%is%only%a%trace,%an%imprint.%Why?% ———% When%I%am%working%I%do%not%think,%other%than%in%a%narrow%technical%sort% of% way.% Painting% is% a% form% of% thought% within% which% a% wider% intelligence% plays%no%important%part.%It%has%its%own%logic.%For%me,%at%any%rate,%there%is% no% question% of% invention.% In% painting% you% can% only% hope% for% discovery.% Invention%for%me%is%recognition.%When%you%are%painting,%marks%combine% to% form% objets& trouvés% which% may% be% recognized.% You% try% to% preserve% these% and% to% induce% something% further.% If% that% works,% an% entire% image% may%emerge.%If%not,%it%will%fail.% When% I% was% painting% Yeats% he% was% my% Virgil,% my% guide% in% this% Otherdworld.%His%image%gave%me%stability,%reference.%However%I%strayed,% trying%to%realize%that%image%—%to%make%it%palpable%—%he%held%me%on%his% trail.%At%times%I%even%had%the%feeling%of%touching%him.%At%times%I%was%the% charlatan%who%toyed%with%the%apparition%of%Yeats,%as%one%might%conjure% up%the%dead%in%spiritualism.% You%may%well%object%that%such%an%approach%is%merely%subjective.% But% then% the% art% of% the% painter% depends% upon% an% essentially% subjective% process.%It%is%even%true%that%the%painter%continually%tends%to%paint%his%selfd portrait%in%all%things,%since%what%he%tries%objectively%to%draw%up%from%the% 82 depths% of% his% canvas% really% lies% somewhere% in% the% recesses% of% his% own% head.% For,%such%intimate%knowledge%as%you%may%try%to%attain%of%another% human% being% through% his% works,% all% that% you% can% know% of% him% passes% behind% the% billowing% curtain% of% his% face.% And% if% this% curtain% be% carefully% drawn% aside,% you% are% liable% sometimes% to% find% only% poor% traces% of% yourself.% Nonetheless% I% believe% that% the% hand% can% lead% us% away% from% ourselves% and% discover% our% mask;% that% which% is% other% to% ourselves,% outside%or%superior%to%ourselves.%I%imagine%that%Rembrandt%displayed%the% highest% intelligence% in% projecting% objectively% perceived% ideas% of% himself% into%his%selfdportraits.%In%this%sense%they%are%not%strictly%selfdportraits%at% all,% but% rather% portraits% of% a% man% he% saw% in% his% mirror,% the% enlisted% sufferer%whose%suffering%he%well%knew.%Perhaps%this%is%the%reason%for%the% poignant%humility%of%these%works.% ____% % During%the%last%five%years%I%have%painted%in%various%media%three%long%series% of% studies% —% of% Yeats,% of% James% Joyce,% and% of% Federico% Garcia% Lorca.% Although% I% knew% Yeats% personally,% as% a% boy% might% know% an% uncle% or% schooldmaster,% I% have% best% learned% to% know% each% one% of% these% great% artists% through% their% work,% through% my% own% glimpse% of% the% envisaged% worlds%which%lie%behind%their%three%exceptional%foreheads.% In%the%case%of%Lorca,%I%have%been%moved%to%add%to%the%series%of% paintings% further% studies% in% bronze% of% his% forehead,% os& frontis,% in% an% attempt%to%touch%that%broad%tabernacle%of%his%vision.% 83 (LP%NAG?%<@%H?JDAEDeg% !L<%N % % & 9:3%(&+4&'(7(1$)+&G31)$3&H+1)3P%./00% h%#DG>GE%<@%7 84 For%me,%an%Irishman,%it%was%curiously%enough%the%plays%of%Synge% that%provided%the%key%to%an%understanding%of%Lorca’s%fierce,%lyrical%world.% It%was%only%recently%that%I%was%told%by%Mark%Mortimer%in%Paris%that% Lorca%knew%and%admired%the%works%of%John%Millington%Synge.% ____% % Ever% since% I% rediscovered% myself% the% image% of% the% head,% I% have% painted% studies%of%James%Joyce.%I%have%never%known%Joyce,%but%am%bound%to%him% as%a%Dubliner.%For%it%is%said%that%no%one%from%that%city%can%quite%escape%its% microcosmic% world,% and% I% am% certainly% no% exception.% Joyce% is% the% apotheosis,%the%archetype%of%our%kind%and%it%seems%to%me%that%in%him%—% behind% the% volatile% arrangement% of% his% features% —% lies% his% unique% evocation% of% that% small% city,% large% as% life% and% therefore% poignant% everywhere.% But% to% me,% a% Dublin% man% peering% at% Joyce,% a% particular% nostalgia%is%added%to%the%universal%“epiphany”%and%this%perhaps%enables% me%to%grope%for%something%of%my%own%particular%experience%within%the% everdchanging%landscape%of%his%face,%within%the%various%and%contradictory% photographs% of% his% head,% within% my% bronze% deathdmask% of% him% and,% I% suppose,%within%the%recesses%of%my%own%mind.% Thus% almost% 120% studies% towards% an% image% of% James% Joyce% have% emerged%in%one%medium%or%another.%It%remains%an%unending%task.%For%to% attempt%today%a%portrait,%a%single%static%image%of%a%great%artist%like%Joyce% seems% to% me% futile% as% well% as% impertinent.% Long% conditioned% by% photography,%the%cinema,%and%psychology,%we%now%perceive%the%human% individual%as%facetted,%kinetic.% % 85 And% so% I% have% tried% as% objectively% as% possible% to% draw% from% the% depths% of% paper% or% canvas% changing% and% even% contradictory% traces% of% James% Joyce;% images% jerked% into% coherence% by% a% series% of% scrutinized% accidents,% impelled% by% my% curiosity% to% discover% something% of% the% man% and,%within%him,%the%inverted%mirrordroom%of%my%own%Dublin%experience.%I% myself%see%these%studies%as%an%indefinite%series%without%beginning%or%end,% and%thus%perhaps%in%tendency%counterdRenaissance,%as%in%a%sense%Joyce% himself%also%was.%Possibly%their%multiple%identity%may%represent%a%more% mediaeval% or% even% Celtic% viewpoint,% cyclic% rather% than% linear,% repetitive% yet%simultaneous%and,%above%all,%inconclusive.% They%have%been%for%me%an%adventure%—%an%adventure%of%discovery% —%and%not%without%its%perils%and%its%fears.%We%are%told%that%the%great%naïf% painter,%Douanier%Rousseau,%stood%terrordstruck%outside%the%door%of%his% studio,% summoning% up% his% courage% to% redenter% and% confront% the% marvelous%lion%that%broods%over%his%sleeping%gypsy.% I% confess% I% felt% something% of% the% same% fearful% hesitation% on% returning% to% the% door% of% my% own% studio% in% France% and% to% the% multiple% photographic% and% other% images% of% Joyce% that% filled% it.% I% am% unable% to% account% for% this% sudden% aversion% which% overcame% me,% other% than% as% a% fear%perhaps%of%redentering%certain%painful%aspects%of%his%temperament,%of% his%unending%difficulties.%In%painting%Yeats,%or%Lorca,%I%never%experienced% this%recoil,%this%passing%shudder.% But% once% back% in% the% studio% and% facing% again% those% images% of% James% Joyce,% my% fear% gave% way% to% those% larger% feelings% of% reverence,% compassion,% and% wonder% which% we% all% share% in% the% face% of% that% unique% boatdshaped%head%—%the%raised%poop%of%the%forehead,%the%jutting%bow%of% the%jaw%—%within%which%he%made%his%heroic%voyage,%his%navigatio.% 86 % Image of James Joyce, 1977!. Oil on canvas, 70 x 70 cm, AR398 Kunsthaus, Zürich © Estate of Louis le Brocquy% Louis le Brocquy, “The Human Head: Notes on Painting & Awareness,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 68– 87. Original publication and republication credits: Notes on Painting and Awareness, Actes du Colloque “Corps-Poésie-Peinture,” Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université de Nice, Métaphores, No. 5 (February 1979). Reproduced: Études Irlandaises (December 1979); Dorothy Walker, Louis le Brocquy (Ward River Press 1981; Hodder & Stoughton 1982); The Crane Bag Book of Irish Studies (Blackwater Press 1982); The Recorder, Vol. 14, No. 1 (American Irish Historical Society, 2001); The Bloomsday Magazine (May 2003). Louis le Brocquy, The Head Image. Notes on Painting and Awareness, Enrique Juncosa, Foreword, Imma Series 1 (Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2006). 87 ! !! ! Miklós Szentkuthy, Prae (excerpt) Translated by Tim Wilkinson Peter Paul Rubens, The Triumph of Truth, or The Three Parcae... Oil on panel, 1622–1625. Musée du Louvre, Paris ! ! ! ! III! ——————————————————————————— The$Perroquet$Galant$—$the$Cannes$fashion$salon$of$Touqué’s$mother$ The$connection$of$modern$architecture$with$the$nude$figure$and$death$ ——————————————————————————— ! By! somewhat! of! a! simplification,! the! alternations! of! phases! of! stifling! ‘truth’!and!phases!of!open!‘lucidity’!may!be!underpinned!in!that!Leville’s! parents!were,!by!and!large,!personifications!of!these!two!states:!his!pater! was! a! parched! ‘Logoneiros,’! his! mother! naïve! clarity.! In! adolescence! Touqué! was! naturally! very! interested! in! the! interplays! resulting! from! inheritance,!so!that!he!succeeded!in!adapting!himself!retrospectively!to! his! father! and! mother,! selecting! and! forcing! upon! himself! with! fussy! eclecticism,!his!parents’!attributes!with!which!only!an!imaginary!invalid! will!drill!himself!task!by!task!into!the!diagnosis!set!for!him:!around!that! time,! he! prepared! two! poetic! portraits! of! his! parents,! which,! notwithstanding! the! hodgepodges! of! criticism! and! adulation,! it! would! have! been! in! no! way! possible! to! discover! any! of! the! fashionable! artificiality!of!ambivalenceDstyle!—!at!most!a!boyish!clumsiness.!(Because! clumsiness! is! just! as! important! a! factor! as! the! Protean! bogeyman! of! instinct! or! the! contrary! extreme! of! stylization:! that! ought! to! insert! between! a! ParcaDvisaged! automatism! of! sincerity! and! a! goddess! grown! into!a!permanent!mask!a!bit!of!ersatz!mythology!from!the!Guardian!Spirit! of!Stupidity,!who!plays!a!role!as!a!positive!inspirer!and!stylistic!creator!in! life,! reaching! such! concrete! boundaries! that! it! is! all! but! impossible! to! treat! it! merely! as! an! internal! mental! property.)! The! two! portraits! were! enfranchised! as! two! symbolic! motif! jugs! and! by! virtue! of! the! trifling! events!of!life!he!perfumed!himself!ad!libitum!now!with!his!father’s!elixir,! now! with! the! stamp! of! motherDstyle,! on! his! brow! set! to! one! or! other! scene!of!life:!that!is!how!parents!arise!in!the!head!of!an!adolescent!that! resembles!an!eggDhatching!machine.! ! Anyway,!his!mother!and!father!lived!in!two!geographically!totally! different!environments.!His!mother!had!a!dress!salon!at!the!seafront!in! Cannes.!Near!to!the!promenade!an!old!hotel!had!an!automobile!garage,! consisting!of!a!whole!row!of!smaller!and!larger!locations!that,!since!the! 89 hotel! had! been! completely! remodeled,! were! no! longer! used! but! were! rented!out!as!business!premises.!Touqué’s!mother!had!moved!into!one!of! those!sites!from!an!innerDcity!street.!The!shop!was!fitted!out!by!a!Parisian! designer,!who!won!a!prize!for!the!design!at!some!exhibition.!He!placed!in! the!wide!space!of!the!garage!a!huge!‘hanging’!glass!disc!as!a!freeDfloating! lamp:!the!walls!of!the!fashion!salon!were!not!the!walls!of!the!garage!but! mattDgrey! glass! staves! that! were! broken! every! now! and! then! by! a! glittering!metal!pillar.!The!manner!in!which!the!whole!disc!was!held!up! was!not!evident,!so!craftily!was!it!placed.! ! In! the! middle! of! the! street! side! part! of! the! disc! arose! a! slim! prismatic!bronze!cage,!somewhat!taller!than!the!staves,!in!which!a!gaudy! bird!of!speckled!enameled!porcelain!was!placed.!To!the!right!and!left!of! the!slender!cage!of!tubes,!as!if!it!were!cutting!into!an!ironDrugged!wall!of! frosted! glass,! were! small! doors,! which! appeared! as! essentially! the! prunings!of!a!graft!on!a!tree!trunk.! ! At! both! of! the! two! small! doors! were! two! glittering! metal! staircases,!leading!to!a!disc!salon!hanging!in!the!air!and!with!the!stairs! not!quite!reaching!the!ground,!so!that!the!trainDcar!steps!ended!in!the! air.! On! top! of! the! garage! were! garish! clumps! of! flowers! from! each! of! which! a! pallid! runner,! pale! green! to! the! point! of! being! almost! golden,! dangled!onto!the!blindDsilvery!brow!of!the!shop.!At!the!top!of!the!cage! was!a!little!blackDmarble!finial:!that!was!the!one!and!only!solid!point!in! the!whole!floating!salon,!and!in!its!form!it!also!did!not!comply!with!the! lines!typical!of!“ethereal!cubism”!but!resembled!oldDfashioned!stairwell! spaceDfillers!decorated!with!minute!carving.! ! For! the! young! Touqué! the! new! premises! represented! an! enormous! mental! change.! The! old! Perroquet$ Galant1!had! been! situated! on!the!north!side!of!a!shady!street!—!the!cage!had!stood!in!one!of!the! shop! windows! on! a! little! stand! covered! with! velvet,! in! which! was! a! stuffed! parrot:! it,! too,! had! been! narrow! and! towerDshaped,! though! its! contours! nevertheless! had! stayed! within! a! fundamentally! bourgeois! framework.!In!the!other!window,!there!always!lay!a!dress!in!front!of!a! gray,!buckskinDcolored!curtain.! 1"The"Gay"Parrot." 90 ! When!he!first!saw!the!taller!than!giraffeDnecked!new!pseudoDcage! in! the! window! he! felt! a! sort! of! faintness,! a! nauseating! alarm:! he! knew! that! there! was! an! inner! kinship! between! the! seaside! and! the! old! cage,! however! glaringly! impossible! the! difference! between! them! might! be.! When!he!saw!palpably!before!his!own!eyes!that!out!of!a!cage!that!he!had! believed!had!been!worked!out!once!and!for!all!time!in!the!old!window,! that! such! absurdities! could! be! continued! further,! he! had! a! sense! like! coming!across!a!new!forbidden!splendor.! ! He!had!a!kind!of!dream!in!which!what!always!occurred!was!that!it! unexpectedly!turned!out!about!a!town!situated!a!long!distance!from!the! place!where!he!currently!resided!that!it!was!actually!very!close,!no!more! than!a!few!steps!away;!all!one!had!to!do!was!turn!into!a!little!side!street! that!up!until!then!he!had!never!noticed,!or!he!had!to!board!a!small!local! railway!service!that!had!a!branch!of!which!he!knew!nothing,!not!even!by! the! merest! chance.! He! was! always! like! that! with! Paris,! sometimes! for! weeks! on! end:! in! the! morning! he! would! turn! his! head! with! delirious! melancholy! and! incredible! thirst! towards! shady! gateways! and! halfD overgrown!tracks,!gambling!that!he!would!see!the!first!houses!of!Paris.! ! That! dream! had! another! variant! in! which! it! turned! out! that! physical! joy! could! not! be! gratified! by! those! women,! and! not! in! the! manner!that!he!had!hitherto!sought!day!and!night,!but!that!joy!was!in!his! own!body,!only!in!an!unknown!spot!(a!side!street!leading!in!five!minutes! from!Avignon!to!Paris)!that!had!hitherto!escaped!his!attention:!he!felt!a! new!body!part!on!him!which!he!touched!with!the!joy!and!curiosity!as!to!a! box!of!bonbons!that!had!been!hidden!as!a!surprise!under!his!coverlet!or!a! smuggled! bouquet! of! flowers.! The! new! joy! was! generally! free! of! any! guilty!conscience;!indeed,!sometimes!strolling!across!the!scene,!rubbing! his!hands,!there!would!be!a!kindly!priest,!who,!with!a!friendly!smile!on!his! face,!would!be!delighted!that!Touqué!had!found!the!right!road!so!soon.! In!the!morning!he!would!scratch!his!head!as!to!where!the!point!was!on! the!basis!of!which!he!had!found!it!so!selfDevident!that!joy!was!not!to!be! found! in! the! normal! practice! of! love! but! somewhere! else.! At! times! his! gaze!fell!on!a!palm!tree,!and!all!of!a!sudden!he!felt!that!he!had!hit!on!the! key,!but!when!he!looked!longer!at!the!nude!plant!figure!taking!a!nap!on! the!great!blue!plateau!of!the!sky!he!did!not!know!whether!he!ought!to! 91 follow! its! form,! parrot! its! motion,! or! possibly! look! its! color! up! in! an! etymological!dictionary.! ! When! the! new! cage! was! ready! he! agitatedly! examined! the! old! one!and!was!on!the!point!of!saying:!“You!sure!fooled!me,!looking!the!way! you!do.!There!were!so!many!faults!and!joys!in!you,!so!much!space!and! drunkenness,!and!I!never!noticed!how!gentle!(at!most!refreshed!a!touch! with! ordinary! irony)! was! your! exterior.! But! now! I! see! clearly! the! technique!of!how!one!can!wring!out!another!face!of!things.”! ! A! glimpse! of! the! new! form! first! and! foremost! induced! a! moral! seasickness!in!the!boy.!He!did!not!know!whether!the!new!cage!rises!to! the! heavens! with! an! idealist! program! or! with! a! nihilistic! tendency:! he! sensed!the!same!ambivalent!sensual!pleasure!shivering!in!his!body!as!in! his!dreams,!when!a!sense!of!pleasure!and!moral!satisfaction!in!point!of! fact!were!one!and!the!same!thing:!about!morality!it!turned!out!that!his! fortuitous!form!of!Atlantis!Eros!and!the!profile!of!his!heart!(how!was!it! possible!that!he!had!not!noticed!it!before?)!were!molded!in!accordance! with! the! prescriptions! of! the! catechism.! As! if! the! piquancy! of! the! new! architectural!style!was!a!mixing!in!the!soul!of!a!sense!of!election!and!of! falling!into!sin:!what!could!be!the!meaning!of!the!glass!and,!if!it!comes!to! that,! the! frosted! glass?! Cleanness! and! lightness,! but! also! a! kind! of! simplicity!that!no!longer!had!any!connection!with!harmony.!What!about! the!whiteness?!The!transparency?!What!about!the!frosted!glass?!These! morally!directed!issues!were!always!the!first!for!Touqué,!who!considered! that! the! esthetic! experience! was! the! most! sensual,! and! therefore! the! most!worthwhile,!when!an!absolutely!material!entity!is!distorted!into!a! bigoted! moral! viewpoint! and! the! esthetic! experience! spills! out! like! artificial! blood! under! the! pressure! of! that! new! perspective.! That! later! became! a! deliberate! method! for! him,! but! that! was! as! yet! only! an! automatic! assertion! of! his! upbringing! to! look! at! every! excitement! from! the!point!of!view!of!the!conscience.! ! All! art! was! a! legal! vibration! of! the! possibilities! of! sin! and! the! possibilities!of!virtue:!not!the!subjects!but!the!styles!—!above!all!those!of! the!architect.!More!than!that,!morality!was!the!sole!possible!‘viewpoint,’! because! it! was! that! in! which! he! was! best! able! to! exhaust! his! selfD importance! and! critical! thirst! because,! on! the! one! hand,! the! fewest! partners! and! acquaintances! brought! their! influence! to! bear! on! his! 92 judgments;! on! the! other! hand,! his! extraordinarily! firm! principles! permitted!him!a!hysteria!of!precision.! ! The!small!glass!doors!sweated!in!the!afternoon!sunlight!like!a!field! of!focus!in!the!disc!wall!that!spread!out!like!huge!petals!of!fog!roses,!and! emanated! from! themselves! into! Touqué’s! voracious! soul! the! sort! of! epilogues! that! “there! is! in! us! a! dose! of! nudity,! a! degree! of! naked! smoothness! that! avoids! the! games! of! Elysian! puritanicalness! and! primitive! shamelessness! and! unveils! new! possibilities! of! spatial! nakedness.!One’s!nudity!is!provocative:!it’s!as!if!it!united!in!itself!three! grades:!the!deadly!cleanness!of!a!highly!scrubbed!body!scrubbed!before! an! operation,! the! furtherDunstripped! nakedness! of! a! body! suffering! in! sensual!perversity,!and!finally,!the!logical!bareness,!the!mathematics!of! rational! lust,! which! evolves! involuntarily! from! these! gradations,! which! lies!far!from!any!love,!body,!and!joy.!Boundless!clinicization,!boundless! lesbianization,! boundless! mereDformalization:! those! are! our! glass! walls.! Set!your!love!novellas!in!progress!among!us.”! ! (Nudity!nowadays!has!indeed!ceased!to!be!a!symbol!of!lifelikeness! or! materiality.! The! clinical! picture! always! indicated! death:! in! the! past,! death!ended!rather!in!‘dance!of!death’!types!of!diagrams,!in!which!it!was! not! deathDlike! death! figured! but! in! general! destruction,! defeat,! misery,! shattering!of!illusions,!and,!as!far!as!possible,!with!a!social!background,!in! which!personalized!death!was!a!separate!factor.! ! But! what! does! ‘absolute’! death! have! to! do! with! a! logical! landscape!of!‘destruction,’!alien!as!that!is!to!it,!or!with!the!‘punishment’! of!society?!Or!with!skeletal!statistics?!‘Death’!is!the!body!itself,!normality! itself,!or!in!other!words,!health:!nakedness!brushed!by!ether,!whether!an! outer!skin!or!deathly!cold!chastity,!is!already!death.!This!lacks!all!drama,! every!Parca!gesture,!time!and!emotion.!No!more!than!the!body’s!most! autonomously! glittering! white! dimension.! Physical! joy! becomes! a! perversity.! But! that! path! is! likewise! not! the! path! of! life! or! overrated! matter;! on! the! contrary:! it! seeks! to! whip! up! pleasure! until! the! pure! ‘intellectuality,’! that! even! in! its! clumsiest! adolescent! forms! it! unmistakably!suggests!it,!is!finally!exuded!from!it:!as!a!matter!of!fact,!his! logical!mania!of!analysis!prevails!in!it;!like!a!woodpecker!he!would!tap!all! over!his!own!body!as!at!a!maddeningly!closed!column!of!bark!in!order!to! find!the!way!out!of!himself.! 93 ! SoDcalled!normal!erotic!delight!leaves!the!body!as!a!single!untidy! mass:!a!perverse!person![of!course,!one!says!an!‘ideally’!perverse!person! as! even! within! perversity! a! pettier! petty! bourgeoisdom2!than! normal! flourishes]!grinds!the!body!with!a!pessimistic!mosaic!of!lust!so!that!the! network!of!lust!within!which!it!moves!is!by!now!an!immaterial!‘abstract! mask’!of!lust!that!is!almost!independent!of!the!body.!In!the!end![in!the! third!degree!of!nudity,!after!death!and!perversity],!the!mask!crumbles!as! well,!and!all!that!remains!is!a!fantastic!inhuman!and!antihuman!schema! of! man,! some! kind! of! ‘plantDanimal’! between! madness! and! rationality.! Nakedness,! therefore,! in! its! glittering! passivity,! is! already! death;! in! its! motion![if!it!does!not!promenade!but!moves],!however,!is,!first!of!all,!an! intellectual!heretic!mask,!finally!an!operation!of!unknown!meaning.!The! glass!walls!of!the!Perroquet$Galant,!and!the!glass!turbines!of!the!French! cubists! in! general,! in! that! manner! transformed! the! oldDfashioned! ‘humane!and!lifelike!sensuality’!of!female!nudity.)! ! Touqué! genuinely! felt! these! kinds! of! things:! the! openness! was! more!of!an!aristocratic!odi$profanum,3!as!if!the!adored!nymph,!who!had! hitherto!seemed!to!be!a!flirtatious!ordinary!little!shepherdess,!undressed! all! at! once! and! froze! into! a! strict! question:! her! nakedness! was! not! the! zero! layer! in! the! series! of! layers! of! clothing! but! a! new! beginning,! an! unknown! closed! door! —! the! geologist! who,! after! a! series! of! bands! of! earth!progressing!to!the!center!of!the!world,!does!not!come!across!a!new! stratum!but!an!unexpected!landscape:!with!unknown!islands!that!swim! above!the!sea,!with!puzzling!clouds!that!dragged!their!mobile!roots!in!the! sea!like!disintegrated!sticks!of!asparagus.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 2"Szentkuthy"uses"a"Hungarianized"version"of"the"German"Spießbürgertum." 3"‘Unholy"rabble.’" 94 ——————————————————————————— associations$with$the$glass$walls$of$the$fashion$salon;$ first$association:$clinic$and$moral$misgivings$ ——————————————————————————— ! The! odd! days! that! he! had! spent! in! the! clinic! came! to! mind! —! he! apprehended!his!illness!as!a!divine!punishment,!and!thus!white!beds!and! cream! lampshades! played! a! role! as! the! furniture! of! purgatory.! These! were!the!colors!of!penance!and!cool!forgiveness!because!he!felt!that!God! no!doubt!forgave!sins!that!had!been!repented!and!confessed,!but!only! because! he! decided! that! repentance! should! elicit! forgiveness! with! chemical!regularity,!but!there!is!no!true!joy!for!God!in!that!forgiveness.! The!whole!of!life,!health,!and!gentle!joys!were!all!numb!around!him!in! such!an!atmosphere!of!‘indifferent!clemency’:!the!wafer!that!he!took!at! Communion! was! rather! a! clinical! nourishment,! a! nurseDcolored! sober! tranquillizer! that! may! be! the! body! of! God! but! it! lies! passively! on! the! tongue!like!a!lifeless,!icy,!and!watery!fish.! ! The!white!lilacs!that!could!be!seen!alongside!the!gravel!path!from! the! window! started! blooming;! the! leaves! were! grey! from! a! young! age,! and! the! flowers! were! just! greenish! yellow! little! sponge! roots! on! the! branches.!Some!sort!of!botanical!Jansenism!may!also!exist!in!these!scanty! gardens,! where! spring! only! works! with! the! cowardly! halfDdelight! of! convalescence! and! is! similar! to! the! awakening! of! nervous! people:! pale! sunlight!is!their!every!joy,!something!intellectual!that!is!far!from!them,! because!as!soon!as!something!is!permitted!to!warn!just!a!little!ahead,!the! day! before,! of! an! association! bound! to! the! material,! there! is! an! immediate!rest,!but!pains!ready!for!growth!are!associated!with!morning! —!they!watch!the!sun’s!nascent!brightness!through!an!open!window!and! they!dare!not!look!at!any!kind!of!object!in!which!a!dreamily!awake!bud!of! pain!or!fear!is!lurking.! ! The! fight! of! destiny! and! affection! here! lacked! all! majesty:! they! were! almost! not! struggling! with! each! other! but! appeared! in! an! official! capacity,!like!customs!officials!of!former!enemies!at!a!border!post,!or!an! aging! priest! and! the! Devil,! who! every! so! often! would! make! an! appearance!before!him!from!the!words!of!confessing!believers!—!trivial! 95 sins! and! absolutions! stepped! into! as! meek! a! relationship! as! the! little! heads! of! vegetables! sweating! in! his! garden! and! the! helplessly! leaking! watering!can.! ! Therefore!when!Touqué!looked!at!the!dingy!and!rugged!glass!wall! of!his!mother’s!shop!he!was!always!surrounded!by!the!sadness!of!medical! surgeries! and! respectable! piety! devoid! of! inspiration.! Many! a! time! he! marveled! at! those! saints! who! from! the! dark! wrinkles! of! their! diseases! were!impelled!to!sprout!the!first!flowers!of!their!sanctity!because!in!his! case!illness!deprived!him!of!exactly!that.! ! In!the!face!of!illness!his!individuality!in!point!of!fact!was!a!little! fiction,!a!‘portrait$moral,’!which!he!himself!had!produced!about!himself! as!the!practical!subject!of!his!prayers,!because!just!as!we!usually!have!a! need!to!render!God!conditionally!human!for!a!dialogue!to!be!realizable,! just!as!we!have!to!sum!ourselves!up!as!‘human,’!thus!evolves!the!role!of! prayer,! which! soon! becomes! conventional.! Big! variations! of! our! sins,! which!differ!from!one!another!like!the!bluely!incandescent,!opalescently! snowy! peaks! and! gentle! sloped! snoozing! in! green,! lose! in! the! prayer! attitude! of! repentance! that! true! plasticity,! and! it! is! only! as! the! more! abstract!zigzags!of!value!of!deadly!and!forgivable!sin!that!they!make!an! appearance!for!all!the!emotional!excitement.! ! What! happened! during! and! after! illness! was! precisely! that! the! selfDportrait!analyzed!for!real!life!and!prayer,!which!until!then!had!stood! in!customary!relationship,!were!brutally!jostled!apart!—!the!whole!thing! afforded!a!spectacle!like!the!scene!after!an!earthquake!in!which!a!scrap! of!garden!with!a!few!saplings!and!paths!was!all!that!had!remained!on!the! sloping!rim!of!a!huge!volcanic!precipice.! ! When!he!wanted!to!pray,!naturally!the!old!‘I!grisaille’!immediately! sprang! to! mind,! but! now! he! felt! it! to! be! a! naïve! little! cirrocumulus! cloudlet! above! a! strange! and! ample! ‘I! wrinkle.’! ‘I! have! expanded,’! he! would!keep!on!saying!in!lamentation,!and!he!would!watch!and!take!stock! with! distracted! but! constant! attention! of! his! growing! and! changing! dimensions,!which!he!could!no!longer!tuck!back!into!the!old,!outgrown! box! of! his! consciousness,! and! he! was! not! yet! at! all! able! to! take! care! afresh!as!he!had!no!idea!how!much,!in!fact,!he!had!changed,!where!he! had! grown,! that! he! had! lost! something.! “This! may! be! the! revenge! of! objects! on! me,”! he! supposed! with! a! smile,! “of! objects! which! do! not! 96 tolerate! being! projected! as! routine! backdrops! on! the! Lilliputian! film! screen! of! our! conscience! like! a! lifeDsize! Gauguin! fresco! from! a! wall! papered!with!pale!allegorical!figures.!If!that!is!so,!then!it!is!undoubtedly! very!boring.”! ! He!sprawled!listlessly!on!his!pillows!and!felt!bitterness!about!such! a!doltish!disorder!being!produced!from!his!body!without!his!knowledge! or! consent.! “Because! anonymity! never! attracted! me,! even! just! on! account!of!its!clumsy!homogeneity:!I!like!to!swim!in!the!thousandDcolored! waves!of!known!things.!I!shall!give!myself!a!new!concept!because!in!my! mouth!the!taste!of!dust!swallowed!without!a!wafer!is!so!stinging!that!I! feel!a!new!anatomy,!a!new!moral!anatomy,!in!my!soul.!I!am!not!going!to! take!into!consideration!vulgar!tricks.”! ! These! were! all! resolutions,! but! it! was! hard! work! accomplishing! them.!When!he!began!praying!he!did!not!know!where!to!place!at!least!a! single! one! of! the! slim! columns! of! his! prayer,! and! he! therefore! commenced! praying! in! the! air:! his! old! closed! consciousness! and! new! physical! moral! landscape! floated! separately! in! his! life.! The! old! portrait! was!now!more!of!a!defiant!portrait,!and!he!would!paw!the!disjunction! between!it!and!his!convalescent!personality!with!sour!pleasure.! ! Perhaps!Purgatory!consists!of!our!being!growing!in!two!directions! like!a!rankly!proliferating!letter!Y:!the!‘real’!person,!with!all!his!whimsical! forms,! bears! fruits! to! the! left! and! the! separated! ‘consciousness’! to! the! right:!a!simple!face!of!a!person!seen!from!the!moral!point!of!view!and!as! regards!the!etiquette!of!prayer.!(Naturally,!this!is!never!a!splitting!of!the! ideal!man!and!sinful!man!(Purgatory,!after!all,!is!not!a!puppet!theater!of! contrasts)! but! a! vandal! branching! of! stylizing! consciousness! and! rebellious!content!of!consciousness.! ! Meanwhile!there!were!sometimes!anxious!periods:!hitherto!there! had!been!a!conversion!key!between!the!conscious!image!of!sin!and!the! vital! drama! of! sin,! but! now! he! was! sometimes! irritated! by! the! unmanageable!shapelessness!of!sin!and!feared!that!his!dimensions!were,! perhaps,!very!different!from!those!accepted!in!his!prayers.!In!the!past!he! had! taken! a! bird’sDeye! view! of! himself! and! was! able! to! see! clearly! the! diameter!and!ambit!of!sins.!But!since!falling!ill!his!feeling!was!that!he!had! sunk!into!himself!like!a!scraggyDwinged!bird!between!high!walls.! 97 ! Examination!of!the!conscience!perpetually!forced!him!to!make!a! gesture! like! that! performed! by! jungle! explorers! when! they! have! to! pry! apart! the! ramparts! of! trailers! that! have! adhered! together.! “I! have! expanded,”!he!would!remark!sadly!on!such!occasions.!In!our!dreams!it! often!occurs!that!we!are!incapable!of!reading!something,!however!much! we! strain! our! eyes,! or! we! are! unable! to! make! out! the! contours! of! a! landscape,!however!much!we!sense!internally!its!‘praestable’!nature4!and! thus!try!all!the!harder!to!split!our!adherent!eyelids:!Touqué!was!like!that! with!his!sins!—!he!was!unable!to!draw!comparisons!with!them,!evaluate! or!examine!them,!because!the!illness!cut!new!erosions!between!the!old! relationships.! Naturally,! the! pure! beauty! of! repentance! also! requires! symmetry,!a!certain!harmonious!composition!of!sins!—!but!now!that!the! sins!were!displaying!their!most!topsyDturvy!hill!contours,!he!was!unable! to! get! into! a! uniform! mood! of! repentance,! only! feel! fragments! of! desolation! as! the! sole! possible! parallels! to! sins! that! have! lost! their! contours.! It! was! also! the! precision! vengeance! of! disquietude,! with! philological!cruelty,!but!all!the!same!it!remained!a!barren!experiment.! ! It!was!the!time!in!which!the!thought!of!Antipsyche!was!begotten,! which! was! at! first! only! called! on! to! promote! his! own! psychological! recovery! —! understanding! by! Psyche! the! new! postDsickness! mood! of! consciousness,!a!positive!gloom.!How!were!the!saints!of!old!able!to!utilize! illness!as!a!first!step!towards!heaven?!He!tried!theoretically!to!construct! the!approximate!sanctity!of!which!he!could!be!capable,!if!he!wished!—! that!was!how!the!fragment!of!selfDparody,!entitled!HagioBParodia,!arose.! The!‘saint’!accumulates!the!selfDtorments!because!he!does!not!know!the! weight!of!his!sin!accurately,!he!just!has!a!fear!of!sin!‘en$bloc’:!in!his!soul! lived! two! worlds! that! had! broken! way! from! each! other,! one! being! a! romantic!landscape!of!sins!that!never!had!a!fixed!horizon,!the!other!being! a!landscape!of!conciliations!by!capricious!installments,!but!there!was!no! rational!relationship!between!the!two.!If!the!two!landscapes!were!set!in! parallel,! then! bleeding! whips! would! end! up! above! gentleDblue! lakes! of! virtues;!on!the!other!hand,!the!long!muddy!channels!of!propensity!for!sin! would!never!come!upon!cruel!criticism,!only!daisyish!unconcern.! 4"Praestabilis"in"Latin"means"preEeminent,"distinguished,"excellent." 98 ! The!‘saint,’!however,!is!aware!that!he!is!a!debtor!who!has!plunged! into! amnesia:! he! has! forgotten! his! creditors,! and! now! he! throws! his! money!all!over!the!place,!stuffing!thousands!into!the!wallets!of!people! who! only! lent! him! pennies.! Not! for! a! moment! does! he! know! if! his! penance!is!at!the!beginning!or!the!end:!whether!he!was!a!rich!man!who! could!rest,!or!a!poor!man!who!had!to!HarpagonDtogether!a!nook!in!the! forecourt! of! heaven.! His! every! wish! was! finding! some! unit! of! measurement,!but!the!moment!he!spotted!that!possibility,!he!felt!deep! disgust!in!the!face!of!a!pettyDbourgeois!yardstick.! ! As!a!result,!there!develops!inside!him!a!pessimism!full!of!hatred! against!his!own!soul,!then!against!other!people,!and!finally!against!God! Himself.! He! has! to! come! to! the! realization! that! his! asceticisms,! which! became! ever! wilder,! in! actual! fact! furious! vengeances! on! God,! who! created!chaos!within!us.!In!the!twilight!of!his!life,!when!he!already!had!a! reputation! as! a! saint,! he! went! back! to! his! way! of! thinking! in! early! childhood,! and! already! there! he! was! forced! to! discover! that! despairing! theophobia!at!the!base!of!his!first!selfDdenials.!When!he!threw!away!the! first!cherry!from!his!lips,!it!was!more!comfortable!not!to!eat!it!than!to! think!over!for!a!minute!whether!or!not!to!eat!it!—!or!possibly!after!eating! it! to! fret! next! time! over! whether! to! eat! one! or,! by! then,! not.! Renouncement! always! preceded! the! decision! to! renounce:! his! entire! ‘saintly’! life! was! nothing! more! than! a! glossing! over! of! his! resolve! of! a! saintly!life.! ! His!apparent!battle!was!a!battle!of!avoidance!—!he!preferred!to! become!‘saintly’!rather!than!decide!in!conscious!thought!that!he!would! be!‘saintly.’!He!went!around!barefoot!for!fifty!years!because!in!point!of! fact! he! very! much! loathed! walking! barefoot! and! therefore! he! did! not! have!the!strength!to!renounce!silk!slippers!in!thought!(easy!as!it!was!to! do! in! deed),! but! on! the! other! hand,! in! silk! slippers! the! possibility! of! barefootedness!would!have!irritated!him;!he!inclined!towards!saintliness! like!those!who!giddily!jump!into!the!depths,!for!whom!a!cyclonic!space! that!magnetizes!below!them!generates!a!separate!anticipated!deed!(to! wit:!leaping!down)!merely!to!avoid!the!struggles!of!deciding.!Now,!after! fifty!years,!he!was!bored!with!that!escaping,!that!flagellating!laziness,!and! he!dared!at!last!to!undertake!the!fight!of!combat,!of!choice:!veritably!to! decide! that! he! become! saintly.! What! is! more,! he! succeeded! in! 99 guaranteeing!harmony.!At!the!same!time,!however!(as!is!called!for!by!a! sensationDseeking! novella)! he! became! unpopular! in! lay! circles! just! as! among! his! fellowDpriests:! as! they! saw! it,! he! became! petty! bourgeois,! bland,!turned!soft.!The!halo!that!he!had!almost!forced!onto!his!head!was! taken!away,!but!he!finished!his!life!as!a!real!saint.!(Just!as!certain!pieces! of! romantic! trash! came! into! fashion! from! the! exaggerations! of! ‘psychology’! [“Analytical! thrills! of! fatal! Phobia,”] 5 !so! the! adolescent! Touqué! torso! was! a! moral! horror! novel! —! not! through! its! events,! of! course,!but!its!moral!sophistication.)! ! ——————————————————————————— second$association:$the$Munthausen$portrait$ ——————————————————————————— ! The!cause!of!the!disquietude!was,!in!the!last!analysis,!sobriety,!and!only! outwardly! did! it! appear! to! be! hysterical:! inwardly! it! was! dry.! If! he! had! excused! himself! anything! he! would! have! felt! that! a! juryman! sentimentality! had! taken! possession! of! him,! so! that! he! exerted! a! merciless!severity!visDàDvis!his!sins:!in!his!memory!was!a!crudely!pressed! woodcut! which! portrayed,! half! in! caricature,! a! German! statesman,! Johann! Munthausen,! aet.$ suae! 58,6!who! was! famous! for! quelling! with! enormous! ferocity! any! demurely! budding! apology! for! sin.! His! face! was! haggard,!and!the!cheap!engraver!had!indicated!it!all!with!just!a!hollow! cleft!—!in!places!the!black!blot!looked!grayly!worn,!as!if!the!ink!had!not! been! picked! up! well! by! the! dry! paper,! so! that! the! huge! funnelDshaped! wrinkle!of!a!recess!did!not!appear!to!be!part!of!the!skin,!just!a!separate! plaster!patch,!an!emblem!of!severity.!By!not!being!thick!black!but!rusty,! like!a!centuriesDold!ink!stain,!it!gave!much!more!of!an!impression!of!his! being!cruel!and!harsh:!it!was!not!a!stagy!and!festive!sternness,!but!bored,! banally!and!pipsqueakishly!cruel,!which!in!its!judgments!and!dispositions! did!not!sacrifice!on!the!romantic!altar!of!the!concept!of!‘order,’!but!in!his! office!forced!the!rottenness!that!had!evolved!in!the!cellar!atmosphere!of! his! organization.! The! compass! needle! of! apprehensiveness! reacted! to! 5"The"quote"is"in"Szentkuthy’s"own"English." 6"I.E.,"at"the"age"of"58." 100 two! regions! —! one! was! the! exalted! and! tropical! ‘thriller’Dworld! of! the! HagioBParodia,! the! other! the! tinderDveined! bureaucracy! of! the! Munthausen!woodcut.! ! The!portrait!was!mounted!in!a!Renaissance!frame!and!surrounded! by! angels:! the! outlines! of! the! angels! were! also! blurred! as! on! blotting! paper,! only! here! and! there! the! fine! network! of! lines! caught! with! quite! unexpected!sharpness,!as!if!the!gaunt!indifference!that!emanated!from! the!features!nevertheless!rose!in!its!final!conclusions!into!a!world!of!such! fine! and! graciously! lined! play! angels.! Behind! the! head! a! beamed! roof! could!be!seen!in!abrupt!abbreviation:!the!perspective!was!uneven!but!it! was! broken! off! close! to! the! frame;! otherwise! what! it! sought! to! sketch! would!not!have!fitted!in:!the!fact!of!perspective!per!se!seemed!to!be!a! direct!consequence!of!the!whiteDhot!indifference,!even!this!way,!with!this! violent!opticDdenying!and!opticDchasing!blunder.!Meanwhile!everywhere! the! whiteness! of! the! paper! was! showing,! which! by! virtue! of! its! coarseness!could!not!be!an!open!space,!only!a!meaningless!network!of! reticulated! bands,! as! if! the! sole! object! of! the! depicted! subject! were! to! stack!up!the!most!formless!‘Gothic’!facts!in!place!of!all!logical!illusions.! ! ——————————————————————————— Third$nonBPrae!diagonal:$Yvonne$prepares$for$confession.$ Relation$of$dehumanized$soul$and$sin.$ Morality$and$sin$as$nonBhuman$components$of$space$and$time$ ——————————————————————————— $ (…$ So$ she$ began$ to$ look$ for$ the$ ‘phone.’$ At$ first$ on$ the$ small$ tables,$ among$cigar$boxes,$lamps,$and$fashion$magazines,$then$on$the$couch,$at$ the$bottom$of$pillows,$scarves,$dresses$laid$out$by$mistake,$and$blankets.$ As$a$matter$of$fact,$she$ought$to$study$once$precisely,$first$of$all,$from$ what$part$of$the$wall$did$the$cable$start$off;$secondly,$what$was$the$color$ of$the$cable,$its$feel,$and$its$thickness;$thirdly,$what$was$the$shape$of$the$ new$telephone$set?$Did$it$have$a$fixed$shape$at$all,$or$perhaps$was$it$all$ just$ elastic$ mimicry?$ As$ she$ reached$ a$ hand$ under$ one$ of$ the$ couch’s$ pillows$she$felt$around$three$wires$at$one$and$the$same$time:$one$a$thin$ green,$live,$strict$viper$wire;$a$shaggy$cable$resembling$a$wornBout$spring$ 101 resigned$and$in$its$cyclical$body$with$remnants$of$a$pressedBapart$perm$—$ and$ finally$ a$ coffeeBcolored$ miniature$ braid,$ pedantically$ plaited$ as$ if$ electricity$also$sometimes$wished$to$accord$a$favor$to$the$oldBfashioned$ way$for$Solveig$to$stay$insulated.$She$tried$to$follow$by$eye$the$direction$ the$ three$ wires$ took$ in$ the$ room,$ but$ they$ managed$ to$ vanish$ with$ incredible$adroitness.$ $ She$ thereupon$ called$ on$ psychology$ for$ assistance:$ there$ was$ a$ scheming,$evil$streak$in$the$green$wire,$a$malevolence,$a$rationalism,$an$ adroitness,$and$a$truth,$so$in$all$likelihood$it$was$not$the$telephone$but$a$ private$little$bell$in$her$husband’s$study${“…a$sinuous$green$of$serpent’s$ spheric$truth:$leafyBmad$circulation$of$Paradise’s$tubular$precision…”};$the$ big$ cable,$ with$ its$ disheveled$ Victorian$ chignon$ and$ badly$ ironed$ little$ auntyBwiles,$ probably$ switched$ on$ and$ off$ electric$ heaters$ concealed$ in$ the$ fireplaces;$ but$ as$ for$ the$ third?$ Well,$ the$ third$ was$ suspect,$ so$ she$ tried$tugging$it$and$looking$for$its$termination.$She$had$barely$touched$it$ when$in$doing$so,$in$an$impossibly$unpredictable$corner$of$the$room,$she$ yanked$off$a$glove$box,$out$of$which$spilled$like$a$waterfall,$in$the$form$of$ a$ ParcaBesque$ warning$ of$ destiny,$ black$ leather$ blotches$ and$ cigarette$ smoke$ divided$ by$ millimeter$ squares:$ a$ varied$ puppet$ theater$ of$ oath,$ assistance,$ death,$ pose,$ stroke,$ box$ and$ amputation$ clashed$ before$ her$ eyes$ in$ half$ a$ second,$ thanks$ to$ the$ firstBrate$ theatrical$ talent$ of$ the$ gloves.$That$was$when$she$began$to$get$really$jumpy,$and$between$the$ silk$pillows$she$scooped$a$trench$for$herself$with$the$eagerness$of$young$ cardinals$of$the$Renaissance$when$they$glimpsed$a$wavyBbearded$portion$ of$ a$ marble$ bust.$ She$ could$ have$ chosen$ a$ medical$ instead$ of$ an$ artB historical$memento,$as$after$all$she$was$dissecting,$examining$the$green$ veins$and$neglected$arteries$of$electricity,$but$it$was$better$to$stay$with$ the$cardinals,$seeing$that$it$was$a$matter$of$confession.$ $ All$ at$ once,$ the$ whole$ salon$ became$ an$ electric$ breviary:$ this$ green,$ yellow,$ and$ brown$ wiring$ trinity,$ the$ kind$ of$ colored$ bookmark$ strips$which$customarily$dangle$in$as$much$profusion$out$of$prayer$books$ as$the$number$of$pages$that$can$be$found$in$them.$Odd$that$the$wires$ were$ lying$ in$ the$ room$ so$ freely$ and$ higgledyBpiggledy,$ like$ lizards$ in$ a$ wood,$ yet$ nevertheless$ they$ discharged$ their$ obligations$ so$ precisely,$ assuming$ one$ found$ the$ connecting$ plugs:$ how$ is$ it$ that$ so$ many$ superfluous$ bends,$ in$ the$ midst$ of$ ludicrous$ detours,$ do$ not$ forget$ that$ 102 they$have$to$switch$on$a$specific$lamp?$What$haunting$environs$they$pass$ through$from$the$wall$plug$plus$to$the$lamp:$for$one$thing$they$start$off$ from$ the$ basket$ of$ a$ woman’s$ hand$ then$ they$ get$ lost$ under$ a$ silk$ coverlet,$cross$a$carpet’s$flowers,$swirl$into$a$pile$of$books,$wind$round$ two$vases,$warm$up$by$the$wall$of$the$fireplace,$accompany$like$extras$ Andromeda$in$the$noBClassical$dance$figure$of$the$liberation$on$the$wall$ tapestry,$ and$ in$ that$ way$ they$ reach$ the$ lamp$ bulb:$ when$ they$ go$ on$ there$ is$ no$ trace$ in$ their$ objective$ light$ of$ flowers,$ books,$ Crusader$ mythology,$ or$ a$ fight$ against$ ghosts$ —$ the$ electric$ light$ on$ the$ ceiling$ goes$on$as$if$it$had$been$evaporated$up$there$in$a$beeline.$ $ If$ she$ had$ not$ had$ urgent$ need$ of$ a$ telephone$ right$ then,$ she$ would$ undoubtedly$ have$ enjoyed$ their$ threefold$ hideBandBseek$ in$ her$ salon:$the$wires’$sloppy$parodies$of$the$blood’s$circulation,$irrespective$of$ the$ supercilious$ meteorology$ of$ the$ cushions$ and$ finally$ the$ third$ independence,$ the$ precise$ timetabling$ of$ the$ changes$ of$ light$ of$ the$ lamps.$ Where$ in$ that$ salon$ might$ the$ boundaries$ of$ technology$ and$ of$ artistic$convenience$be?$Perhaps$no$electronic$apparatus$had$ever$sunk$as$ low$ as$ here,$ almost$ into$ an$ organic$ quagmire,$ among$ the$ irregular$ objects$ and$ movements$ of$ domesticity.$ Every$ instrument$ was$ deprived$ until$ the$ last$ possible$ point$ of$ any$ scientific$ or$ arithmetical$ character:$ instead$of$the$click$of$the$switches$there$was$mute$turning,$like$the$bored$ twisting$of$the$head$of$a$flower$on$its$supple$stalk;$the$form$of$the$switch$ itself$ was$ concealed$ by$ all$ sorts$ of$ masks$ like$ an$ escaped$ prisoner$ in$ a$ detective$story:$the$big$disc$had$become$one$of$Amor’s$small$arrows,$the$ little$ handle$ —$ an$ enormous$ soap$ bubble$ of$ iridescent$ glass.$ If$ neither$ voice$nor$form$resembled$even$approximately$the$mechanical$system$of$a$ switch,$where$was$that$infinitesimally$small$area$on$which$a$switch$has$to$ be$of$a$mechanical$form$in$order$to$be$able$to$work?$The$wires${about$ which$one$thinks$of$telegraph$wiring$in$which$clouds$and$swallows$learn$ the$ calligraphy$ of$ flying$ in$ the$ neutral$ sky$ of$ trains}$ —$ the$ wires$ are$ draped$ around$ the$ candelabras$ like$ a$ wreath$ of$ vines$ on$ the$ brow$ of$ Anacreon$or$they$are$destroyed$completely,$which$likewise$satisfactorily$ fulfills$ the$ textbook$ conditions$ of$ situation$ comedy:$ out$ of$ minus$ signs$ come$ spinning$ circles,$ out$ of$ plus$ signs$ cubist$ muzzles,$ out$ of$ multiplication$‘mixed$pickles,’$and$nevertheless$the$operations$are$exact$ to$a$hair.$ 103 $ The$ whole$ salon$ was$ a$ philosophical$ identification$ of$ a$ secondB long$exploding$picric$acid$and$an$Angora$cat$yawning$for$centuries;$that$ automatically$determined$the$movements$by$which$the$tenant$had$been$ looking$ for$ the$ ‘phone’:$ half$ with$ an$ engineer’s$ layingBon$ of$ fingers$ for$ taking$the$salon’s$mercurially$unstable$pulse,$half$for$the$wingBflapping$of$ the$raptorial$bird$as$it$seeks$to$pluck$a$wee$fish$from$the$water$in$order$to$ simplify$the$multiple$equation$of$water$and$air.$ $ But$now$she$had$found$it.$She$could$not$feel$distinctly$which$part$ of$ its$ body$ she$ was$ gripping.$ But$ the$ temperature$ of$ the$ object$ was$ unmistakably$the$acute$drop$in$temperature$of$a$telephone,$around$ten$ degrees$altogether.$The$whole$telephone$apparatus$was$like$a$spoon$that$ had$been$picked$up$out$of$clotted$cream,$the$gobs$of$which$were$adhering$ to$its$concealed$forms.$The$bell,$hearing$device,$and$mouthpiece$were$all$ a$single$ball.$When$she$moved$her$mouth$over$it,$it$did$not$look$as$if$she$ wished$ to$ speak$ into$ a$ specific$ slot,$ but$ she$ only$ sought$ out$ a$ rough$ position$for$speaking$into$it$between$the$pillow$and$the$fur$blanket:$in$old$ pictures$ one$ can$ see$ forest$ virgins$ living$ in$ the$ wild$ (cf.$ volume$ 18$ of$ Brehm’s$ Jungfrauleben),$7$who$ drink$ from$ brooks,$ raising$ two$ hands$ to$ their$ lips,$ and$ meanwhile,$ to$ the$ right$ and$ left,$ a$ few$ tastefully$ placed$ halfBmeter$ drops$ splash$ back$ into$ the$ channel$ —$ that$ was$ also$ how$ Yvonne$was$with$the$telephone.$ $ Meanwhile,$with$a$chance$jerk$she$also$switched$on$the$lightBblue$ lamp$next$to$the$fireplace.$Although$the$lighting$was$weak,$like$a$placebo$ medicine$ prescribed$ for$ a$ hypochondriac$ as$ a$ formality,$ it$ nevertheless$ gave$the$room$an$oblique$and$unfavorable$sharpness.$The$lampshade$was$ an$opened$parchment$bellows$with$a$single$cord$and$with$holes$punched$ all$ along$ it,$ like$ a$ medieval$ document$ with$ the$ big$ ribbon$ seal$ of$ an$ electricity$company.$Was$the$lamp$indeed$blue,$and$was$the$light$pouring$ out$ of$ it$ already$ white,$ or$ was$ the$ lamp$ white$ and$ some$ unexpected$ celestial$bluing$dropped$its$own$coloring$onto$it,$like$the$stepmothers$of$ romantic$ dramas$ pour$ sleeping$ powder$ into$ wine$ glasses$ when$ the$ drinker$turns$aside$for$a$second.$ 7"‘Brehm’s"Life3of3Virgins’"—"a"pun"on"the"title"of"the"10Evolume"encyclopedia"coE authored" by" Alfred" Brehm" (1829–84)" and" commonly" known" as" Brehms3 Tierleben" (‘Brehm’s"Life3of3Animals’),"first"published"in"the"1860’s." 104 $ “Is$that$you?$Well,$I$can’t$come$today.$No,$no.$But$of$course!$For$ that$very$reason.$Anyway,$I$don’t$think$so:$it’s$much$rather$the$case$that$ you$ are$ selfBdismissive$ than$ jealous.$ Do$ you$ want$ to$ know?$ I$ go$ to$ confession.$That’s$it,$exactly.$Why?$It’s$something$that$has$to$be$done.$My$ husband’s$older$brother$or$great$uncle$comes,$and$that’s$what$they$want,$ my$ husband$ as$ well.$ Haven’t$ you$ got$ a$ prayer$ book?$ I’ve$ got$ around$ a$ dozen$of$them,$it’s$true,$but$I$have$no$idea$where$they$are.$I’ll$take$your$ confession.$ At$ least$ that$ way$ you’ll$ get$ to$ play$ a$ role.$ Is$ that$ a$ strong$ promise?$ Insofar$ as$ it$ is$ up$ to$ me.$ The$ two$ of$ them$ leave$ early$ in$ the$ morning,$so$wait$on$the$other$side.$Don’t$worry$about$that.$Stop$mocking$ me.$I$can’t$stand$it.$Understood?$Hate$it.$In$any$case,$I’m$hardly$in$the$ human$ race$ as$ it$ is,$ because$ all$ my$ relatives$ are$ priests:$ cardinals,$ bishops,$monks.$There’s$a$scattering$here$and$there$to$take$care$of$the$ succession.$ Hush,$ hush,$ and$ more$ hush.$ You’ve$ no$ idea;$ just$ let$ it$ go.$ Tomorrow$morning,$tomorrow$morning!$Yes,$there.$No,$it’s$not$worth$it.$ You$can$be$there,$the$same$as$always.$ByeBbye.”$ $ Of$course$she$did$not$replace$the$receiver$on$its$hook,$only$let$go$ of$it$as,$after$all,$it$fitted$in$anywhere$with$the$colors$and$shapes$of$the$ pillows.$It$was$fiveBthirty,$and$confession$was$scheduled$for$eight$o’clock.$ She$ looked$ out$ of$ the$ window:$ it$ was$ assembled,$ or$ rather$ just$ strung$ together,$from$boards:$the$individual$sheets$were$barely$touching,$so$that$ small$gaps$cropped$up$between$them$where$the$wind$blew$in$and$slicedB up$a$chess$table$of$a$draught$from$the$room$into$a$likeness$of$herself.$In$ every$glass$square$was$a$loosely$textured$clip$or$rosette,$which$more$or$ less$held$the$boards$together.$ $ Yvonne’s$ house$ was$ oddly$ homey:$ at$ certain$ points,$ the$ homeliness$ was$ developed$ up$ to$ the$ very$ point$ of$ insanity,$ at$ others$ it$ was$lacking$to$the$point$of$a$forbidding$bleakness.$But$it$was$exactly$the$ right$environment$to$prepare$for$confession,$she$thought$to$herself.$The$ openness$ of$ the$ rattling$ windows,$ the$ Lisieux$ blueness$ of$ the$ lighting$ pointed$ to$ loneliness$ coming$ of$ solitude,$ whereas$ the$ couches,$ bags$ of$ feathers,$ and$ carpet$ plasters$ folding$ up$ in$ amorphous$ creases$ called$ attention$to$the$freedom$coming$of$solitude,$to$fantastic$sincerity.$What,$ in$fact,$is$a$home,$solitude,$independence?$Is$it,$I$wonder,$some$sort$of$ hygienic$matter$in$the$lines$of$the$principle$of$“my$home$is$my$castle”?$Is$ it$not$rather$corruptive?$She$wished$to$be$sincere$with$herself,$wanted$to$ 105 redeem$her$most$personal$self$from$herself:$the$resolution$was$strict,$light$ blue,$ and$ draughty,$ but$ the$ result$ was$ a$ voluptuous$ meowing:$ comfort$ rang$in$her$muscles$like$the$bell$in$a$typescript:$her$whole$body$ran$along$ the$uninhibited$corridor$of$‘privacy,’$and$now$it$tinkled$from$the$absurdity$ of$that’s$all$and$yet$free.$ $ Sin$ and$ nonBsin$ did$ not$ so$ much$ as$ enter$ her$ head;$ for$ her$ confession$ simply$ meant$ ‘solitude’$ and$ ‘sincerity.’$ She$ felt$ that$ she$ was$ already$ confessing$ in$ being$ deliberately$ alone.$ For$ the$ first$ time$ she$ recollected$her$life$critically:$the$critique$consisted$of$not$carrying$on$her$ memories$ into$ the$ future$ for$ a$ few$ seconds$ but$ closing$ them$ in$ the$ present:$ she$ knew$ that$ everything$ would$ carry$ on$ tomorrow$ morning$ exactly$ the$ same$ way$ as$ it$ had$ done$ up$ till$ then.$ But$ she$ placed$ those$ continuations$a$step$higher$than$where$her$memories$came$to$an$end$—$ the$ same$ cloth,$ the$ same$ pattern,$ only$ transferred$ to$ a$ new$ machine.$ What$is$distressing,$she$thought$to$herself,$is$that$one$afternoon$a$person$ marks$ a$ little$ pause$ between$ her$ memories$ and$ the$ immediate$ future.$ She$delighted$in$the$past,$but$the$truth$was$that$she$did$not$swap$pictures$ for$a$practical$reason;$she$made$the$action$literally$ascetic.$The$room$was$ cool,$so$she$wrapped$up$well.$$ $ The$corrugated$lampshade$gave$a$grating$all$along$the$wall$—$not$ so$much$in$the$form$of$shadings$but$lights,$as$if$all$at$once$the$room$had$ so$ much$ become$ the$ Loyola$ operating$ theater$ of$ consciousness$ that$ it$ would$not$tolerate$the$crude$materialism$of$shade$and$would$only$suck$ the$ lighting$ plan$ out$ of$ it.$ Behind$ the$ lamp$ was$ a$ huge$ folding$ screen,$ reaching$up$to$the$ceiling,$which$stood$in$a$snaking$line$of$some$twenty$ twists$and$turns:$it$had$enormous$bends$in$the$middle,$which$grew$slacker$ towards$ both$ ends.$ A$ gigantic$ bunch$ of$ flowers$ was$ painted$ onto$ the$ whole$thing$with$crude$poster$strokes$like$with$stage$scenery.$$ $ Yvonne$ felt$ infinitesimally$ minute$ among$ the$ corrugated$ lights$ and$ primordial$ flowers,$ but$ she$ knew$ that$ in$ point$ of$ fact$ the$ lateB afternoon$disproportionateness$was$the$essence$of$morality:$she$felt$the$ size$of$the$painted$flower$as$a$twinge$in$her$heart;$she$could$almost$have$ cried.$She$felt$she$was$at$the$center$of$the$narrowest$ring$of$the$ethos:$ the$highest$degree$of$comfort$meant$the$first$degree$of$uniqueness;$that$ was$surrounded$by$various$topsyBturvy$objects,$in$any$case$other$things$ than$her,$that$was$also$closed$by$the$blueBdeficient,$tailBbiting$summary$ 106 snake$of$absolute$strangeness:$the$pupillessBlooking$window,$the$whites$ of$the$eye$of$which$is$a$Venetian$platinum$heaven$and$the$lampshade’s$ ghostly$ directional$ collar;$ as$ if$ it$ were$ directing$ the$ traffic$ of$ damned$ souls$above$a$suddenly$moral$valley$of$‘privacy.’$ $ “I$am$good,”$she$felt$with$algebraic$relief.$“The$pillar$of$ethos$can$ be$nothing$but$those$two,”$she$thought$to$herself$as$she$popped$a$Frigor$ choc$ into$ her$ mouth,$ “things$ are$ very$ OK:$ I$ feel$ how$ alien,$ hostile,$ and$ different$ they$ are,$ and$ home$ is$ full$ of$ uninvited$ guests:$ just$ as$ water$ freezes$into$icicles$in$winter,$so$the$things$form$the$big$candelabra$of$the$ conscience$ of$ othernessBtaps,$ of$ which$ she,$ she,$ Yvonne,$ was$ the$ lifeB giving$drama.$Secondly,$things$are$all$suicidal,$inside$them$is$a$fine,$barely$ sensible,$ but$ destructive$ shivering,$ which$ magics$ each$ and$ every$ one$ of$ them$ into$ the$ agony$ of$ the$ thinning$ dropBtongs$ of$ a$ fountain:$ the$ infuriating$ positive$ of$ comfort$ runs$ over$ into$ the$ big$ lie$ declinations$ of$ daubed$ flowers;$ the$ window’s$ Venetian$ ‘theologia$ negativa’$ pekineses$ back$into$a$pottering$domestic$pet.$ $ And$ goodness$ is$ nothing$ other$ than$ upperBclass$ seeBsawing$ between$the$two$extremes$—$between$the$home’s$orgied$homeliness$and$ sentimental$ annihilation,$ to$ and$ fro.$ A$ poor$ person$ can$ never$ be$ good,$ because$ goodness$ is$ not$ the$ ‘spirit’s$ business,’$ as$ proletarian$ priests$ imagine.$Goodness$is,$first$and$foremost,a$‘business$of$private$property,’$ because$ only$ private$ property$ unites$ that$ indispensable$ twoBbranched$ crown,$ the$ 40°C$ fever$ of$ marriage,$ and$ the$ incorruptible$ Carthusian$ Guignol$ of$ objects.$ Bit$ by$ bit,$ with$ the$ cautious$ movement$ of$ confectioners$ or$ young$ chemists$ taking$ examinations$ with$ stage$ fright,$ she$shifted$the$lyrical$humbug$of$responsibility$into$the$outer$rings$of$the$ environment,$objects,$and$world.$ $ Once$someone$said$of$her,$behind$her$back,$that$she$was$‘moral$ insanity.’$What$ridiculous$slander:$after$all,$that$worker$across$the$road,$ where$ he$ will$ meet$ his$ sweetheart$ in$ the$ morning,$ carries$ the$ sacks$ as$ precisely$from$the$shore$onto$the$boat,$balancing$himself$on$a$thin$log;$ after$all$a$wheeling$seagull,$after$prolonged$lassoing$of$hearts$precisely$ hit$the$Byzantine$basket$of$an$old$statue,$and$above$all,$the$fact$that$now,$ now$ of$ all$ times,$ that$ certain$ ‘hic$ et$ nunc’$ surrounds$ itself$ with$ such$ universal$sorrow$and$an$antihuman$selfish$halo$it$just$shows$that$there$is$ only$ethics$in$the$world.$ 107 $ What$ did$ she$ have$ to$ confess?$ Is$ sin$ possible?$ What$ is$ sin?$ Nothing$ else$ but$ an$ unexpected$ cutting$ off$ of$ that$ saccharineBsweet$ twilight$panBethics$which$emanated$from$lagoons$and$her$own$pillows$—$ all$in$all$a$shuddering$from$that$“section$of$a$DedekindBstyle$sequence$of$ numbers”:$just$as$in$the$sequence$of$all$the$real$numbers$a$section$can$ only$ denote$ an$ irrational$ number,$ so$ Yvonne’s$ body$ and$ life$ were$ an$ irrational$intersection$number$in$the$infinitely$dense$series$of$the$outside$ world${i.e.,$ethos$dowry};$the$irrationality$of$individual$life$in$arithmetical$ sense$is$a$crime:$it$intersects$the$moral$duct$of$the$environment,$and$it$ does$not$itself$belong$to$the$pieces$of$duct$cut$off$on$either$the$rightB$or$ the$leftBhand$side.$ $ Sin,$therefore,$just$means$the$seen,$as$opposed$to$invisible,$ethics.$ Why$ the$ need$ for$ anyone$ to$ speak$ of$ predestination?$ A$ 22ByearBold$ theologian$in$a$play$on$words$in$one$of$Yvonne’s$light$dozes$mused$about$ ‘existenation’:$ every$ mimic$ of$ existence$ is$ a$ moral$ minus:$ how$ is$ it$ possible$not$to$notice?$There$was$no$idyllic$or$happy$streak$in$this,$on$the$ contrary:$the$projection$of$the$conscience$into$the$body$of$objects$does$ not$signify$relief$but$more$rugged$asceticism.$In$her$room$there$was$no$ furniture,$only$‘space$hangers’$and$‘space$traps’$—$from$her$body$among$ the$silk$clouds$of$comfort$all$that$was$left$was$the$unearthly$memory$of$ the$ voice$ of$ the$ previously$ sounding$ telephone:$ no$ environment$ and$ no$ person,$only$misprinted$and$not$as$yet$proofBread$space$proofs$and$a$few$ orphaned$sentences$between,$a$sort$of$celestial$star$monologue$beyond$ the$ Milky$ Way.$ ‘Libertinage’$ as$ a$ whole$ enables$ the$ discovery$ of$ the$ ethical$ face$ of$ the$ world:$ if$ anything$ goes,$ then$ peeling$ completely$ off$ objects$ is$ the$ stuckBon$ anthropomorphic$ face,$ which$ makes$ them$ ridiculous${but$cognac$bottles$have$to$be$dunked$deeply$into$hot$water$for$ the$paper$label$to$be$stripped$off$them}.$ $ Poor$persons$can$somehow$be$‘morally$virtuous,’$Yvonne$said$to$ herself$ out$ of$ honorable$ democratic$ loyalty,$ but$ they$ cannot$ see$ or$ experience$‘morality’$as$such,$since$it$is$spread$in$broad$strata$at$exotic$ points$of$the$world$to$which$poor$people$never$have$the$fare.$And$if$they$ have,$ they$ can$ only$ see$ bits$ of$ the$ world;$ that$ is$ bourgeois$ morality:$ seeing$ only$ bits$ of$ a$ wide,$ exclusively$ moral$ world$ where$ entry$ is$ not$ permitted;$what$is$not$seen$is$not$considered$a$sin.$ 108 $ Prosperity$ is$ the$ pathological$ superabundance$ of$ divine$ providence$ in$ one$ place:$ there$ providence$ is$ so$ dense$ that$ whatever$ a$ person$blessed$and$ruined$by$it$may$do$they$will$always$keep$traversing$it$ like$the$torrent$of$a$moral$Danaë$–$they$are$soaked$by$it…$Money$is$not$ the$Devil’s$invention,$but$the$flitting$spore$garden$of$‘eternal$goodness’${is$ that$how$the$Countess$of$Ségur$puts$it?}.$Should$she$cancel$the$ordered$ confectioner’s$snack$that$Geraldine$had$prepared$for$her?$Good$Lord!$she$ had$not$even$cancelled$Geraldine!$She$looked$at$her$watch:$she$might$still$ be$at$home.$Both$time$and$the$foreign$woman$friend$were$just$aspects$of$ her$ ambiguous$ moral$ mood:$ the$ watch$ was$ on$ her$ wrist,$ and$ she$ was$ touched$by$that$mundane$comfort,$feeling$herself$protected$and$secure$ for$ever.$What$was$mercy?$For$one$thing,$free$fall,$falling$wherever,$everB open$ possibility,$ thus$ dizziness,$ restlessness;$ for$ another,$ security,$ an$ ‘Assicurazioni$Generali’$run$wild$in$theology.$ $ What’s$her$number?$Where$is$the$phone$book?$Here$it$is:$this$luck$ through$ comfort$ has$ already$ spewed$ it$ up.$ “Hello!$ Is$ that$ you?$ I’m$ unspeakably,$madly,$madly$ashamed.$Why?$I’ll$tell$you$straight$away,$but$ first$I’ll$kick$up$a$little$phonetic$Canossa8$and$have$myself$showered$with$ the$spiritual$stones$of$my$own$membrane$echo$—$nice,$wasn’t$it,$it$took$ some$ doing,$ but$ there$ you$ have$ it$ —$ anyway:$ the$ wretched$ selfBburnt$ forelock$of$conscience,$the$Atlantic$collection$of$pressed$flowers$of$grief$ —$what$was$that$you$said?$I’m$really$offended$that$my$style$is$not$to$your$ taste.$ Well$ then,$ try$ this,$ Miss$ MatterBofBFact:$ I’m$ going$ to$ confession$ today,$ so$ you$ can$ stay$ at$ home.$ I’m$ going$ to$ confession!$ What$ do$ you$ mean,$you$anticlerical$demon?$I$can’t$offer$you$any$enlightenment,$seeing$ that$I$can’t$speak$puritanese.$Apage$Satanas.9$Tomorrow$afternoon$I$shall$ be$at$the$Azaderos’$place.$Sure$thing!$Me$precisely.$Why$me?$Goodbye.”$ Out$of$anger,$she$accidentally$slammed$down$the$receiver$on$its$hook.$ $ Had$she$ever$done$anything$in$her$life?$She$felt$that$her$whole$life,$ on$the$one$hand,$had$been$an$epic$dash;$on$the$other,$there$had$been$no$ ‘deeds’$ and$ ‘events’:$ the$ dreamBlike$ magic$ of$ remembering$ consisted$ particularly$ in$ enjoying$ the$ surges$ of$ the$ past,$ as$ if$ time$ were$ an$ everB better$ acting$ drug$ which$ races$ towards$ the$ depths$ of$ ignorance,$ and$ it$ 8"Cf." ‘I" will" not" go" to" Canossa’" (where" Holy" Roman" emperor" Henry" IV" sought" pardon"before"Pope"Gregory"VII"in"1077)." 9"Literally,"‘Be"gone,"Satan!’" 109 saw$ events$ separately$ as$ simple$ formulas,$ arithmetical$ representations,$ of$ rushing$ which$ had$ nothing$ to$ do$ with$ it$ subjectively:$ time$ raced$ so$ much$that$all$kinds$of$inner$thickenings$arose$in$it$like$in$that$set$of$vase$ furniture$that$she$had$got$the$day$before$yesterday:$the$fictitious$cuffs$of$ velocity$ turning$ onBtheBspot.$ As$ a$ matter$ of$ fact,$ this$ universal$ dreamB mood$of$time$was$a$much$more$woeful$woe$than$a$woe$which$had$arisen$ as$a$result$of$any$special$spiritual$calisthenics,$so$the$clear$situation$was$ that$from$childhood$on$she$wrote$down$a$big$encyclopedia$alongside$the$ milieu$ of$ a$ nonBexisting$ {and,$ precisely$ on$ account$ of$ the$ absolute$ definiteness$ of$ the$ nonBexistence,$ magnetically$ attractive}$ sin:$ the$ two$ things$held$each$other$in$balance,$the$certainty$of$the$sin’s$impossibility$ holding$in$check$the$eternally$epicycloidal$pathway$of$woe.$There$was$a$ time$ when$ she$ would$ have$ regarded$ herself$ as$ insane$ if$ she$ had$ felt$ anything$ like$ a$ ‘contrition$ of$ goodness,’$ but$ now$ she$ felt$ that$ she$ had$ prepared$for$confession$with$a$clear$head,$and$her$conscience$hit$upon$a$ single$possible$handle:$it$is$not$goodness$and$evil$which$add$up$to$ethics,$ but$the$great$path$of$melancholy${time,$melancholy,$and$woe$were$the$ naïve$little$amulets$of$aspects$of$a$single$entity}$around$the$alluring$nil$of$ the$perpetual$‘impossibility$of$a$deed’$or$‘senselessness$of$action.’$ $ The$saints$she$thought$to$herself$—$meanwhile$gradually$slipping$ the$ coverlet$ down$ from$ her$ stockings,$ which$ a$ consistency$ of$ carbonic$ acid,$resembling$bubbling$champagne$—$balanced$10Bcentimeter$‘deeds’$ with$ 50Bcentimeter$ ‘sorrows’$ in$ her$ hair’sBbreadth$ moral$ contests;$ I,$ by$ contrast,$ regret,$ or$ rather$ ‘exist$ around,’$ with$ all$ time,$ space,$ and$ the$ eternal$ strangeness$ of$ existence$ a$ deed$ that$ has$ been$ annihilated$ to$ nothing.$She$got$up$from$the$settee$in$order$to$set$straight$the$white$lilacs$ that$ had$ just$ been$ delivered$ for$ her.$ Which$ vase$ to$ put$ them$ in?$ She$ looked$at$the$fireplace$to$check$if$there$was$a$free$one$there.$Standing$on$ that$ were$ just$ long$ candles,$ doubled$ by$ a$ reflection$ in$ the$ mirror,$ as$ if$ they$were$standing$around$a$bier.$The$color$of$the$lilac$was$as$if$it$were$ surrounded$ by$ ten$ frostedBglass$ globes$ and$ through$ ten$ layers$ it$ was$ reached$from$outside$by$tinfoil$light:$starless$intellect,$dead$illumination.$ She$burst$into$tears:$she$was$more$than$a$saint,$obviously.$She$thought$ about$ confession$ with$ particular$ pleasure$ as$ it$ represented$ a$ foreign$ intercut$ in$ her$ new$ “ultraBsainthood$ constructed$ from$ the$ differential$ equations$plane$curves.”$ 110 $ She$reached$for$the$telephone.$“Come$over,$after$all.$No$way$have$ I$yet$gone$for$confession.$All$the$same…”)! ! When!Touqué!looked!at!his!own!sins,!then!he!took!that!woodcutD face! (he! avoided! mirrors,! which! would! have! painfully! attested! how! distant! his! true! face! lay! from! that! satirical! crust! of! a! mask),! and! the! vocable!fragment!‘aet,$suae’!would!keep!running!nervously!through!him! in!his!searchings!of!his!conscience!and!the!grandiosely!grey!sorrows!of!his! wishes:! because! it! was! not! the! name! which! lodged! in! his! brain,! being! written!in!insignificantly!small!letters!into!its!frame,!but!the!big!Antiqua! letters,!which!started!straight!away!by!the!hair,!each!different,!the!initial! ‘A’!spread!its!legs!like!an!ungainly!gatekeeper,!the!‘E’!and!‘T’!following!it! were! suddenly! thinned! as! if! type! from! another! font! had! mistakenly! ended! up! there,! the! ‘E’! of! the! ‘Æ’! diphthong! was! so! unexpectedly! scrawny!as!if!it!had!withered!away!in!a!trice!like!an!expressDsick!letter,! whereas!the!‘A’!blossomed!in!sunshine.! ! In! this! crumpled! typography! (because! it! was! evident! that! they! were!not!stylized!painted!letters!but,!for!all!their!disproportionateness,! they!were!typescript),!the!strictness!of!Munthausen,!which!he!was!able! with! military! elegance! to! mask! the! Roman! lettering! as! a! grotesque! procession! of! beggars.! In! any! case,! the! broad! initial! letters! and! the! subsequent!pinched!ones!were!reminiscent!of!the!asymmetry!of!a!palsied! orodontic!patient;!besides!which!in!Touqué’s!head!‘ætas’!had!coalesced! with!‘æstas,’10!so!that!with!Munthausen!the!concept!of!summer!signified! the! bitterness! of! pessimism! and! the! consuming! power! of! suppressed! hatred!itself!unto!the!point!of!apoplexy.! ! ! ! ! ! Miklos Szentkuthy, Prae (excerpt from Vol. I, ch. 3), tr. by Tim Wilkinson, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 88–111. This is an excerpt from Prae (Budapest: Magvető, 1980; 2004). ! 10"‘Summers’"as"opposed"to"‘years"of"age.’" 111 Rabid Realism Out of the Confession-Box: Szentkuthy Reading Joyce Erika Mihálycsa Szentkuthy’s two essays on Joyce, the towering Modernist master to whom he was so fatefully linked from the beginning of his literary career, seem prime examples of what Reinhard Koselleck called the “synchronicity of the non-synchronic” — the parallel occurrence of widely disparate and unrelated worlds and events within the same historical and cultural space. Nevertheless, their timing and tenor speaks volumes about the future translator of Ulysses, whose whole literary output could be regarded as an example of the synchronicity of the non-synchronic within the space of Hungarian culture between the 1930s & 1980s. His maverick anatomies of the novel, occasional astute insights and wild misprisions in his essays, are by & large impossible to derive from the Hungarian literary tradition of the first half of the 20th century, sharing at the same time surprisingly little with the pursuits of European modernists of his own and of the previous generation. He is even more difficult to place within the coordinates of post-WWII Hungarian culture: his writing appears to be an elsewhere, with next to no nexus to the historical and cultural there-and-then. 1947, the year when the first essay appeared, saw the publishing, at a small press in 1,000 numbered copies, of the first complete Hungarian translation of Ulysses by Endre Gáspár. In the relatively free interim between the end of WWII and the establishing of the totalitarian state with the inevitable ideological strait- jacketing in 1948, many literary magazines were launched — to be shortly suppressed — while the renewed attack on Modernism of the 1947 Soviet Writers’ Congress had not yet become an orthodoxy in Eastern Europe. The essay was first presented at a debate around Gáspár’s translation organized by the Hungarian- English Society, at which several prominent literati took part; Szentkuthy’s contribution — published in the same year, complete with his notes on Gáspár’s text, in the magazine Magyarok — was collected in his 1985 volume Múzsák testamentuma (Testament of the Muses) without the notes. It is not only the most passionate “defense” of Joyce among the debate’s participants and at large, in a literary culture that was still wary of Joyce’s radical Modernist experiment, cataloguing Ulysses most often as an “ingenious torso” or as a downright “ingenious hoax,”1 but also one of the most idiosyncratic early responses to Joyce coming from a fellow novelist. The 1968 essay announcing Szentkuthy’s intention to re-translate Ulysses is no less surprising in its stance vis-à-vis Joyce. Although by the late 1960s the strictures of the Lukács school in criticism were gradually slackening and the literary establishment had cautiously warmed to Joyce (still seen in the early 1960s as the epitome of bourgeois decadence among the great Modernists), the ideological thaw following the 1963 Kafka Symposium in Prague merely meant that most of the hitherto “problematic” authors found a stronghold in the boundlessness of “réalisme sans rivages,” where the borders of realism remained sufficiently blurry and pliable to accommodate a wealth of authors from Kafka to existentialists. Szentkuthy, independent to the point of aloofness throughout his literary career, seems to be playing here a cunning game with the critical orthodoxies of his time. He makes a gesture of “defending” the soi-disant “realism” of the author of silence, exile, and punning, but hardly in a Marxist framework — as the afterword to his 1974 translation of Ulysses, by critic Mihály Sükösd, would still dutifully do. The most baffling part of the essay is certainly the argument against any mitigation of the text’s overt salaciousness and cant in the name of socialist realism (!), envisaged !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Antal Szerb — influential Anglophile literary historian and one of the most original Hungarian novelists of the interwar years — called Ulysses “the greatest bluff of world history” in 1930; although there were sporadic positive, or even enthusiastic responses in the late 1920s and 1930s — by novelist Sándor Márai and philosopher Béla Hamvas for instance — the dominant attitude remained that of the poetaster and critic Mihály Babits, who regarded Ulysses as merely a problematic experiment, inferior to the classicism of a Proust or Thomas Mann: see Ferenc Takács, “Joyce & Hungary,” in Literary Interrelations: Ireland, England, and the World, Vol. 3, ed. Wolfgang Zach, Heinz Kosok (Tübingen: Günter Narr Verlag, 1987) 161–167; Márta Goldmann, “Belated Reception: James Joyce’s Works in Hungary,“ Comparative Critical Studies 3.3 (2006) 227–248. ! 113! as spitting in the face of the “Capital-god.” In retrospect, one is tempted to read the sentence as an elaborate leg-pulling — however, interpreting the meaning of such asides from a distance of nearly fifty years, when the original context has become well-nigh irrecoverable, is a hazardous venture at best. Yet, the fact that Szentkuthy should have harnessed the scandalous fame of Joyce’s writing in his argument for a linguistically more unbound translation practice in a literary context where works with the reputation of being obscene were suppressed or “cleansed,” is revealing not only about the duplicities of the age, but also about the novelist’s skill in turning expectations inside out. Reading the two essays on Joyce and translation together, one is struck by Szentkuthy’s quixotic patterns of interpretation — by how much his strong (mis)reading assimilates Joyce to his own countenance, just as he would do in his Ulysses translation. For an early response to Joyce, the 1947 essay is certainly out of the groove of mainstream criticism focusing mostly on the forging of a novel of consciousness, of a novel of the everyday (what Hermann Broch had termed “Weltalltagsroman”) and of the mythical patterns in Ulysses: it stresses first and foremost Joyce’s linguistic pyrotechnics, looking for parallels and influences along meridians stretching from Shakespeare to Lewis Carroll, and tilting sensibly in favor of the latter. Not only do the two essays celebrate Ulysses as a supreme linguistic artifact, but their flamboyant language and even their idiosyncratic punctuation patterns (reminiscent of the “over-colonized” sentences in Bloom’s interior monologues) suggest a strong impact of the Joycean text. Szentkuthy obviously speaks here as much about the scaffolding of his own work as about Joyce’s: mathematical structures, and what he sees as an all-pervasive Catholic mind-frame — one that accounts for the alleged existential despair behind Joyce’s “blasphemy.” The two essays are directed very strongly against interpretations current at the time: against reducing the text of Ulysses to the theses of Freudian psychoanalysis, fashionable in the period between the two world wars; against tracing them back to the experiments of the historical avant-gardes, to which Szentkuthy harbors a pronounced animosity; and in the 1968 text, against existentialism, which he bashes with palpable relish. His single most surprising ! 114! statement is undoubtedly the one that makes Joyce an eminent realist, at a more advanced stage of realism’s evolution — one, however, in tune with the way most modernists saw their own achievement, as witnessed in Conrad’s prefaces to his novels, or in Virginia Woolf’s “Modern Fiction.” In his 1983 interview-memoirs, Frivolities and Confessions, he points out that, already in 1931, when he first read Ulysses in English, he was struck by the connection between the “most minute observation of the most mundane reality, hypernaturalism,” and at the same time, his “luxuriance of fantasy.” Whereas the latter’s rootedness in Joyce’s “pyrotechnical mythological games” may seem an easy pick, considering the early critical and academic responses to Joyce, the origin of the first — Flaubert — would certainly have struck most readers, and indeed many Joyceans up to some two decades ago, as strange, to say the least.2 Even though he upholds the “realism-of-limits” expressive of contemporary “montage” culture, of an author who was fond of describing himself as a “scissors- and-paste man,” Szentkuthy seems curiously shy of one of the most disruptive strategies of Ulysses: the rendering of the processes at work in the mind through a form of verbal bricolage, of snatches of received language, that turn not only Bloom, but to a pronounced extent also Stephen, into an entity spoken by ready-made language. Szentkuthy’s essay lends the Joycean practice of rendering the individual a terrain of intertextual encounters, a sense of existential despair; the reader is probably right to presuppose that this tragic sense derives from Szentkuthy’s reading more than anything else. For his reading of Joyce seems a probing into the limits of the pervasive theorizing in his own work — including the absolute foreignness, the “eternally heretical not-I,” out of the world of metaphors, fate, life itself, that the 1935 notebook Towards the One and Only Metaphor sets out to delineate. Szentkuthy’s verbal violence inflicted on Bloom, whom he describes as mentally retarded, seems to betray both a clinging to notions of originality and “core” selfhood down to the most intimate expressions of the human subject, and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 An excerpt from Szentkuthy’s Frivolities and Confessions — a volume consisting of a series of interviews conducted by literary historian Lóránd Kabdebó with the author in 1983, translated into English by Tim Wilkinson — can be read online at: Hungarian Literature Online (2 April 2014). ! 115! perhaps a flinching from Joyce’s exploration of this self not as having or inhabiting a body, but as being body. Strangely enough, the translator who was to Gargantualize Joyce’s text, seems in these essays quite close to the irritated reaction to Ulysses we can find in Virginia Woolf’s diaries. With both, shock and bafflement seems to spring from a strict adherence to their own (class) patterns of erudition and decorum, for which Bloom and Molly’s fleeting, matter-of-fact thoughts on bodily matters, and the novel’s reveling in all aspects of popular culture fall beyond the pale of representability. Szentkuthy’s definition of the “rabid” realism he attributes to Joyce is probably more rooted in the Hungarian author’s nostalgia for a teleological worldview than in a similar disposition on the Irish master’s part. His smuggling back of the remnants of a, however apostate and frustrated, Catholicism, as the clue to Ulysses, by the back door of blasphemy, reads more like a panicked attempt to restore orderliness to a world that threatens to give in to chaos. Such a striving seems all the more interesting since Prae (1934), his first novel, misleadingly labeled a “Hungarian Ulysses,” had taken chaos theory valiantly by the (t)horns. Similarly, the ritual and repeated slaying of Freudian psychoanalysis can curiously cohabit with the disquisition that the origin of Joyce’s peculiar, morbid hypertrophy of reality is his “neurasthenia” — which does the favor of reducing the fabled “immense panorama of futility” in Joyce’s novel to a pathological condition and thus reaffirm an unshaken belief in the sense of the world, whatever it be. On the other hand, Szentkuthy stresses the encyclopedic scope of Joyce’s book, its cathedral-like structure and “Baroque” overlay; it is indeed seductive to see in the lure, and vertigo, of Joyce’s cataloguing of the world, a further connection to Szentkuthy’s own lifelong project of writing an oeuvre, complete with his hypertrophic diaries, that amounts to a Catalogus Rerum spanning over 2,000 years of European cultural history. The two essays can be read as clues to the translation program that Szentkuthy was to pursue from the late sixties in transposing Ulysses into Hungarian. It is thus paramount that he considers Ulysses first and foremost a monument of language and dwells on its poeticizing of the nonsensical, of hand- ! 116! me-down banality, and inscribes it within the meridians of poésie pure, of music and the free play of arabesque-like ornament that connects the remotest elements in its “word-chemistry” or “word-promiscuity.” It is suggestive that more than two thirds of the text examples in the note to the 1947 essay come from the sound effects of “Sirens,” while the rest are distributed among the well-nigh untranslatable patois of “Oxen of the Sun,” a conspicuous language game from the end of “Ithaca,” a verse fragment from “Circe,” and a few casual observations taken from “Penelope,” and “Nausicaa.” All in all, both essays are powerful statements against a domesticating translation practice that tends to normalize unruliness, to disambiguate, homogenize, discursify, to elevate registers, and statements of faith by Joyce’s anomalies, musical and disruptive language effects — something that is quite rare with early translators of Joyce, even the ones who had the privilege to be assisted by the author himself (as was the case with the “authorized” French and German translations of Auguste Morel and Georg Goyert). The fact that Szentkuthy singles out several examples where Joyce prioritizes sound effects over syntax, and claims that such ungrammaticalities should not be ironed out in translation either, certainly makes the 1947 essay’s addenda one of the most sensitive early notes on Joyce in translation. Before hailing these texts as avant-la-lettre examples of ethical foreignizing translation, one should however not overlook the fact that the models of creative translation Szentkuthy mentions in the 1947 essay — most notably, the modern poet Dezső Kosztolányi’s dispatching of Alice in Wonderland as Évike Tündérországban, in meters familiar from Hungarian folklore and replacing the original’s cultural allusions with Hungarian ones — speak against foreignizing. The tradition of literary translation of which Szentkuthy was the heir certainly did not favor resistance to domestication. The “golden age” of literary translation into Hungarian in the first half of the 20th century is connected to the authors around the magazine Nyugat (the decisive forum of modern literature in the language), who were caught up in the paradox between “faithfulness” and “beauty” and leaning most of the time towards the belles infidèles and highly (re-)creative “ingenious deceits.” Their humanist theories of translation were governed by the (Romantic) ethos of originality, with the result that the criterion of the translation’s success was ! 117! either the translator’s congeniality in grasping the author’s signature style (that is, personality), irrespective of the historical-cultural gap separating him/her from the receiving culture, or the achievement of the original’s effect in re-creating the original literary work — an equally hazy category grounded in the metaphysics of subjectivity.3 When reading Szentkuthy’s claim that the translator of Ulysses needs to “play chess” with Joyce’s “gigantic, fairy-tale-like pun” — exemplified in overplus by his own re-creation of the text in Hungarian — one can hear more than an echo of his predecessors’ achievement of casting, in the smithy of their souls, the foreign poetic text material into the available patterns of the receiving culture. What makes Szentkuthy’s notes to the preceding Hungarian Ulysses — and indeed his own dispatching of Joyce — striking is how far they register the English text’s foreignness, its stylistic unruliness and utter refusal of standards, while sticking to a poetics of translation that recognizes linguistic inventiveness as almost the sole criterion by which to judge the translation text. His squarely stated aversion from “scrupulousness” does certainly not mean that he is inattentive to the events of style in the text. The fact that he points out the local differences in Joyce’s use of “limelight” and “lighthouse,” meaning lamp, in “Oxen of the Sun,” goes in the face even of his declarative, cool chess-playing with Joyce’s text. Erika Mihálycsa, “Rabid Realism Out of the Confession-Box: Szentkuthy Reading Joyce,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 112–118. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 Gábor Schein, in one of the most sensitive exegeses of the tradition of translation criticism in Hungarian, demonstrates how the authors around Nyugat promoted what is in effect a domesticating translation ethos and practice with a covert ethnocentric agenda. Mihály Babits for instance, the single most influential critic and poet of the interwar period (and the one to dismiss Szentkuthy’s Prae as a shapeless “baroque monster” and Ulysses epigone), promoted domestication as the only viable pattern for communication across the ages with foreign literary works, holding the exemplary encounter between two personalities to be the measure of translation, even if that should be his own rendering of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Such views as endorsed by Babits and his fellow translators and poets always placed the translator’s individuality in front of, and between, texts, never allowing for a view of translation as a dialogue of differences: “A saját és az idegen. A fordítás humanista elméletei: Babits, Kosztolányi, Szabó Lőrinc, Csorba Győző” [The own and the foreign. Humanist theories of translation: Babits, Kosztolányi, Szabó Lőrinc, Csorba Győző], in Traditio — folytatás és árulás [Traditio — Continuing and Betrayal] (Budapest/Bratislava: Kalligram, 2008) 120–134. ! 118! ! ! Miklós Szentkuthy James Joyce: Summa Atheologiae Translated by Erika Mihálycsa ! "#$%&!'$&!'(!)*&!+'")!&,%#)#$-!./'01&+"!'(!!"#$$%$&#"!*'2!/&31#"+! -'#$-! )'! )*&! +'")! 3$3/%*#%! &,)/&+&"! %3$! 0&! 01&$4&4! 2#)*! 3$! &563117!0'6$41&""!#+3-#$3)#'$8+34$&""!9:;<<=:>?@A!>B=!C=DE=C!F=8 GAC=BD@E!>BD>!E==H!EAI@J!F=>I==@!>B=!>IAJ!:AK=!:H?C?>;DL!M?@:B?HJ!?@E==EN! ?E=@>?>OJ!:==K:!>A!=P?:>QN!L=>R:! 1 Szentkuthy is referring to the first Hungarian two-volume translation by Endre Gáspár of Ulysses (Budapest: Nova Irodalmi Intézet, 1947). ! Here!from!the!very!beginning!we!are!faced!with!a!skeleton8rail!flashing! in!spectral!light,!as!if!meant!to!signal!to!literary!history!that!this!whole!orgy!of! the!imagination,!this!Baroque!ne&plus&ultra!of!the!filthy!and!the!imbecile,!is! not! at& all! related! to! fashionable! psychoanalytical! discoveries! and! research,! however!handily!this!Geistesgeschichte8derived!tableau!might!suggest!itself,! but!is!connected!instead!with!the!medieval!danse&macabre.!The!almost!sadis8 tic!roughness!of!its!realism,!its!profoundly!death8impregnated!ethics,!and!its! ascetico8expiatory!guilt8riddenness,!its!universality,!its!satanic!buffoonery:!all! these! lead! to! the! comedians! of! narrow! cathedral! squares! where! death! and! the!harlot,!the!evil!pope!and!the!good!angel,!the!suffering!Christ!and!the!cir8 cus!Dummler!August!wrestle!with!each!other!—!for!this!is!the!mournful!and! purple!world!of!the!arch8Catholic!Joyce:!this!world!of!the!Jedermann!and!Eve; ryman,! not! the! world! of! Freudian! psychology.! The! titles! of! the! above8 mentioned!mystery!plays!would!suit!Mr.!Bloom,!the!protagonist!disintegrat8 ing!into!banality,!far!better!than!those!of!the!classical!epic.! ! Yet!Ulysses!has!another!great,!English,!bloodline:!namely,!those!fairy8 tale!books!of!gibberish,!whose!most!charming!and!frightful!bloom!is!Alice&in& Wonderland,!and!whose!most!direct!descendants!are!Walt!Disney’s!fantastic! color! stunt8films! where! deathly,! feverish! nightmare! and! naïve! childishness,! poetic!rainbowiness!and!ludicrous!distortions!are!amalgamated!into!a!peculi8 arly!English!mixture.!For!Ulysses!is!full!to!the!brim!with!poetry:!and!poetry!of! the!Midsummer&Night&variety!at!that;!sometimes!it!merely!strives!to!depict!in8 fernal! banality,! an! abominable! rainbow8advertisement,! a! pair! of! violet! gar8 ters,!the!idiotic!title!of!a!pulp!romance:!and!between,!the!miracle!occurs!—! the!words!and!images!are!woven!in!such!a!way!that!the!true!elf8rainbows,!vio8 let!flower!still!lifes!or!ballad!refrains!are!resurrected!!Here!too:!ice8gondolas! are!stretching!out!their!swan’s!necks,!and!rainbow8fans!are!floating!across!the! sky:! that! gondola! quite! obviously! stands! for! the! cheapest! and! vilest! ad! for! tourism!in!Mr.!Bloom’s!head!rotting!with!clichés!—!and!still,!what!begins!as! irony!and!revilement!turns!at!once!into!what!Coleridge!wrote!in!Kubla&Khan.!! ! 120! ! What!is!one!of!Joyce’s!innermost!motivations!for!having!written!this! book! and! especially! this! delirious! vision?! The! dreadful! disillusionment! of! a! profoundly! rational! brain,! trained! in! scholastic! philosophy,! when! looking! at! the! irrational! chaos! of! life:! we! see! the! excessive! revenge! of! a! raving! disap8 pointment,!a!desperate!laying!bare!and!j’accuse!directed!against!the!world,!in! the! way! it! points! its! finger! at! this! world:! “behold,! eternal! chaos,”! like! that! kitschy! Latin! town! crier! Antonius! pointing! at! the! steaming! wounds! of! mur8 dered!Caesar.! ! Yet!to!the!extent!that!this!book!is!the!lyrical!issue!of!an!infernal!Illu; sions&Perdues,!it!also!contains!an!immense!artistic!faith:!when!it!describes!the! vision! we! see! not! only! that! the! world! is! nothing! but! paranoiac! cliché! and! squinting!self8contradiction!but!also,!what!a!wealth!of!hallucinations,!other8 worldly!hues,!“metaphysical”!puppet8theatre!and!music!of!the!spheres!is!to! be!found!even!in!the!most!conventional!moments!of!the!most!conventional! lives.!And!when!it!has!lead!us!through!this!dual!orgy!of!dung!and!fata&morga; na,!we!cannot!but!glimpse!at!once!—!just!as!we!have!previously!glimpsed!the! medieval!and!by!far!not!Freudian!tradition!—!that!this!set!of!colors!(a!cata8 clysm! of! colors! almost)! does! not! belong! to! the! shop! soiled! reach8me8down! Dadaism!or!Surrealism,!as!the!less!informed!like!to!imagine.! ! Joyce! is! first! of! all! a! realist,! as! it! is! not! ill! suited! to! mention! at! this! stage,!touching!on!the!analysis!of!the!vision.!Joyce!is!a!man!with!a!strong!in8 terest!in!medicine;!one!of!the!motifs!of!his!realism!is!a!mercilessly!scientific! interest!in!the!blood,! in!molds,!in!the!perversions!of!the!psyche!and!in!the! body’s!nasty!secretions,!which!nevertheless!belong!to!the!costume!of!“Dame! Nature.”!For!in!his!youth!he!wanted!to!be!a!physician!and!a!musician!(a!sym8 bolic!link!that,!by!the!way,!is!quite!essential!and!explains!a!thousand!things);! in!his!realism!we!can!spot!the!English!poets!of!the!17th!century:!it!was!there! that!the!blend!of!intellectual!daring!and!realistic!precision!so!peculiar!to!Joyce! could!first!be!found!(an!almost!mathematical&logic!and!underworld!ointment! on!the!ham!actor’s!mug…),!and!which!is!so!thoroughly!absent!from!most!of! the!programmatic!naturalist!movements!of!the!19th!century.! ! 121! ! Another!component!of!Joyce’s!realism:!his!indelible!religious!reminis8 cences! —! the! Irish! Jesuits! who! educated! him! may! rest! assured! that! their! Young&Man,!whether!among!the!thugs!of!Paris!in!a!cocaine8sniffing!homosex8 ual!den!or!defecating!on!the!altar!with!a!bunch!of!church8robbers!—!even!in! the! most! damning! blasphemy! James! Joyce! remains! unyieldingly! (and! cursingly!)!rooted!in!his!Catholicism.!So!is!Joyce’s!rabid!realism:!the!realism!of! the!one!in!the!confession!box,!topped!with!the!boundless!mother8hatred!of! the!medieval!spirit!—!since!matter!continues!to!be!two!things!in!his!eyes:!the! satanic!jungle!of!sin!and!death,!of!damnation!and!the!bubonic!plague.! ! Joyce! is! a! realist:! because! he! is! a! hypersensitive,! isolated! spirit! who! suffers! enormously! from! the! vulgarity! and! filth! of! the! world.! Only! the! one! who!despairs!at!the!world’s!nauseating!ugliness!can!stir!every!swamp’s!stink8 ing!exhalations!with!such!insane!furor.!Just!as,!when!rummaging!in!the!erotic! swill,!we!cannot!escape!feeling!that!this!Joyce!is,!malgre&tout,!one!of!the!most! virginal!eternal!daffodils!at!the!age!of!puberty,!so!the!impression!is!unavoida8 ble! that! this! writer! performing! a! black! mass! with! channel8rakers! belongs! in! truth!to!the!fenced8in!parks!of!English!mansions,!being!a!solitary,!aristocratic! touch8me8not,!one!of!the!most!squeamish!gentlemen!of!the!world.! ! This! “soul8dissecting”! English! realism,! yielding! “photographs! of! con8 sciousness!blown!up!to!immense!sizes”!of!the!kind!written!by!Joyce!or!Virginia! Woolf! or! Dorothy! Richardson:! all! this! is,! as! we! said! earlier,! essentially! un8 touched!by,!and!independent!of,!the!school!of!the!Viennese!doctor.!There!is!a! commonsensical,!practical,!almost!utilitarian!reason!for!that:!English!empiri8 cism! not! giving! a! continental! about! any! theoretical! hanky8panky.! Virginia! Woolf!started!inventorying!the!myriad!figments!of!consciousness!of!the!eve8 ryday!man!in!the!form!they!proliferate!and!cluster!twenty8four!hours!out!of! twenty8four!in!man’s!scatter8brained!head:!just!like!an!old!accountant!inven8 tories!the!checks!on!his!desk:!or!a!country!squire!the!hares!and!fowl!tumbling! on!his!estate.!There!is!thus!a!practically!“obtuse”!side!to!this!psychological!re8 alism,!just!as!there!is!a!funny,!curiosity8sampling,!quixotically!hobbyhorsical! motivation!for!it!—!and!neither!could!of!course!be!any!more!English.! ! 122! ! Joyce! is! undoubtedly! neurasthenic! and! without! this! we! could! grasp! neither!his!realism!nor!its!twin!sibling,!his!bacchanal!of!the!imagination.!The! neurasthenic!person!has!one!trait!consisting!in!the!fact!that,!for!him,!the!sin8 gle!impressions!of!life!are!too!strong,!too!self8standing:!impressions!lack!the! flexibility!and!solvability!necessary!for!merging!into!one!another,!each!being! awfully! enormous! and! luridly! insulated.! What! follows! from! this?! The! single! images!engraved!in!the!psyche!will!be!luridly!sharp!and!realistic,!whereas!the! sequence!of!all!the!images!will!be!fantastically!loose!and!will!fall!to!pieces:!the! result! will! be! excess! and! a! wild! lack! of! proportion,! not! to! mention! the! fact! that!these!single!images,!turned!into!trauma,!live!on!in!the!neurotic!psyche! like!the!images!of!a!nightmare!in!the!head!of!a!hallucinating!patient.!For!who! could!tell!what!a!nightmare!is:!the!characteristic!genre!of!excessive!realism!or! of!excessive!fantasy!rather?!When!in!such!a!delirious!dream!the!word!“and”! swells!into!a!self8standing!person!or!when,!while!tossing!and!turning!in!bed,! each!abandoned!position!is!left!behind!like!so!many!figures!from!Sophocles:!is! it!the!triumph!of!naturalism,!or!of!some!sort!of!surrealism!(to!resort!to!this! not!particularly!felicitous!word)?! ! This! “precision! and! vision”! born! from! neurasthenia! foreshadows! death:!this!Joycean!realism8of8limits!is!unmistakably!suffused!with!death,!with! death’s!corpse8smell!—!health!is!never!precise!in!a!manner!so!desperate!and! driven!to!despair:!only!death!operates!with!an!ultra8microscope,!life!as!a!rule! is!content!with!much!cruder!contours.! ! This!doomed!and!damned,!“decadent”!verisimilitude!can!best!be!seen! in!all!its!hopelessness!and!morbidity!if!we!compare!it!to!such!old8school!real8 ists!like!Van!Eyck!for!instance,!Holbein,!or!the!Dutch!flower!still8life!painters! —!whose!much!too!sharp!rendering!of!details!is!similarly!flawless.!And!yet,! the!precision!of!the!latter!belongs!to!life,!while!that!of!the!former,!to!degen8 eration:!and!this!is!by!far!not!intended!as!judgment,!merely!as!an!objective! dissection!of!Joyce’s!psyche.!The!merry!craftsman!Holbein,!the!acrobat!with! an!actor’s!vanity,!is!a!man!turning!towards!the!outside!world!who!in!his!turn! is!able!to!shape!this!outside!world!with!nonchalant!self8assurance:!in!contrast,! ! 123! Joyce!is!the!cowardly,!clumsy!daydreamer!who!can!only!look!on,!not!act!—! here!impressions!go!too!deep,!are!accompanied!by!too!great!an!excitement,! are!fixated,!become!“traumas”!—!guilt8feeling,!fear!from!death,!hidden!onan8 ism,!unaligned,!excessive!susceptibility!of!the!senses,!nihilistic!feeling!of!chaos! surround!a!discarded!tram!ticket,!a!bending!of!a!female!knee!or!the!trace!of! holy!water!in!the!wrinkles!of!a!forehead.! ! But!realism!born!of!such!a!psychic!hinterland!has!one!sole!chance!to! become!artistically!acceptable:!if!it!is!amassing!and!monumental!with!a!Ba8 roque!boundlessness.!We!know!all!too!well!that!from!the!aesthetic!point!of! view,!nothing!is!more!deplorable!than!the!petty!work!of!art!in!which!there!are! a& couple! of! much8too8fine! observations,! expressions! of! the! cult! of! object8 fetishism,!some!odor,!or!brooding!in!pitch8dark!shadows!sorrowful!in!the!ex8 treme!—!and!then!what?!The!end.!To!this!I!would!certainly!far!rather!prefer!a! detective!story.!But!Joyce!amassed!in!excess,!as!St.!Thomas!amassed!defini8 tions! ad& infinitum,! or! as! Gothic! cathedrals! amassed! stone! flames! and! cork8 screw8bodied!saints:!and!as!we!shall!see!in!what!follows,!Joyce!is!a!kinsman!of! the!logical!and!figural!medieval!“wonderland”!not!only!in!what!regards!jungle8 like!growth!in!excess,!but!also,!more!conspicuously,!in!what!regards!his!geo8 metrically!precise!art!of!design!that!can!handle!infinite!proportions!with!ease.! Of!course,!with!him,!this!striving!at!a!gigantic!composition!is!also!a!nervous! phenomenon.!We!know!all!too!well!that!the!neurasthenic!psyche,!being!too! impressionistic!and!threatened!by!drowning!in!the!childish!pandemonium!of! single! impressions! every! instant,! develops! in! self8defense! a! sense! for! great& syntheses!and!structures!that!has!nothing!in!the!world!to!do!with!Tolstoy’s!art! of!structuring.!At!the!same!time,!it!is!undoubtedly!a!sublime!excitement!to! witness!in!Joyce’s!work!the!dreadful,!anarchic!destruction!that!nevertheless! seeks!to!become!a!gigantic!composition!—!akin!to!Aquinas’s!Summa!or!to!the! Amiens!cathedral.!Joyce:!Summa!Atheologiae!or!the!Cathedral!of!Nihilism.! ! ! 124! ! If!we!have!previously!considered!for!a!moment!in!what!exactly!Joyce’s! pathological! world8precision! differs! from! the! realism! of! a! Holbein! or! a! Van! Eyck,!it!might!be!useful!to!draw!a!demarcation!line!between!him!and!the!av8 erage!fin;de;siècle!naturalists.!Joyce!is!the!true!heir!of!the!age!of!Shakespeare! and!Webster;!there!is!some!streak!of!madness!in!him!that!is!entirely!absent! from! the! easily! derailed! naturalism! of! the! age! of! Art! Nouveau:! the! latter! emerged!from!petty!petit;bourgeois!theories!and!not!from!the!blaspheming! agony!of!some!fallen!god!—!that’s!why!one!who!has!not!previously!immersed! himself!in!the!style!of!Shakespeare’s!late!plays!cannot!understand!an!iota!of! Joyce.! Strangely,! artistic! data! seem! to! corroborate! the! fact! that! Joyce’s! wounded!unbelief!(something!that!does!not!in!the!least!exclude!his!traumatic! Catholic!frame!)!somehow!makes!his!chasing!of!reality!more!primordial,!more! universal:! Nihil! as! a! backdrop! (here! at! least)! appears! to! be,! in! medical! par8 lance,!a!better!“contrast!material”!for!throwing!reality!into!relief,!than!some! petty!theory!of!nature!and!whatnot.! ! Yet! another! conspicuous! (and! typically! English)! trait! of! this! realism:! with!all!his!danse&macabre&character,!Joyce!does!have!humor:!some!chapters! are!written!appositely!in!the!style!of!Dickens,!for!instance,!the!one!in!which! Bloom!and!Dedalus!have!breakfast!in!a!small!pub!following!the!epic!nighttime! revelry.! ! Although! Joyce! is! obsessed! with! the! town! of! Dublin! glued! together! from! advertisement! slogans,! old8clothesmen! and! syrupy! namby8pambyism,! the!range!of!his!interest!is!universal:!he!is!interested!in!the!whole!world,!in! the!entire!and!eternal!human,!not!just!in!one!social!class!or!age.!He!also!dif8 fers!from!the!turn8of8the8century!naturalists!in!that!his!work!is!impregnated! with!mutations!of!form:!each!chapter!operates!with!a!different!compositional! device:!there!is!drama!form,!and!there!is!interior!monologue!written!in!one! breath,!there!is!sentimental!Victorian!style!parody,!and!there!is!a!gigantic!cat8 echism!—!in!this!way,!the!work’s!reality!content!is!far,!far!better!evidenced! than!if!he!had!written!it!in!one,!consistently!even,!novelistic!form.!Moreover,! we!may!affirm!that!this!cancerous!mass!of!reality!will!only!let!itself!be!lifted! ! 125! into!art!with!this!playfulness!of!form!and!with!this!form!variation!reminiscent! of! the! movements! of! musical! pieces.! Even! though! it! would! have! been! so! much!handier,!for!a!mediocre!writer,!to!write!the!whole!book!in!the!form!of! the!last!episode,!the! monologue!of!Mrs.! Bloom:!in!one!single,!monotonous! string!of!associations.! ! One!of!his!important!features:!his!extraordinary!erudition.!Just!as!nihil8 ism!(albeit!the!most!despicable!of!world!views)!burnt!Joyce’s!colors!into!more! vivid!hues,!his!infinitely!vast!intellectualism!added!perverse!lights!to!make!this! sketch!of!the!everyday!more!colorful:!the!rotten!sardines!and!scattered!toilet! paper,! the! ribald! dream8images! and! monotonous! signboards! acquire! com8 pletely! different! proportions! and! aromas! if! the! work! is! constantly! shot! through! with! lines! from! Keats,! Latin! hymns,! German! philosophy,! Mozart’s! music,! Shakespearean! problems! and! the! motifs! of! modern! physics.! One! of! Joyce’s!most!tragic!piquancies,!so!to!say,!is!that!the!weak8eyed!reader!will!not! distinguish!there!anything!more!than!a!vacuous!Dadaist!word8mess,!whereas! the!informed!reader!will!enjoy!precisely!this!uncommon!erudition:!as!one!of! the!most!decisive!driving!forces!of!the!whole!composition.!Few!works!have!so! much! of! European! culture! compressed! inside! them! as! this! infernal! Ulysses.! For!it!goes!without!saying:!it!only!manages!to!be!so!infernal,!it!only!has!a!taste! for!being!so!infernal,!because!one!of!its!greatest!experiences!is!the!greatest! possible!erudition.! ! Yet! there! is! something! else! that! may! not! at! a! first! sight! look! so! im8 portant,!although!it!is!no!less!essential!an!element!of!this!pyramid!of!waste! than!its!vast!erudition:!the!innumerable!little!songs!that!the!whole!of!Ulysses! is!studded!with.!We!have!previously!mentioned!that!there!is!no!understand8 ing!of!Joyce!without!Shakespeare!and!danse&macabre!and! Alice&in&Wonder; land8like!English!fairy!tale8books:!similarly,!this!understanding!can!never!occur! if!somebody!has!not!read!the!so8called!nonsense&rhymes.!What!is!the!mean8 ing!of!all!these!little!poems!in!the!novel?!All!these!imbecilic!puns,!nonsensical! rhymes,! paralytic! bleats! or! slogan8like! enunciations?! First! of! all,! however! much!of!a!realist!Joyce!may!want!to!be,!he!knows!all!too!well!that!the!alpha! ! 126! and!omega!of!poetry!is!song,!it!is!singing,!it!is!the!dance!of!words!and!ideas,! the! spectral8moonlit! tumbles! of! Puck! and! Titania,! of! Ariel! and! queen! Mab.! These! song! fragments! are! intentionally! imbecilic! —! and! yet:! they! show! an! unmistakable!homesickness!for!Shelley’s!world!!These!songs!are!connected!to! nursery!rhymes:!and!nursery!rhymes!express!domestic!idyll:!but!at!the!same! time!they!carry!the!childhood!fantastic,!its!myth8! and!tale8forging!freedom,! perhaps!even!its!madness.!Is!there!perhaps!not!an!arch8English!duality!in!the8 se!songs:!the!children’s!warm,!wadded!snug:!and!the!tongue8in8cheek!topsy8 turviness!of!madness?!Let’s!check!Shakespeare’s!songs,!for!they!are!indispen8 sable!in!reading!Ulysses&anyway!—!does!not!any!song!of!Ophelia,!indeed:!the! figure! of! Ophelia! herself,! play! out! this! cunning! double8voicedness?! Girlish,! virginal,!idyllic!—!and!on!the!other!hand:!the!exposure!of!universal&nonsense! in!the!world.!! ! Who! are! the! singers?! The! drunks,! the! halfwits,! the! children! and! the! saints:!Joyce’s!songs!show!that!he!is!their!kinsman.!The!weird!sisters!of!Mac; beth! could! easily! feature! in! Ulysses,! and! is! Ariel! not! perhaps! speaking! in! Joyce’s!style!in!The&Tempest’s!first!act!where!of!the!drowned!man’s!bones!are! coral!made,!and!all!the!pearls!lying!on!the!sea!bottom!were!dead!men’s!eyes?! Here!is!beauty!and!naturalism,!nursery!rhyme!and!pessimism!—!“something! rich!and!strange”!as!we!have!it!in!the!verse!indeed!—!not!to!mention!the!clo8 sure:!“ding8dong,!ding8dong.”!! !We!certainly!have!to!address!the!issue!separately,!what!independent! and! self8serving! role! language! plays! here:! these! petty! silly! rhymes,! neither8 head8nor8tail!chanson8cores!are!the!joy!of!the!pure!word,!they!show!the!self8 confident!and!emancipated!life!of!language,!the!nightmarish!joke!that!saves! bleak!naturalism!from!mere!pathology!or!mere!dogma.!Not!to!mention!the! tongue8in8cheek! effect! resulting! from! the! fact! that! in! old! literature! such! rhyme8borrowings!invariably!condensed!the!wise!morale!of!some!story!into! verse! form:! nothing! could! be! more! amusing,! nothing! suggests! better! how! much!ex&cathedra!wisdom!is!inanity!at!heart,!than!hearing!an!echo!of!these,! originally!pontificating!verses,!filled!with!genuine!mumbo!jumbo.!Rhyme!and! ! 127! rhythm!invite!fooling!around!with!them!anyway,!and!Joyce!lets!no!occasion! pass!to!rap!on!the!nose!or!administer!a!liberal!amount!of!flips!to,!the!grand! systems!of!old!philosophy!(let’s!not!forget,!however,!that!his!heart’s!desire!is! precisely!such!a!monumental!system!—!as!Ulysses!and,!even!more,!Finnegans& Wake!indeed!are).! ! These!tiny!verse8buttons!on!the!body!of!tragico8grotesque!prose:!they! are!also!the!distorted!images!of!banal!music8hall!songs,!of!officially!standard8 ized!tango8broodings!and!foxtrot8merriments!—!because!Ulysses!was!written! to!show!that!man!is!no!more!than!the!brainless!parrot!of!a!bunch!of!emotion8 al,!intellectual,!and!linguistic!patterns,!a!blind!and!non8individual!association8 producing!machine;!the!whole!of!Bloom!is!nothing!else!but!what!is!called,!by! one! of! the! favorite! terms! of! industrialized! psychology,! “conditional! reflex”:! under!certain!conditions!he!wriggles!according!to!a!certain!blind!pattern.!The8 se! music8hall! song8parodies! are! singularly! suitable! for! unveiling! the! desper8 ately!stereotyped!nature!of!our!lives.!Here!cliché!is!grinning!at!us!at!its!most! atrocious,! just! as! it! has! continued! grinning! ever! since,! from! the! mercantile! daily!papers,!radio,!cinema!and!vaudeville.! ! Being!at!once!(and!here!we!see!the!heritage!of!childhood!neurosis!)!an! eternal!Jesuit,!from!the!wildest!Loyola!sort!at!that,!and!an!anarchic!artist:!be8 cause!of!this!lifelong!dualism!Joyce!was!permanently!drawn!to!the!mythical! instinct!of!blaspheming!the!divinity!and!the!sacraments.!Now,!there!is!hardly! a!more!suitable!medium!than!this!music8hall!doggerel,!for!allowing!one!to!ut8 ter! something! blasphemous,! to! let! the! sacred! rhythm! of! Liliata& Rutilantium! freely!mingle!with!the!somewhat!different!hymnic!quality!of!“Oh!oh!Antonio! you!left!me!on!my!ownio.”!We!know!all!too!well!that!blasphemy!and,!in!gen8 eral,!any!kind!of!perverse!abuse!provoke!“pleasure”!or!at!least!some!kind!of! black!excitement!only!in!those!for!whom!God!or!the!being!or!thing!they!abuse! remains!important:!otherwise!there!would!be!no!point!in!blaspheming.!We! remember!well!that!fragment!from!Proust!where!Mademoiselle!Vinteuil!and! her!friend!spit!on!the!photograph!of!her!mother!or!father:!in!the!little!lesbian! mademoiselle!there!must!have!been!left!an!awful!love!for,!or!bond!with!the! ! 128! progenitor,!if!this!act!of!besmearing!could!give!her!such!a!Catholic!thrill!over! sin.!And!if!there!is!anybody!who!is!identical!at!heart!with!this!little!Vinteuil! girl,!it!is!James!Joyce,!the!jejune!Jesuit!on!retreat.!! ! Because! the! mere! fact! that! he! chooses! the! plaster8bird! non8entity! Bloom!as!his!hero!is!a!blasphemy:!why?!Because!his!soul!is!yearning!for!an!Al8 cibiades,! Jesus,! Goethe! and! Semiramis! —! and! in! his! despair! (Ulysses! being! perhaps!the!world’s!saddest!book)!he!has!these!blasphemed!by!the!footrag! distinction!of!this!salesman.!And!his!stage!is!Dublin:!the!blindwall8grey,!Seces8 sion8styled!inferno!of!petty!shopkeepers,!kitsch8nationalists,!harlots!and!slop8 py!philistines!—!why?!Because!Dublin!itself!is!a!blasphemy!for!him:!he!takes! mad!pleasure!in!the!satanic!poison!of!“nation8bashing”!and!“treachery”;!he,! the! well8bred! boy! who! ought! to! have! become! an! Irish! philologist! or! Jesuit! novice,!is!cursing,!because!his!kingdom!is!the!empire!of!Oberon!and!Titania,! from!which!he!has!been!expelled,!and!mother’s!originally!gutgesinnt!little!an8 gel!is!left!with!nothing!more!than!the!“sweets!of!sin”!(the!title!of!Bloom’s!fa8 vorite!pulp!romance!).! ! Besides,! the! blasphemous! passages! have! a! broader! significance! (and! one!that!is!more!independent!of!such!direct!lyricism):!the!passages!where!the! Virgin’s! halos! and! some! nose8turning! ordure! are! pressed! into! one! staged! swearing,!are!unmistakable!signals!of!the!striving!at!totality!of!such!neuras8 thenic!individuals!like!Joyce:!this!is!one!manifestation!of!the!desperate!yearn8 ing!for!synthesis.!We!have!already!mentioned!that!there!are!neurotics!who! can! only! compensate! their! gigantic! disorganization! by! gigantic! composition:! Joyce!is!one!of!them!(let’s!not!forget!that!another!one!is!Goethe!in!many!re8 spects…)!and!blasphemy!gives!him!an!opportunity!to!force!the!furthest!poles! of!the!world!into!one!“devilish!monogram”:!here!he!can!feel,!more!than!any8 where,! that! he! has! represented! a! whole! world.! Let’s! take! for! example! that! part!in!volume!I!where!he!muses!about!the!bishop!Arius!breathing!his!last!in!a! Greek!water!closet:!this!is!the!whole!neurotic!childhood!of!the!Catholic!Joyce! where!narcissistic!sin!and!church!reminiscences!have!woven!an!unrelenting,! tormenting!shirt!of!Nessus!around!his!hypersensitive!body!—!this!enormous! ! 129! thirst!for!artistic!gaudiness,!for!life’s!marketplace,!vulgar,!garish,!divine!color8 fulness,!after!the!fashion!of!Elizabethan!drama,!and!what!we!have!already!al8 luded!to:!a!synthesis,!a!wild,!intellectual!demand,!not!to!partition!the!world,! not! to! designate! official! beauties! and! truths,! and! therefore! not! to! create! mandatory!hypocrisies:!for!even!the!most!stomach8turning!excrement!is!di8 vine!and!natural!at!the!same!time,!or!anything,!but!at!any!rate!as!justified!and! organic!a!part!of!the!world!as!bishop!Arius!himself.!Precisely!because!he!had! been!a!fearful!Cinderella!in!his!youth,!did!this!will!to!synthesize!manifest!itself! in!the!form!of!such!mad!blaspheming!in!his!grown8up!years:!it!is!always!the! cowardly!vainglorious!who,!if!they!go!mad,!tend!to!picture!themselves!as!Cae8 sars!in!the!lunatic!asylum.! ! He!doesn’t!excruciate!the!meaninglessness!of!his!life!out!of!himself!by! the!sole!means!of!the!filthy!whip!that!is!the!Bloom!figure:!there!is!also!Ste8 phen!Dedalus,!the!young!poet!and!scholar!(“gentleman,!poet,”!he!intones!this! seemingly!terminal!diagnosis!with!a!frightening!administrative!simplicity)2!and! it!turns!out!that!Dedalus!is!just!as!much!of!a!dunce,!with!his!balderdash!on! Hamlet,!his!depravity,!his!reviling!of!the!mother,!his!seaside!pseudo8poetry.! ! But!there!is!another!side!to!all!this,!the!whole!history!of!blaspheming! included.!Joyce!is!swearing!because!he!is!raving!at!the!fact!that,!although!his! brain!is!enlightened,!his!nerves!are!still!strung!to!that!college!he!described!in! his!Young&Man:!he!would!not!shrink!from!strewing!any!kind!of!filth!in!church! from! the! baptismal! font! to! the! Eucharist! (what! a! fitting! occasion! for! doing! this,! to! have! muttonhead! Bloom! sit! through! mass!)! —! but?! But! while! he! seems!to!be!bent!on!destroying,!this!wealth!of!blaspheming!also!signifies!the! exact! opposite:! a! thirst! for! myth,! the! great! poet’s! gigantic! yearning! for! the! creation!of!a!new!mythology;!just!as!the!most!everyday!day!of!this!most!eve8 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 The passage Szentkuthy is referring to is unclear: towards the end of “Sirens” (15.4490), Bloom saves Stephen from being arrested by the police, telling Private Compton confidentially that Ste- phen is “a gentleman, a poet,” to which Stephen concurs, “Gentleman, patriot, scholar and judge of impostors.” It is possible that Szentkuthy, most of whose references are to the episode, misremem- bers this: in his essay Stephen identifies himself as “a poet, a teacher” which matches neither Joyce’s original nor Endre Gáspár’s literalist translation. ! 130! ryday!Bloom!partially!serves!for!displaying!the!almost!unnamable!vacuity!of! our! existence.! And! yet! this! Bloom! and! his! everyday! have! proved! fit! for! the! task!of!accommodating!the!world’s!fantastic!and!letting!it!radiate;!in!the!end,! this!dreadful!Anti8Myth!that!is!Dublin!and!Mr.!Bloom!nevertheless!managed! to!become!a!new!mythology,!even!more!extraordinary!than!Tristan!and!the! Holy!Grail!!By!an!almost!touching!irony!of!sorts,!the!one!who!was!the!most! scathing!about!the!nationalist!poetasters’!bombastic!phrasing!on!the!national! epic!and!ancestral!legends,!eventually!became!the!most!Irish!of!all!Irish!writ8 ers:!Ulysses!is!the!“logical”!continuation!of!ancient!Celtic!art.! ! Just!as!we!cannot!understand!anything!of!the!Ulysses!world!without! Ophelia’s! flower8songs,! Edgar’s! intentional! madness,! Hamlet’s! wry! flirtation! with!Nonsense,!or!the!infernal!jukebox8songs!of!the!weird!sisters!in!Macbeth:! so!we!cannot!gloss!over!its!most!eternal!symbol!—!especially!when!address8 ing!the!intricate!issue!of!blasphemy:!the!love!of!Titania!and!the!Ass8head.!This! Shakespearean!love!scene!probably!contains!everything!necessary!to!explain! so!many!of!Joyce’s!dualities:!how!somebody!can!be!a!blasphemer!while!being! a! creator! of! divinity;! an! obsessive! collector! of! trivia,! while! being! the! Celtic! bard!of!the!most!fantastic!visions.! ! We!have!observed!before!that!blasphemy!is!merely!one!form!of!the! yearning!to!synthesize:!the!same!form!as!that!found!in!Goethe!who,!in!his!in8 satiable!violation!of!the!universe,!wanted!to!amalgamate!the!Hellas!of!Helen! with!the!Germany!of!Faust.!Yet!this!form!has!an!even!broader!or,!so!to!say,! philosophical!significance!(we!needn’t!be!afraid!of!the!word)!in!the!history!of! ideas.! ! ! ! 131! ! On!page!38!of!the!first!volume,!we!can!read!a!small!music8hall!song! about!shapely!females,!“dainty!quarrons,”3!and!immediately!afterwards!there! is! a! theorizing! about! Aquinas! and! theological! issues! of! the! fall! into! sin:! squeezing! together! underworld! cant! and! “philosophia! perennis”! under! im8 mense!pressure.! ! And!again,!at!the!beginning!of!the!vast,!dramatized!vision:!medical!ob8 servations,! procuresses,! Shakespeare,! Jesus,! and! philosophical! and! gangster! jargon! mingle.! Apart! from! striving! at! a! Great! Totality,! this! has! a! very! far8 reaching!philosophical!implication:!namely,!that!by!doing!so,!Joyce!brings!the! whole!world!—!with!all!its!values!and!non8values,!with!all!its!sins!and!logic,! mathematical!discoveries!and!brothel!inventories!—!to!the!same!level:!that! he!levels!the!world.!Appropriately,!the!disciplined!schoolboy!mind!and!well8 trained!schoolboy!morality!will!find!this!outrageous:!in!this!frightful!leveling!it! will!necessarily!see!the!death!of!morality!operating!with!intellectual!and!ethi8 cal!ladders!of!distinction.!And!appropriately,!the!psychological!cause!of!all!of! this!is!that!Joyce!wanted!to!be!all!too!logical!and!all!too!saintly,!but!his!morbid! sensuousness!and!boundless!interest!in!nature!have!derailed!him!and!this!de8 railment!provoked!him!to!embittered!wallowing!in!the!resulting!chaos.!That! all! this! may! be! traced! back! to! psychopathological! causes:! so! be! it! —! philo8 sophical! ideas! of! European! significance! have! not! so! far! been! compulsorily! born!in!official!maternity!wards:!any!pathology!or!distortion!can!potentially! bear!life8giving!truth.!And!as!far!as!fear!is!concerned,!let’s!hope!it!will!be!only! the!misprisions!and!inoperative!hierarchies!of!values!that!perish!in!this!new! Joycean! (re)8grouping! —! a! hope! corroborated! by! the! fact! that! we! can! see! phenomena!identical!with!Joyce’s!method!everywhere!from!mathematics!to! natural!history!and!from!psychology!to!photography.!Soon!we!will!have!to!re8 turn!to!one!of!Joyce’s!most!important!aspects,!the!huge!and!independent!role! of! language! in! his! work! (because! Finnegans& Wake! seems! to! be! only! lan8 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 The song Szentkuthy erroneously considers to be a music-hall song appears in “Proteus” and is used by Joyce as an example of seventeenth-century patois; Hungarian translator Endre Gáspár rendered it in contemporary Hungarian slang. ! 132! guage…):4!in!language!it!is!finally!revealed!(for!he!could!most!palpably!man8 age!it!through!language)!how!central!this!leveling!of!all!things!was!among!the! author’s!philosophical!intentions,!to!open!a!perspective!towards!a!new!sys8 tem!of!thought.!Bloom,!the!Holy!Trinity,!the!clumsy!title!of!a!popular!song,!a! Venetian!poster,!the!mother’s!corpse,!a!wrong!horse8race!tip,!Shiva’s!statues! in!India,!a!Hungarian!form!of!greeting!and!Kant’s!monumental!Critiques:!they! almost!make!one!homogeneous!mash!in!the!work!(although!certainly!not!to! the!extent!that!they!do!in!the!later!Finnegans&Wake):!and!this!testifies!to!a! vastly!rich!world!view,!a!doing!away!with!the!erroneous!distinctions,!and!to!a! space!for!thoroughly!free!and!new!orientation.! ! We!will!only!observe!in!passing!(even!if!the!matter!certainly!deserves! emphasis)!that!in!this!flea!market!Joyce!amassed!the!world’s!myriad!gods!and! myriad!offal!so!excessively!that!this!“series”!will!in!the!end!not!impress!one! with!its!sensual!colors!so!much,!but!will!become!an!almost!abstract!ornamen8 tal!system,!as!if!all!amassed!items!were!formulae!or!abstract!motifs.!In!this! aspect! he! is! once! again! closely! related! to! the! fantastic,! verisimilar,! and! ab8 stract!style!of!old!Irish!manuscript!illuminations.!For!this!reason,!the!cloaca! imagery!does!not!offend!decency:!it!is!excessive!to!the!extent!of!being!puri8 fied!into!geometric!or!mathematical!signs.! ! Why! is! language! of! such! tremendous! importance! in! Joyce’s! work?! What!are!the!signs!and!causes!of!this!invention!of!language?!We!may!open! Ulysses! at! a! thousand! places! at! random! (although! here! indeed! our! experi8 mental! text! ought! to! be! Finnegans& Wake)! but! in! the! chapter! that! speaks! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 In his 1935 Towards the One and Only Metaphor, Szentkuthy makes similar claims about Joyce’s (then) Work-in-Progress, calling Joyce’s language “an absolutely biologically determined, involuntary muscle language of the commedia dell’arte” (§68), a sound-language where “a myriad of words are cal- culations of, and a bringing to the surface of, ‘centers of gravity’ … a cross-section of the sound- generating muscles at the point, or in the plane, when they are just midway to the sound, or when they would carry in the same direction beyond the sound” (§93). He glosses on Work-in-Progress, important because it shows language to be a live organism and “sacrosanct imprecision” which can therefore live up to his ideal of a work that is not literature but language inundating and destroying the “book,” writing: “here the writer only wants, or only knows, first and foremost language — though of course such only-language-language is no longer language but something else” (§111). See Miklós Szentkuthy, Towards the One & Only Metaphor, tr. by Tim Wilkinson (New York & Berlin: Contra Mundum Press, 2013). ! 133! about!bronze!and!blond!girls!(in!the!second!half!of!the!first!volume)!the!inspi8 ration!for!linguistic!invention!seems!to!have!been!more!permanently!pressing! than!in!other!places.!Here!Joyce!is!weaving!faraway,!foreign!words!into!each! other,!just!like!a!chemist!mixing!different!substances,!or!a!musician!sounding! different!harmonies!with!different!sounds.!For!is!this!word8chemistry!not!the& best!illustration!of!that!leveling!of!the!world,!of!the!dissolution!of!rigid!con8 ceptual!boundaries?! ! Joyce! is! full! of! inarticulate! onomatopoeia,! of! sound8effects:! nervous! hypersensitivity!cannot!let!go!of!these!(just!as!hallucinatory!nightmare!never! forgets!them):!he!knows!that!a!far8off!car8horn!can!be!as!decisive!for!our!des8 tiny!as!the!words!of!revelation!on!Mount!Sinai;!besides,!there!is!a!lot!of!irony! at!the!unjustified!complacency!of!logicians!and!rationalists.!Joyce!relishes!fet8 ish!objects,!his!color!sensitivity!is!likably!morbid,!his!penchant!for!sound!ef8 fects!unquestionable.! ! Joyce!is:!profoundly,!romantically,!with!a!Celtic!abandon!and!suffused! with!the!idea!of!French!poésie&pure:!a!poet.!He!keeps!going!back!to!the!pri8 mordial!source!of!language,!of!song,!of!word8formation,!of!pure!verbal!music! (to! Ariel’s! ding8dong!)! with! everlasting! homesickness.! One! cannot! help! ob8 serving! how! excessively! this! mere! fact! separates! Joyce,! this! “water! closet8 mole,”!from!the!common!naturalists!of!the!fin;de;siècle:!that!he!should!feel! like!singing!(literally!)!like!a!summertime!bird!in!the!blue!summer!sky.! ! Let’s!not!forget!that!Joyce!is!a!genuine!and!consummately!trained!mu8 sician!(not!a!mere!amateur):!in!his!word8blending!he!has!an!eye!on!the!inter8 mingling!voices!of!Bach’s!fugues,!and!he!handles!the!odd!syllable,!adjective,! or!image!with!a!contrapuntal!rigor!as!if!he!had!to!pass!an!exam!in!counter8 point!at!some!18th8century!music!academy.! ! But!Joyce!is!also!a!nihilist:!and!when!he!tears!words!apart!and!glues! the! cat’s! ear! to! the! dog’s! paw,! or! has! a! snatch! of! a! Mozart! opera! libretto! come!to!life!as!a!real!person,!he!wants!to!show!this:!that!our!whole!thinking!is! exactly!such!paranoia,!that!the!grand!raison!of!Descartes!is!no!more!than!the! ! 134! contortions!of!the!apoplectic!tongue!of!an!idiotic,!degenerate!animal!species.! He!is!expiating!for!the!Blooms!! ! Joyce!is!a!practical,!commonsensical!Englishman!who!simply!registers! that!in!day8to8day!life!the!everyday!man’s!head!is!teeming!with!exactly!these! type!of!sentence!fragments!and!half8words:!he!had!no!intention!in!the!world! to!make!up!surrealist!jokes!or!theories!(the!two!are!one):!he!was!merely!cash8 ing!in!a!banal!observation!in!his!work!grappling!with!Banality.! ! How!congenial!is!this!technique!of!word8melting!with!the!method!of! drawing!that!we!can!encounter!all!the!time!in!the!works!of!Joyce’s!contempo8 raries!! There! the! artist,! possessed! by! a! lust! for! calligraphy,! does! not! lift! his! pen!off!the!paper,!so!the!most!distant!objects!get!somehow!connected,!yet! their!contiguity!is!highly!justified!—!a!vase’s!shadow!runs!smoothly!over!into! the!headline!letter!of!a!newspaper!lying!beside,!only!to!meander!forth!into!a! table!leg!and!eventually!die!as!a!swivel8eyed!damsel’s!toothpick8like!eyelash.! What!is!Joyce’s!language!if!not!this?!We!have!no!intention!to!let!the!compari8 son!with!the!visual!arts!go!beyond!its!legitimate!boundary,!but!we!may!per8 haps!whisper!in!a!parenthesis!that!another!thing!reminiscent!of!Joyce!is!that! we!can!see!so!often,!in!the!work!of!the!selfsame!artist,!the!“distorted”!and! the!Hellenistically!beautiful!side!by!side!in!the!most!physiological!proximity.! Isn’t!this!perhaps!a!Joycean!world!as!well:!where!he!wants!to!caricature!the! stupidest!and!sloppiest!Victorian!girlhood!in!Gerty!—!and!the!result?!Unwit8 tingly,!the!poetic!world!of!an!Emily!Brontë!creeps!into!her!(just!as!embryos! are!seen!side!by!side!with!the!figures!of!Greek!vases!on!Parisian!drawings…)!! ! This! language,! besides! exemplifying! the! dissolution! of! death! among! other!things,!is!at!the!same!time!the!carnal!voluptuousness!of!narcissists:!de8 cidedly,! it! has! something! of! Joyce’s! boundless! (albeit! timid)! eroticism:! it! is! sound8perversion!and!word8promiscuity.!It!is!all!the!more!conspicuous!that,! because!of!the!grand!promiscuity!the!words!keep!fraying!and!exchanging!in! the!aftermath!of!sensuous!decomposition!until!they!finally!become,!through! phenomena!we!have!previously!alluded!to:!abstract,!and!Abstract!Ornament! ! 135! emerges,! only! for! letting! an! entirely! unexpected! permutation! project! the! rocket!of!entirely!unexpected!images!in!front!of!our!eyes!the!next!instant.! ! We!know!all!too!well!—!and!so!does!Joyce!—!that!the!sciences!of!the! old!times!firmly!believed!that!everything!in!the!world!moves!towards!some! “finality”:!but!many!have!lost!their!feeling!for!such!a!world!view!—!and!often! this! entire! Joycean! word8sporing! with! its! whole! groundlessness! and! infinity! wants!to!express!nothing!else!but!the!sporing!futility,!the!disorderly,!vegetal! growing! into! nothingness,! of! existence! at! large:! we! may! see! a! fin;de;siècle! impasse!yawning!in!these!directionless!word8colonies!resembling!tumescent! bacterial!growths.! ! And!what!shall!we!mention!last!but!not!least!in!the!process!of!taking! Joyce’s!language!apart!to!its!components?!The!same!thing!we!have!discussed! at!the!beginning!of!our!analysis:!let’s!keep!walking!on!with!Alice!in!Wonder8 land,!whistling!the!ding8dang8dong!march!and!other!nonsense!rhymes!to!the! hobbyhorse,!because!Joyce’s!language!is,!in!its!deepest!root!and!its!ultimate! flowering,!after!all:!one!gigantic,!fairy8tale8like!pun.! *! We! must! undoubtedly! be! grateful! to! Endre! Gáspár! for! his! titanic! venture! because!for!the!highest!poetic!ambition!it!is!an!adventure!on!a!par!with!the! voyage!to!the!moon,!to!render!Ulysses&in!Hungarian,!with!all!the!precision!of! its! contents! and! in! all! its! poetic,! imagistic,! word8coining! and! versifying8 rhythmic! richness.! Endre! Gáspár! has! in! any! event! given! a! Ulysses! which! everyone!can!read!in!such!a!way!that,!closing!the!book:!they!can!understand! what!the!true!European!significance!of!this!work!is,!what!its!particular!formal! and!linguistic!features!are.!We!can!almost!feel!a!young!explorer’s!adolescent! daredevilry! throughout! the! two! volumes:! it! is! like! when! somebody! who! is! very!knowledgeable!about!geograpy,!armed!with!the!best!maps!available,!has! still!no!inkling,!beyond!geography,!about!the!dangers!and!risks!awaiting!him!in! the!jungle.!We!cannot!expect!the!impossible!from!Endre!Gáspár:!he!could!not! possibly!have!kept!up,!throughout!the!two!colossal!volumes,!with!the!word8 ! 136! coinage,! wordplays,! recondite! allusion,! pervasive! flirtation! with! verse,! with! the!syntax8distorting!daring,!imagery8madness!and!sound8magicianship.!For,! if! we! were! to! deal! the! cards! of! Ulysses! particularly! steeped! in! word8music,! wordplay,!and!language8fantasy!one!by!one,!as!we!have!done!with!Baudelaire! and!Meredith!in!times!past,!one!Hungarian!poet!would!have!his!work!cut!out! for!weeks!on!end!on!half!a!page.!In!spite!of!all!this,!Endre!Gáspár!managed!to! make!this!book,!clinging!with!every!root!to!the!English!poetic!language,!a!part! of! Hungarian! literature! —! if! not! quite! in! a! re8creation! of! magic! powers,! at! least!in!a!surprisingly!good!photographic!image.!He!might!have!followed!as!a! kind! of! ideal! model,! Kosztolányi’s! translation! of! Alice& in& Wonderland,! Évike& Tündérországban:5!we!are!only!elevating!Endre!Gáspár!in!rank!if!we!enlist!a! few!marginalia!against!this!background.!There!is!probably!no!need!to!mention! that!all!examples!must!necessarily!be!symbolic,!a!few!shells!fished!from!the! ocean!at!the!cost!of!great!adventure,!which!can!nevertheless!be!held!as!highly! representative!of!the!seas’!complex!fauna.! ! We!will!obviously!open!the!book!at!the!particularly!musical!chapter!of! the!golden8haired!and!bronze8ondulating!lambs!!(The!first!number!stands!for! the!page!numbers!of!the!Hungarian!Ulysses,!the!one!in!brackets!refers!to!the! English! edition6! —! “Blew.! Blue! bloom”:! “kékvirág! az! aranytornyos! hajban”! [blue8flower! in! gold8pinned8up! (lit.,! towered8up)! hair]! —! why! does! it! renounce!the!music!of!threefold!blue,!especially!as!it!also!plays!on!the!hero’s! name?! I.205! (245).7! —! Why! is! the! word! smack! translated! as! “cseng”! [ring]! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 Modernist Hungarian poet Dezső Kosztolányi’s 1913 dispatching of Alice in Wonderland, Évike Tündérországban [Little Eve in Fairyland] is one of the most well-known and successful examples of cultural translation in Hungarian; not only did Kosztolányi thoroughly adapt the cultural references of the original, but he also changed the meters of the original’s verse into meters and cadences known from 19th-century Hungarian poetry, with frequent allusions to domestic literary history. 6 Szentkuthy is referring to Endre Gáspár’s translation: Ulysses, ibid., and to James Joyce, Ulysses (Paris: Shakespeare & Co, 1930). 7 Szentkuthy is here conflating two lines from the opening “Overture” of “Sirens,” where the verb “blew” is echoing the previous line, “A husky fifenote blew,” and the phrase “blue bloom is on the…” echoes a song, “blue bloom is on the rye”: “Blew. Blue bloom is on the. / Goldpinnacled hair.” In the Hungarian version, we find “Fütyülte: Kékvirág az. / Aranytornyos hajban,” with an iambic-trochaic lilt (I.205). Since the name of the protagonist cannot be changed, the only way to approximate the musical effect of the original is to exploit homophony on “Bloom” in Hungarian — the way chosen by Szentkuthy in his own translation, where he considerably expands the original’s wording, to ! 137! (although!“csupp”![onom.]!is!also!supplied!—!when!in!English!there!is!a!single! word)! —! in! terms! of! sound! it! is! such! a! far! cry.! Besides,! jingle! and! smack! cannot!both!be!“cseng”!I.205!(245).8!—!“A!sail!!A!veil!awave!upon!the!waves”! —!the!Hungarian!sentence!with!“lengő!fátyol”![floating!veil]!does!not!achieve! the!luxurious!richness!of!the!“e”!and!“w”!sounds!I.205!(245).9!—!On!the!other! hand,!the!bold,!independent!supplanting!of!words!is!always!good,!for!instance! in! “Horn.! Hawhorn”! —! “Feláll.! Felámfel”! [(he/it)! stands! up.! Up! indeed! up.]! I.205!(245)!—!For!“!full!tup,”!“!fekvés”![lying]!is!not!ideal.!The!English!word!is! short,!more!erotic,!and!rougher,!too,!as!it!means!a!ram,!butting,!mounting.!It! is!conspicuous!why!more!is!given!than!in!Joyce’s!original,!on!page!I.221!(263):! Joyce! uses! the& same& word& “tup”! three! times,! which! the! translator! renders! with! three! different,! only! onomatopoeic! words:! “tipp,! topp,! tapp.”10! —! A! general!characteristic!of!the!translation!text!is!that!the!intentionally!stutter8 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! match the meter of Hungarian folk songs, and resorts to German: “Rekedt sipszó fuvola. Blaue Blume ibolya. / Ibolya. Bloom a blumex. / Aranyhajak piramisán.” [Husky whistle-sound flute. Blaue Blume violet. / Violet. Bloom the blumex. / On golden hairs’ pyramid: Szentkuthy 1974/315]. 8 In the “Sirens” Overture, “jingle jingle jaunted jingling” is the Leitmotif announcing Blazes Boylan’s carriage and, ultimately, the arrival of the character – in Gáspár’s Hungarian, “csilingelő csengő csendült” [ringing bell jingled]. The “smack,” two lines below, prefigures Miss Douce’s snapping of her garters against her thigh on Lenehan’s bidding — “Smack…Thigh smack”; this in Gáspár, “Csupp, cseng… Comb cseng” [against the onomatopoeic word “cupp,” closer to “smack”]. 9 “Vitorla! Lengő fátyol libeg habokon” (I.205). In Szentkuthy’s version, the phrase is considerably expanded, its rhythm and internal rhymes more conspicuous: “Vitorla száll! Fehér szála száll a han- ton, habokon” [A veil flies! Its white thread flies over mounds, waves: 316] — where for the sake of euphony, semantically jarring words are played upon: the holorhyme “szála / száll a” turns veil into something in the form of a thread, & the sea has mounds (in Hungarian used for graves specifically). 10 The “Overture’s” “Full tup. Full throb” in Gáspár: “Teli fekvés. Teli lüktetés.” The line probably prefigures a passage on Simon Dedalus’s singing of an aria from Martha in full throbbing tones; whereas Gáspár’s translation renders only the musical valences (fekvés referring to the pitch of the tone), Szentkuthy’s translation will prioritize the strong sexual overtones: “Párzó pukkan hímje hág” [(the one) copulating pops, (her) male tups: 316]. The three “Tups” referred to feature in the epi- sode’s probably most intensely erotic passage, coinciding with the soaring sounds of the aria: “Flood of warm jamjam lickitup secretness flowed to flow in music out, in desire, dark to lick flow invading. Tipping her tepping her tapping her topping her. Tup. Pores to dilate dilating. Tup. The joy the feel the warm the. Tup. To pour o’er sluices pouring gushes. Flood, gush, flow, joygush, tupthrob. Now! Language of love.” These three “tups” are rendered by Gáspár, as if not continuing but (dis)articulating the “Tipping her…” sentence: “Tapintani, tapogatni, tépegetni, tiporgatni [(to) feel, (to keep) finger(ing), tear(ing), stomp(ing)/vex(ing)]. Tipp... Topp… Tapp” (I.221). The three monosyllables seem clipped rather than full words (although the combination of the first two is used for “tip-top”) and only the last has overt sexual connotations. In his own turn, Szentkuthy — whose rendering of the passage is a belle infidèle where the musical effects and erotic overtones are maximal- ized — employs the verb “nyomd” (imperative: push/press, low coll.: copulate): 340. ! 138! ing,! dissolving,! Shakespearean8arrhythmically! interrupted! “Satanic! Morse”! sentences!are:!smoothed!out,!dressed!in!a!bourgeois!uniform,!tamed!into!re8 spectable,! rule8abiding,! orderly8novelistic! form.! Where! there! are! three! “as! she…!—!as!she…!—!as!she…”!phrases!“fooling”!along!the!sentence,!there!the! translator! uses! a! “normal”! speech8pattern,! wrecking! the! squinty8eyed! thing! into! cleverness! I.207! (247),! or! I.220! (2628263):! with! the! play! on! “from! the! each…! —! to! from! both.”11! ―! “Flower! frowning”:! word8music! and! rhythm8 irony! get! lost! in! the! sobered8up! Hungarian! sentence! I.207! (247).12! —! And! where! is! the! poetry,! the! poetry?! In! English:! “bronze! from! anear,! gold! from! afar”!—!the!Hungarian!“bronz!közelről!és!arany!messziről”!is!a!mere!skeleton! of!content!of!this!most!musical!line!I.207!(247).13!And!why!did!“deep!bronze! laughter”!suddenly!become!“aranynevetés”![goldlaughter]!in!Hungarian?!—!If! in!English!they!talk!about!the!figure!of!simple&Simon,!in!Hungarian!one!would! also!expect!some!Dugó&Dani8like!alliteration!and!fairy!tale!or!children’s!book! character!I.209!(250).14!—!Let!the!poet!be!sensitive!to!each!and!every!nuance! —! and! so! not! be! content! with! greying! the! deviant8pathetic! word! order! of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 The sentence Szentkuthy refers to (with an error): “Imperthnthn thnthnthn, bootssnout sniffed rudely, as he retreated as she threatened as he had come.” In Gáspár: “Imperthnthn thnthnth — szipogott szolga durván, miközben a nő fenyegetése közben visszavonult, ahogyan jött” [... — sniffed (the) servant rudely, while he withdrew while the woman was threatening, as he had come]. In Szentkuthy: “Impertinens inens inens — csúfolódott a pimasz pincér, amikor eltakarodott, amikor bronzavonz megfenyegette, amikor nekiindult” [... mocked the brash waiter, when he cleared out, when bronzebygold threatened him, when he set out: 318]. The second sentence plays with clipped echoes from the aria from Martha (“When first I saw that form endearing / Sorrow from me seemed to depart”): “Good, good to hear: sorrow from them each seemed to from both depart when first they heard.” In Gáspár (echoing “Midőn először láttam szép alakját / Szivemből minden bú kiszállt”): “…minden bú mintha mindkettőjük szivéből kiszállt volna, mikor először hallották” [as though all sorrow from both their hearts had flown out, when they first heard it: I.320] there are indeed no grammatical entanglements, although the echoes are conspicuous. Szentkuthy’s own ver- sion, surprisingly, irons out the phrase that faintly recalls the rather un-operatic translation of the verses entirely: “…mintha nekik mindnyájuknak búcsút intett volna minden bánat első hallomásra” [as though to all of them all sorrow had waved good-bye at a first hearing: 339]. 12 “On her flower frowning miss Douce said” — in Gáspár: “Komoran nézett Miss Douce a virágjára és szólt” [M. Douce looked glumly on her flower and said]. In Szentkuthy: “Virágravigyázva mondta Miss Douce” [nonce: flower-watching-over said M. Douce: 318]. 13 Szentkuthy’s intensely musical phrase has become one of the signatures of his Ulysses: “bronzavonz és kéjarany” [her-bronze-attracts and bliss-gold: 317]. 14 Since the name of the character referred to (Simon Dedalus) cannot be changed, such procedure becomes problematic. Gáspár translates “content,” rendering Joyce’s “simple” as “ártatlan” [inno- cent]. Szentkuthy comes up with a flamboyant solution, “Szent Szimplex Simon” [Holy Simplex Simon: 322] — at odds with the alleged simplicity the character claims. ! 139! “Miss!Douce!made!answer”!into!this!pious!story8telling!phrase:!“felelte!Miss! Douce”![answered!Miss!Douce]!I.209!(250).!—!“Alacrity!she!served”:!this!is!by! no!means!matched!in!poetry,!content!and!grammar!by!“express!szolgálták!ki”! [(he)! was! served! express! (i.e.,! very! fast)].! Alacrity! has! become! here! an! allegorical! figure! —! noun,! abstraction,! subject! beside! the! drunken! subject! she,!in!scatter8brained!coordination! —!all!this!is!lost!in!the!bourgeois8ifying! Hungarian!reform!school!I.209!(250).!—!Something!similar!befell!the!precious! music!and!artificial!balderdash!of!“None!not!said!nothing”:!“senki!sem!szólt! semmit”! [nobody! said! anything]! —! who! can! dream! back! the! mellifluous! English!stupidity!from!this!“well8kempt”!Hungarian!sentence?!I.29!(251)!—!An! article! “a”! [the]! will! kill! the! Dadaist,! telegraphic! staccatoing,! idiotic! torso8 shape! of! the! English! sentence,! when! “heard! not! seen”! is! turned! into! “a! hallott,!de!nem!látott”![the!(thing)!heard,!but!not!seen]!I.210!(251).!—!A!poet! worth! his! salt! cannot! translate! “jingle! jaunty! jingle”! with! the! one! word! “csengő”![n.!bell,!adj.!ringing]!I.210!(251).!—!If!the!second!subject,!she!is!left! out! of! “Girlgold! she! read”! and! there! remains! only! “Lányarany! olvasott”! [girlgold!read]!—!then!where!can!we!find!the!creation!of!syntax!so!much!bred! in!the!bone!of!Joyce,!from!which!Finnegans&Wake!will!be!born?!(and!which! the!translator!in!his!introduction!had!twice!left!in!the!form!Finnigans!in!the! galley!proofs?)!I.210!(251).!—!The!same!case!again:!“Take!no!notice”!—!this! sentence!cannot!be!consolidated!into!the!shape!“nem!vette!tudomásul”![he! took!no!notice!of]!—!something!more!foolish!is!needed!here!I.210!(251).!And! its!pendant:!“He!see.”!This!is!not!“Elképzelte”![he!imagined]!—!in!Hungarian,! too,! one! must! conjugate! this! defectively!! Of! course! sometimes! it! is! more! difficult!to!speak!in!art!in!an!defective!way!than!to!speak!in!the!conventional! narrative!mode!I.211!(252).!—!If!the!English!text!plays!twice!with!the!word! “pressed…! pressed,”! this! ought! to! have! been! mirrored! in! the! Hungarian! as! well,! yet! this! wordplay! is! left! out! there,! just! as! the! euphonious! music! and! clown’s!grammar!of!“of!keys!to!sees”!is!glossed!over!I.211!(252).!—!In!a!single! musing!of!Bloom,!“Innocence!that!is”!there!is!encapsulated!grammatically!all! the! yawning! vulgarity! of! these! plaster8nonentities! —! but! if! we! translate! it! simply! with! “az! ártatlanság”! [(it! is)! innocence! /! the! innocence],! the! filthy! ! 140! street8smell! of! language! is! lost! I.211! (253).! —! A! poet! cannot! be! content! to! leave! in! Hungarian! the! bare! “csak! hozzád?”! [to! you! only?]! when! in! English! there!is!a!colorful!saying,!“the!only!pebble!on!the!beach”!I.211!(253).!—!There! are!omissions:!from!“a!rose!that!sank!and!rose”!the!punning!relative!coordi8 nate!clause!is!erased!I.213!(255).15!—!Later!somewhere!in!the!grand!revelry! the!translator!forgot!about!“when!for!Irelandear”!II.34!(404);16!from!the!cate8 chism,!too,!a!question!is!missing!II.221!(649),17!and!from!Mrs.!Bloom’s!vomit! of!associations,!“the!rock!of!Gibraltar”!is!absent!II.285!(724)!—!which!are!in8 significant!things!naturally,!but!such!is!philology…!—!In!the!scene!preceding! the!great!dramatic!vision!the!translator!deserves!all!our!admiration:!whatever! he!could!scrap!together!of!underworld!cant!he!heaped!up!here.18!It!is!ques8 tionable!of!course!if!for!the!half8English,!half8Latin!hissing,!“scintillant!circum8 ambient! cessile! air,”! “csillogó,! körülködő,! simogató! levegő”! [shining,! (nonce& coinage)! surrounding,! stroking! air]! is! adequate?! II.32! (402).19! —! For! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 “Bronzedouce communing with her rose that sank and rose sought Blazes Boylan’s flower and eyes”: in Gáspár we find the mutilated phrase, “Bronzdouce, rózsájával beszélgetve, Blazes Boylan virágát és szemét kereste” [B., talking with her rose, sought B.B.’s flower and eyes]. Szentkuthy will turn out a singsong phrase with an extra innuendo slipped in: “Bronzadouce a rózsájával sugdolózva, rózsa hull, és melle áll, Bagzó Boylan virágát és szemét kereste” [Her-bronze-douce, whispering with her rose, rose falls, her breast stands, sought Blazes Boylan’s flower and eye: 329]. 16 The (clipped) phrase echoing the refrain of God Save Ireland occurs in the Coda to “Oxen of the Sun”: “Whether on the scaffold high, / Or the battlefield we die, / Oh, no matter when for Ireland dear we fall!” The passage is one of the novel’s most multi-layered parts, where echoes from this Irish rebel song, serving as unofficial anthem, are grafted onto the b-alliterative list mentioned be- low, onto the mongrelized rhythms of an American Civil War marching song, and steeped in patois: “Whether on the scaffold high. Beer, beef, trample the bibles. When for Irelandear. Trample the trampellers. Thunderation! Keep the durned millingtary step. We fall. Bishops boosebox. Halt!” Gáspár indeed forgets the second clipped quote, only rendering the first two — that can be clearly recognized as coming from the anthem: “Szeretve mind a vérpadig… Elesünk.” Szentkuthy, howev- er, chooses in his own translation to subject the verses to such transmogrification as to become vir- tually indistinguishable from the surrounding jumble of drunken stuttering and cant: “Ha a vérpad magasán… Ó, Irlanda Miranda teérted én… Zanyád elesünk” [Whether on the scaffold high… O Irlanda Miranda for thee I… Eff we fall: 527]. 17 The short missing question-and-answer from “Ithaca,” after Stephen sings Bloom a grossly anti- Semitic ballad: “Why was the host (reluctant, unresisting) still? / In accordance with the law of the conservation of energy.” 18 Szentkuthy is referring to the ending — or Coda — of “Oxen of the Sun,” that Joyce himself characterized as a “frightful jumble of Pidgin English, nigger English, Cockney, Irish, Bowery slang and broken doggerel” in a 1920 letter to Frank Budgen. 19 The Latinate “hissing,” in a late-19th century style parody of “Oxen of the Sun,” is transformed by Szentkuthy into the mellifluous alliterative, and thoroughly domesticated sequence, “levegő… lebegő, mindent ölelő, létet lehelő levegő” [air... hovering, all-embracing, life-breathing air: 525]. ! 141! “scholarment”!a!funnier!word!ought!to!be!found!than!“tudomány”!![science]:! and! for! “daddies”! a! more! tumbling! one! than! “mester”! [master],! whereas! “dead”!might!have!been!left!as!“dög”![carcass]!and!for!“gasteropod”!a!mock8 scientific! word! should! have! been! supplied! in! Hungarian,! too,! instead! of! “csiga”![snail].20!“Copulation”!with!“population”!is!pure!rhyme,!it!cannot!be! supplanted! by! the! thinner! ersatz8material! of! “nemi! élet! nemzés! nélkül”! [sexual!life!without!conception],21!and!much!less!can!the!rhymes!of!Diet!and! Quiet!be!supplanted!by!“Diéta”!and!“Nyugalom”![diet!and!calm]!!We!do!not! even!dare!to!ask!how!could!“borjúszelet”![vealcut]!have!slipped!in!in!place!of! beefsteak?! Nothing! remains! of! the! alliterating! play! of! “truce…! threnes…! trentals,”! neither! does! the! adjective! “congenital”! get! a! sibling! in! Hungarian! II.33!(403).22!—!If!drunken!beasts!speak!in!English!in!a!lingo!like,!“Sorra!one!o! me! knows,”! why! then! do! they! utter! in! Hungarian! such! officially! ironed8out! sentences!like,!“Sajnálom,!nem!tudom”![I’m!sorry,!I!don’t!know]?!II.33!(403).23! No!error!can!be!found!there!where!instead!of!the!simpler!word!“drunkard”! the!Hungarian!has!“betangózott”![tangoed8in:!drunk]:!this!should!have!been! done!much!more!often!II.33!(403).!—!But!“lámpavilág”![lamplight]!is!indeed! too!weak!for!“bleeding!limelight”!II.33!(403).24!—!The!b8alliterations!are!run8 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 The terms from the end of “Oxen,” in Szentkuthy’s own translation: “tudóskodás” [“scholar-ing”] “apuka” [daddy], for “dead gasteropod”: “döglött tömlőállat” [dead (nonce) coelenterata]. 21 The indignant “Oxen” outcry, “Copulation without population!” is rendered verbatim by Szentkuthy: “Kopuláció mínusz populáció!” (526) 22 The sentence referred to, from the end of “Oxen”: “A truce to threnes and trentals and jeremies and all such congenital defunctive music!” In Gáspár’s translation Bible echoes are harnessed: “Legyen vége már a jajgatásnak és nyöszörgésnek és siralomnak és az egész hullaházi zenének” [let there finally be an end to the wailing and moaning and lamentation and to the whole morgue music]; Szentkuthy’s own translation also does not preserve alliteration, but its word choice is more outlandish: “Pokolba gyászdalokkal és harminc gyászmisékkel, jeremiádákkal és az összes hasonszőrű örökletes sirámokkal” [to hell with all the threnodies and thirty funeral masses each, with the jeremiads and all similar hereditary laments: 526]. 23 The sentence is from the “Oxen” Coda: in Szentkuthy’s own rendering, answering a salacious question if the speaker had any “gumboots” [preservatives] for the ladies, the phrase is, “Pardon szenyóra ha neked nem tudok” [pardon me senora if I cannot (give) you: 526]. 24 The phrase “Righto, Isaacs, shove ‘em out of the bleeding limelight” is rendered by Gáspár, “Jól van, cimbora, seperd ki őket a lámpavilágból” [All right, buddy, sweep them out of the lamplight: 33], and by Szentkuthy — preserving more of the urban lingo, “Te Izsák, rámold le ő ket a térképről!” [Hey Isaac, clear them off the map! 527]. ! 142! ning! spiffingly! in! the! passage,! “Bor,! borjú,! biblia”! [wine,! calf,! Bible]! II.34! (404),25!and!it!can!also!be!seen!that!the!translator!is!a!linguist,!for!he!would! not!have!otherwise!translated!“orchidized”!as!“testikulált”![playing!on!testicle! and!testált:!left!to!sy.!in!testament]:!II.34!(404).26!—!Why!should!“lighthouse”! be!dwarfed!in!the!vision!into!“lámpa”![lamp]?!II.38!(408)!—!And!immediately! afterwards,!the!“!Mollyka!—!illik!a...”!verses!are!very!successful![as!opposed,! for!instance,!to!I.173!(207)!where!lines!3!and!4...].27!Once!again!the!translator! was!content!with!very!little!when!the!meagre!“kar”![arm]!remains!of!“snag8 gletusks.”!Where!is!the!stump?!Where!is!the!tusk?!And!what!about!the!other! possibilities! for! image! and! music?! II.39! (410)! —! And! he! spoils! the! rhythm! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 25 The English list of “British Beatitudes” from the end of “Oxen of the Sun”: “Beer, beef, business, bibles, bulldogs, battleships, buggery and bishops.” Gáspár’s list, admired by Szentkuthy, has a few surprising elements: “Bor, borjú, biblia, bulldog, butykos, balhé, baseva, bugris” [wine, calf, bible, bulldog, jug, (sl.) quarrel, fiddling, bumpkin] — baseva is a loan-word from the Gypsy language for music-making, the folksy word for jug would connote the Irish “cruiskeen lawn” rather than the col- onizer. Szentkuthy’s own list, thirty years later, displays “Bor, bika, biznissz, biblosz, bulldog, boldog buzilika” [wine, bull, business, byblos, bulldog, happy faggot’s hole: 527] — where the last syntagm plays on bazilika: basilica, and the rude term for homosexual. 26 The savoury sequence from the “Oxen” Coda: “Jesified, orchidised, polycimical jesuit!” — in Gáspár’s Hungarian: “Jézusított, testikulált, poloskásított jezsuita!” [Jesus-sed, testicled / left-by- testament, be-bugged Jesuit: 34]; in Szentkuthy’s: “Jezifikált orchideált policinikus jezsuita” (528) the Hungarian reader is left to back-translate the seemingly respectable (mock-) Latinisms to reveal their salacious meaning. 27 The first rhyme referred to is from the beginning of “Circe”: “I gave it to Molly / Because she was jolly, / The leg of the duck, / The leg of the duck.” This, in Gáspár’s holorhymed version: “Szép leány a Mollyka, / Kis kezébe illik a / Kacsaláb, / Kacsaláb” [Fair girl is little Molly, / Into her small hands fits the / duck’s leg / duck’s leg: II.39], which starts with a childish-Biedermeier touch joking- ly counteracted by the silly rhyme, to slip in the sexual innuendo in verses 3–4. Szentkuthy’s version is far more explicit than the original: “Kapd be, Molly, / Ha szeretsz vihogni, / A kacsapöcsenyét, / A kacsapöcsenyét” [appr., grab it / take it into your mouth, Molly / if you like chortling, / the duck undercut, / the duck undercut: 534] — where the first verb has salacious overtones and “kacsapöcsönye” functions like a winking portmanteau that combines the word for roast duck, un- dercut: “pecsenye” (possibly in a regional accent) and “pöcs,” (mild) slang for penis. The second rhyme Szentkuthy singles out appears at the end of “Scylla and Charybdis” and is Mulligan’s mock- pretentious, clowning attack on onanists: its first four lines read, “I hardly hear the purlieu cry / Or a Tommy talk as I pass one by / Before my thoughts begin to run / On F. M’Curdy Atkinson.” Gáspár’s Hungarian text, considerably slangier than the original, faithfully reproduces the silly rhyme on the name: “Ha link dumát élvez fülem, / Vagy a strigókat figyelem, / Mindig eszembe jut azonnal, / Hogy mi van M’Cardy Atkinsonnal” [If my ears enjoy lousy bunkum, /Or I am watching pimps/ it always occurs to me immediately/ what’s up with M’Cardy Atkinson]. Arguably, the lengthening of verse 4 — an error of versification — also underlines the maladroit rhyme and there- fore, the effect of (volitional) stylistic awkwardness. Szentkuthy’s version skillfully marries the mock-pretentious tone with humorous urban lingo, his smoothly artificial rhymes suggest a cabaret comic feat, or silly music-hall song: “Nem hallom a külvárost jajongni, / Nem bánom, mit beszél a Tommy, / már én inkább gondolkozom / F. M’Curdy Atkinsonon” [I don’t hear the outskirts moaning, / I care not what talks the Tommy, / For I rather keep thinking / About M’Curdy Atkin- son: 266]. ! 143! again:! “chuckling,! chortling,! trumming,! twanging”! —! “kuncogva,! krákogva,! dobogva,!dübörögve”!—!why!should!he!place!a!four8syllable!word!last?!II.47! (422).!—!And!yet,!what!great!jokes!and!rhythms!he!succeeds!in!creating!now! and!again!—!the!Sindbad!jokes!at!the!end!of!the!catechism!are!almost!more! amusing!than!in!English!!II.258!(693)28!—!The!lengthy!style!parodies,!whether! in!the!vein!of!Dickens,!Scott,!or!Ossian,!he!also!reproduces!well:!excellent!sen8 tences!in!the!part!about!the!maternity!II.2!(367).!—!But!it!cannot!be!called!a! felicitous!joke!when!he!translates!“communion”!as!“úrvacsora”![Prot.,!lord’s! supper]:! how! does! this! expression! end! up! in! the! Catholic! mass?! I.62! (77).! Accordingly,! he! of! course! renders! “communion! cup”! as! “úrvacsorakehely”! [lord’s! supper! cup]! I.62! (78).! —! Aquinas! is! only! known! by! that! name! in! English:! in! Hungarian,! he! is! Aquinói! —! of! course! if! the! translator! has! employed! this! form! as! a! volitional! play! with! language,! we! can! have! no! objections!I.38!(47).!—!On!the!other!hand,!why!does!he!say!“kukuk”!in!place! of!the!English!“cuckoo”?!Isn’t!“kakuk”!closer!to!Hungarian?!For,!as!a!proof!of! how!much!“kukuk”!fails!to!connote!the!cuckolded!husband!for!the!Hungarian! reader,!he!smuggles!an!explanatory!sentence!into!the!original!text,!with!quite! unexpected!abruptness:!“az!úr!felszarvazott!férj,!azaz!kukuk”![the!gentleman! is!a!cuckolded!husband,!that&is,!cuckoo]!I.310!(365).!This!pedagogical!“that!is”! is!a!little!too!much!of!a!good!thing.!—!One!more!thing:!Mrs.!Bloom!is!quoting,! half8awake,!a!Keats!verse,!“a!thing!of!beauty!is!a!joy!for!ever”!—!wouldn’t!it! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 28 Szentkuthy is referring to the alliterative catalogue at the end of “Ithaca”: Bloom slowly falling asleep, as “he has travelled. — With? — Sinbad the Sailor and Tinbad the Tailor and Jinbad the Jailer and Whinbad the Whaler and Ninbad the Nailer and Finbad the Failer and Binbad the Bailer and Pinbad the Pailer and Minbad the Mailer and Hinbad the Hailer and Rinbad the Railer and Dinbad the Kailer and Vinbad the Quailer and Linbad the Yailer and Xinbad the Phthailer.” These become in Gáspár’s Hungarian, with the adding of the suffix –arász/erész for deriving the names of professions, the colorful list of nonce trades “Szinbád a Tengerész és Tinbád a Szekerész és Csinbád a Cserepész és Binbád a Betegész és Kinbád a Kegyszerész és Linbád a Levelész és Finbád a Fellegész és Sinbád a Seregész és Dinbád a Dereglyész és Ginbád a Gereblyész és Hinbád a Hengerész és Vinbád a Verebész és Minbád a Melegész és Csinbád a Csenevész és Enbád az Egerész” [S. the Sailor and T. the Wagon-ist and Cs. the Rooftile-ist and B. the Patient-ist and K. the Relique-ist and L. the Letter-ist and F. the Cloud-ist and S. the Troops-ist and D. the Boat-ist and G. the Rake-ist and H. the Cylinder-ist and V. the Sparrow-ist and M. the Warm(th)-ist and Cs. the Sickly and E. the Mouse-ing/ist]. The last two terms of this resourceful catalogue of singsong nonce-words are playful red herrings, as the penultimate word, with the same ending, is no noun referring to a profession but an adjective, whereas the last item is a noun/adjective referring to a wid range of mouse-catching animals. ! 144! have! been! better! to! render! the! English! text! with! a! clichéd! poetic! phrase,! verse8quotation! in! Hungarian?! II.285! (724).! At! another! place,! quoting! Mac; beth,!they!talk!about!“multitudinous!vomit”:!here,!too,!a!Hungarian!snatch!of! a!poem,!worn!to!clichéd!phrase,!should!have!been!used!I.!174!(208).! —!Or! with!the!fragment!of!song!“John!Eglinton,!my!jo,!John”:!all!Englishmen!know! this! Burns! poem,! here! a! similarly! widely! known! Petőfi! poem! or! folk! song! should!have!been!employed,!to!elicit!the!effect!of!the!English!original!I.172! (206).!—!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Miklós Szentkuthy, “James Joyce: Summa Atheologiae,” tr. by Erika Mihálycsa, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 119–145. Original: M.S., “James Joyce,” Magyarok (March 1947) 193–205. An abridged version of this essay (minus the section following the * on page 203) was published in Szentkuthy’s Múzsák testamentuma (Buda- pest: Magvető, 1985) 104–115.! ! 145! Miklós Szentkuthy Why Ulysses Again? ! !!!!!Translated by Erika Mihálycsa ! !!!! ! !"#$%"%&#'"(#)"#*+*%&,#%-#."(&+#/0120&## 3$+#"+4#3&'"15'3%&# ! "#$! %$&! "'(%)*("+'! &#+! ,$%"-'$)! "+! '$."'(%)*("$! /+01$2)! 3+'"0. 34,$.0$('.+*5!67899.9!#()!(!6'47$!5-"08!"+!/-)"430!#47)$*39! ":;!<;=!:>?@A;!ABC;D!@;AE=!FG;!?;FCH!HE!FCD=;G!H:BD!I>HJ9! 3BGDH!ECI;GDBLC;I!=BAA!DHFH;!H:FH!:;!:EAID!65,11+1!M!FD!JE>! =BAA!D;;!BC!=:FH! The! far.from.passing! excitement! caused! by! Ulysses# is! first! and! fore. most:!an!intellectual,!social,!universal!moral!excitement!that!is!as!burningly! immediate!in!our!day!as!—!obviously!in!a!different!form!—!in!the!age!of!the! rock!paintings!twenty!thousand!years!ago.! The!social,!genre,!philosophical!questions!—!ranging!from!theology!to! fad.existentialism:! the! veriest! battles! of! realism! with! surrealism! (as! well! as! their!papier.mâché!battles!fought!in!paper!helmets);!the!experimentation!of! the!so.called!“nouveau!roman”;!American!literature!in!its!perversion,!brutali. ty,!in!its!marketing!of!Freudian!stereotypes!gone!lazy!almost!to!the!point!of! orderliness:!all!these!become!understandable!in!the!Ulysses#world.!(Heaven! forbid!that!we!be!“one.book.authors”!in!our![present]!writing!)!! The! monumentality! of! Ulysses! is! indeed! impressive! and! pedagogical!! (irrespective! of! its! length)! —! so! let! not! today’s! writer! content! himself! with! scarcity!or!smallness!either.! This!passage!is!meant!to!speak!about!the!actuality!of!Joycean!thinking,! so!we!may!remark!in!passing!that!Finnegans#Wake!on!the!heels!of!Ulysses!is! also:!a!work!with!an!intellectual!scope.!Joyce!remains!a!philosopher!even!in! his!pun.“madness”!—!this!remains!so!even!though!he!shares!his!method!with! Shakespeare’s!fools!who!utter!the!bitterest!truths!between!two!somersaults,! without!the!slightest!injury!inflicted!to!pure!logic.! Joyce! is! actual! because! (at! the! risk! of! having! a! few! philologist. phylloxerae!dubitate!this)!he!has!nothing!in!the!world!to!do!with!the,!indeed! outdated,! uniformed! Dadaism! of! the! 1910s,! ’20s,! ’30s! —! but! shares! all! the! more!things!with!Einstein’s!theory!of!relativity!whose!purpose!was!not!to!in. stall!chaos!or!bring!about!an!increase!in!the!chaotic,!but!on!the!contrary!—!it! wanted! to! create! a! much! greater! Absolute! to! add! to! the! old! absolutes! of! ! 147! physics.!Joyce!(just!like!the!undersigned)!has!always!whole.heartedly!despised! analogies!without!any!argumentative!value!whatsoever,!for!instance!compari. sons!like!“Joyce!and!Einstein”!that!are!as!innocent!of!mathematics!as!they!are! of!art.!Contrary!to!this,!each!period!has!one!common!style:!in!our!case,!some. thing!shared!with!modern!mathematics,!Ulysses!and!fashion,!astronomy,!ca. thedrals,! miniskirts! or! anything! from! the! same! age! or! the! same! century.! In! 1967,!the!thrilling!questions!raised!by!Joyce!in!1922!are!not!an!iota!the!less! thrilling,!and!are!just!as!much!on!our!agenda.! The!author!of!these!modest!marginalia!has!often!discoursed!(and!bliss. fully! fantasized)! about! the! present! “montage.culture”! or! “montage. civilization,”!meaning!plainly!and!simply!that!the!radio,!television,!the!millions! of!color!postcards,!easy!travel,!the!variety!of!adult!education,!allows!the!aver. age! man! to! get! acquainted! with! all! the! world’s! landscapes,! ages,! produce,! fashions!ancient!and!modern,!scientific!discoveries!in!a!matter!of!minutes,!in! images!and!writing.!This!may!result!in!entertainment,!in!psychic!disorder,!or! —! in! Ulysses.# That! is:! in! a! malgreBtout! synthesis! of! this! billion.component! world.!Humanity!continues!living!even!now,!even!today!—!entangling!a!thou. sand!related!and!unrelated!things!on!virtually!every!poster!around!the!corner! —!in!this!“montage”.world:!it!was!set!in!order!and!rendered!monumental!by! Joyce’s!magnum#opus.! Why! should! we! forget! this! out! of! novelty.chasing! affectation,! con. sciously!or!unconsciously?!We!can!cleverly!see!from!the!distance!of!forty.five! years!that!Ulysses!sets!out!to!order!that!all.too.rich!and!therefore!unavoida. bly!muddled!world,!to!create!a!grand!Synthesis!and!a!great!Summa!out!of!it,! with!a!tragic!effort.!It#is#not!—!not!in!the!least!and!not!at!all:!the!manifesto!of! Nonsense.!On!the!contrary:!its!purpose!is!—!almost!matching!Goethe’s!ambi. tion!—!the,!at!least!momentary,!summing.up!of!“die!ganze!Welt”!—!of!the! whole!world.!In!its!wordplay!it!strives:!to!combine!the!furthest.apart!things!of! the!world!into!a!universal#unity!(and!has!human!reason!ever!wanted!anything! but!that,!the!present!included?).!Of!course!it!was!(as!indeed!it!could!not!oth. erwise!be)!in!1922,!the!act!of!a!“desperado,”!a!desperate!adventurer.! ! 148! Ulysses! amasses! the! gaudiest! blasphemies:! and! even! these! associa. tions,!unabashed!in!the!extreme!(as!a!rule,!the!connection,!now!and!ever,!be. tween! sexual! low.life! and! theological! low.life)! emerge! not! for! bluff’s! sake,! from!a!hatred!of!clergy!inherited!from!childhood,!or!from!a!wish!to!shock!the! middle.!and!upper.class!bourgeoisie!(or!rather,!to!slap!them!in!the!face)!—! but:! for! the! sake! of! the! “whole! world”! mentioned! above.! We! are! talking! about! the! common! denominator! of! the! kips! and! church! candles.! Joyce! had! long!lost!his!god!in!the!form!of!cursing!and!nostalgia,!and!was!not!in!posses. sion! of! the! most! up.to.date! socialism:! this! “neither.here.nor.there”! is! still,# today,!a!sociological!issue;!Joyce!is!actual.! Obviously,!for!rendering!a!worldview!or!another,!histrionic!jokes!will! not!do,!just!as!an!instinctive! “sense!for!something”!will!not!do!(there!is!no! counting!of!the!numbers!who!fell!into!this!pit,!however!many!times!in!the!his. tory!of!Reason!the!note!was!stuck!on!the!well!of!“instinctive!sense”:!“no!drink! water”):!for!the!representation!of!a!new!worldview!the!highest!form!of!ReaB son!is!necessary.!If!Joyce’s!Reason!had!fallen!prey,!in!its!time!at!the!beginning! of!the!century,!to!some!catastrophe!similar!to!what!befell!the!legendary!Ica. rus:!it!would!not!in!the!least!compromise!the!indelible! requirement!of!rea. son’s!flight!even!today.! The!officialdom!of!Tartuffe.bourgeoisie!have!glued!the!stamp!of!“de. struction”! —! in! no! high! demand! among! stamp! collectors! even! —! on! Joyce! (and!obviously!on!Icarus,!too),!even!though!Ulysses#is!all!about!construction:!a! thirst!for!All.Meaningful!Order.! Whether! in! kitsch.papers! or! fashion! magazines:! there! is! more! talk! nowadays!of!the!philosophical.climatic!wave!inventoried!under!the!label!exisB tentialism,!than!of!nightgowns!or!babies’!nylon!knickers:!Bloom’s!Joycean!Od. yssey! attracts! legions! of! these! up.to.date! existentialist! issues.! Yet,! inde. pendently!of!the!value!of!the!whole!parade:!the!fact!is!actual,!and!Joyce!raises! it!in!1922!in!a!more!timely!manner!than!others!who!have!signed!up!for!a!later! deadline.!Sartre!has!written!a!book!with![just]!such!a!title!(and!a!Heideggerian! ! 149! “summa!cum!laude”!closing!report):!Being#and#Nothingness.!Isn’t!Ulysses!an! accusation?!a!moral!accusation?!a!raging,!iconoclastic,!outraged!accusation!—! against!Nothing?!It!is!probably!superfluous!to!repeat!the!reason:!he!is!caught! in!a!vacuum,!doomed!Icarus,!between!God!and!Marx.!But!its!actuality!is!indis. putable.!Let’s!go!to!it!again!!! The!eternal!and!most!actual!issue!of!literature!is!the!issue!of!realism.! Ulysses!is!indispensable!for!solving!this!issue!—!if!for!no!other!reason!—!on! account!of!its!extraordinary!large.scale!ambitions!and!monumentality,!its!re. peated!raising!and!eventually,!definite!clarification!of!this!issue.!For!the!clari. fication!of!this!essential!—!perhaps!the!sole!important!—!issue,!puny!natural. ist!novel.pills!would!hardly!suffice.! It!is!the!fact!of!facts!(including,!mercilessly,!the!surrealists!)!that!every! artistic!movement!worthy!of!the!name!wanted!to!be:!more#realist!than!the! realists!of!the!preceding!age!—!allowing,!of!course,!for!a!charming!confusion! of!terms!regarding!the!questions!of!reality!and!of!artistic!representation.! In!1922!Joyce!was!the!hero!(“doomed!to!fail”)!of!realism:!among!his! many! other! intentions! he! wanted! to! represent! reality! in! a! more! verisimilar! way!than!his!predecessors.!This!was!Joyce’s!attempt!at!realism! —!Maupas. sant! attempted! it! in! a! different! manner,! Zola! in! yet! another! (and! acquired! thereby!a!different!vignette);!Victor!Hugo,!in!his!turn,!attempted!it!as!he!knew! best.! The! signboard! of! the! so.called! “nouveau! roman”! is,! yet! again,! a! yet! more!realistic!realism!—!in!conformity!with!science:!it!intends!to!represent! the!Real!in!its!most!bared!reality.!This!is!also!the!reason!why!socialist!realism! is! such! a! great! ideal:! because! its! purpose! is! to! conquer! Reality! in! an! even! more!real!way,!from!the!roots!to!the!foliage.! The!great!realists!—!this!is!of!striking!interest!—!have!a!strong!pen. chant!for!scholarship!and!intellectualism,!their!outlook!is!social!with!a!beastly! obstinacy!and!clairvoyant!sharpness.!And!yet!they!are!teeming!with!poetic!in. tentions,!that!is,!with!longings!and!possible!satisfactions.! ! 150! Here,! speaking! of! Joyce’s! actuality,! we! have! mentioned! the! “Cosmic! Montage”!or,!in!other!words!—!summing!up,!synthesis!and!—!à!la!Goethe:! Faust!—!poetic!Summa!of!the!far.too.gaudy,!far.too.rich!world.!For!the!first! and!last!time!we!must!state!that!this!Montage!or!Summa!is!never!under!any! circumstances,!a!game,!it!is!never!a!l’art#pour#l’art!turning!round!the!kaleido. scope,!but!its!exact!opposite:!a!new!attack!launched!to!conquer!reality!(1922– 1967).! On!November!14,!1965,!the!New#York#Times!illustrated!magazine!pub. lished! a! photograph:! on! the! streets! of! Bloom’s! infernal! Dublin,! among! the! dreadfully!uniform!brick!houses,!old!horse!carriages!in!1904:!a!procession!or. ganized!in!honor!of!Joyce!and!his!Bloom.!This!abject!graveyard!of!capitalism! —!black.bricked!Dublin!—!could!just!as!well!have!been!London,!home!to!the! greatest!theorist!of!socialism.!Such!streets!like!the!one!in!the!picture:!Joyce’s! “traumas”! —! those! that! inspired! the! black! realism! of! 1922,! with! a! howling! and!accusing!demand:!in!1967.! All!this!is!lived:!autobiography,!positive!confession,!memoirs.!And!to. day?! Even! today,! at! a! comically! reduced! caliber! of! course,! three.fourths! of! world!“literature”!is!diaries,!self.emulation,!etc.!How!could!it!then!not!be!ac. tual:!to!show,!with!a!lurid!new!outlook,!what!the!—!pro!or!con!—!difference!is! between! one! of! these! puny,! masked! contemporary! autobiographies,! and! Joyce’s!pyramid.proportioned!confession?! Although!Ulysses!is!forty.five!years!old:!a!five.inch!mold!of!misprisions! and!misinterpretations!still!sticks!to!it.! If!it!is!to!appear!again!in!a!new!translation,!it!will!be:!an!explosive!op. portunity!to!clarify!the!misprisions,!to!tear!apart!the!darling!boxes!of!vapid,! pigeonholing!bourgeois!opinions;!not!at!all!merely!for!Joyce’s!sake!—!for!the! sake!of!some!rehabilitation!or!the!weaving!of!wreaths!long!after!the!funeral!is! over.!No.!It!is!not!at!all!about!that.! ! 151! But!about!the!fact!that!Joyce!may!well!be!the!Great!Pretext,!on!select. ed!parts!of!the!globe:!for!the!logical!elucidation!of!the!relation!between!bour. geois! false! morality,! Proustian! or! Freudian! (there! is! a! huge! difference! be. tween! the! two!)! psychology,! of! the! inseparable! interweaving! of! the! fate! of! everyday!man,!of!Shakespeare,!of!the!Celts!(although!they!are!not!the!center! of!the!universe,!not!at!all…),!the!definition!of!Homo!(existentialism),!of!the! arts! and! the! consciousness! of! social! existence,! of! fairy.tale! fantasy! (1922!)! and!blackened!realism.! So?! The! second! major! “so”! when! it! comes! to! Joyce:! the! question! of! poetic!language!(whether!written!in!prose!or!verse).! So!far!we!have!been!trying!to!motivate!the!publishing!of!a!new!trans. lation!of!Ulysses!with!Joyce’s!philosophical!actuality.!There!follows!now,!se. cond,!the!issue!and!no!less!fresh!sensation!of!his!poetic!language.! In! connection! with! Ulysses:! we! will! have! to! speak! about! the! almost! primordial!identity!of!language!and!poetry.!How!does!original!man’s!first!lin. guistic!self.expression!connect!—!in!a!more!or!less!justified!manner!—!to!the! 20th.century’s! extravagant! fiddling! with! language?! In! our! own! literature! the! likes!of!Arany,!Kosztolányi,!Babits!have!proved!in!overplus!that!the!play!with! language!(that!is!never!frivolous,!but!verging!on!the!tragic)!is!a!poet’s!most! genuine!exigency.!Joyce!will!necessarily!raise!the!question!of!language!as!pri. mordial!raw!material!of!literature:!of!the!sufficiently!sophisticated,!piquant,! and!supremely!edifying!relationship!of!language,!music,!and!rational!thought.! It!is!precisely!in!the!name!of!Reason!(for!Joyce!is,!against!all!appearances!of! “folly”:! a! diehard! rationalist)! that! the! fact! (or! question)! has! to! be! raised,! whether!a!pun!is,!for!instance,!a!more!rational!image!of!the!real!world!than! some!prejudiced!one.eyed!reason.!Even!toddlers!know!that!this!has!nothing! to!do!with!“irrationalism”!(more!crumbling!indeed!than!century.old!interred! bones).! ! ! 152! A! great! poet! (since! this! constitutes! at! least! half! of! his! greatness)! al. ways!recreates!language.!And!Joyce!certainly!leaves!nothing!to!be!desired!in! this! sense.! Although! we! have! no! intention! to! parlay! here! about! Finnegans# Wake,!from!the!linguistic!perspective!it!is!as!clear!as!daylight!that!this!work!is! already!lurking!—!and!in!no!hidden!manner!either!—!in!Ulysses.! Hungarian! literary! translation,! the! art! of! language! ranging! from! the! philosophical!to!the!ludic,!has!reached!such!heights!in!the!last!quarter!of!a! century,!that!Joyce’s!language!will!necessarily!propel!it!even!higher.! Joyce’s!puns!—!that!is,!the!intellectual!and!rational!rummaging!in!lan. guage’s! primordial! material! —! always! show! a! philosophical! and! poetic! con. tent.!As!Stephen!Dedalus!(Joyce’s!hero!or!Joyce!himself,!it!is!almost!the!same)! would! say:! a)! Descartes’s! mathematical! intelligence;! and! b)! the! asshead. licking,!foolish!poetry!of!Shakespeare’s!Titania!in!A#Midsummer#Night’s#Dream! merge!fully!in!the!language!of!Ulysses.!This!duality!(of!intellect!and!punning)!is! most!intimately!and!actually!connected!to!the!poetics!of!modern!poetry.! In!average!company,!as!a!rule,!we!hear!cheap!puns!that!have!neither! poetical!nor!intellectual!input:!they!are!beastly!mechanism!and!nothing!more.! And! yet?! The! word! figments! of! Joyce,! Arany,! Kosztolányi,! Babits,! et! cetera,! woven!with!a!Shakespearean!art:!expressions!of!their!clearest,!richly!intellec. tual!worldview.!Just!as!Finnegans#Wake!was!certainly!no!conversational!joke,! debris,!Dadaism!resurrected!from!its!Lazarus.death.!(All!the!same,!the!possi. bility!of!an!apology!of!Finnegans#Wake!is!excluded!here.)! Let’s! not! forget! that! what! Joyce! does! with! the! English! language:! is! hardly!anything!brand.new!and!never.yet.encountered.!One!almost!feels!like! reiterating!the!slogan!“nothing!new!under!the!sun”!(in!the!form!of!a!classical! yawn),!since!the!early!medieval!illuminated!missals!of!Ireland!(Joyce’s!country! of! origin)! do! the! same! thing! that! Joyce! does,! with! brilliant! folly,! in! brilliant! compositions.! ! 153! This! similitude! is,! however,! on! no! account! a! drawback,! but! an! ad. vantage!of!Joyce:!so!what?!The!re.publishing!of!Ulysses#manages!to!stir!the! questions!of!modern!(meaning,!mostly!mendaciously!pseudo.modern)!paintB ing! even! (not! that! they! were! not! already! agitated! enough,! in! a! sickly! way),! and!what!if!we!manage!to!reach!a!final!conclusion!on!the!basis!of!Ulysses!it. self?!(For!where!is!the!difference!between!emperor!Maximilian’s!prayer!book! with! its! margins! beset! by! monkeys,! illustrated! by! Dürer,! from! the! linguistic! fantasy!of!Ulysses?)! That!Joyce!is!connected!to!European!art!and!thought!through!a!thou. sand!blindingly!obvious!threads,!back!into!the!millennia!is,!we!might!affirm:! important.!Partially!for!not!letting!ourselves!get!inebriated!by!our!modernity,! two.thirds!of!which!is!plain!epigonism,!impotent!imitation!—!and!partially!for! indeed!getting!inebriated!by!it,!and!not!through!the!verbatim!copying!of!some! puny!Avar!bracelets!or!the!weak.eyed!re.babbling!of!ritual!old!Egyptian!texts:! but!by!keeping!up!the!tradition!with!the!source#of#inspiration!of!“old”!things,! with!their!productive!force,!that!has!nothing!in!the!world!to!do!with!commer. cial!and!affected!copying.!We!have!the!most!eloquent!example!in!front!of!our! eyes! —! Ulysses:! it! is! not! emperor! Maximilian’s! PrayerBbook,! nor! Erasmus’s! Praise# of# Folly,! but:! radically! new,! and! a! radical! “handling”! of! this! medieval! heritage.! We!are!certainly!not!going!to!lecture!here!about!the!music#of!Webern,! Schönberg,!Alban!Berg.!But!since!we!are!touching!on!universal!European!ar. tistic!tradition,!it!seems!interesting!that!this!modern!music!(no!matter!if!it!has! greyed!a!bit)!reached!back!to!Bach’s!rigorous!fugues!(and!fantasies…),!just!as! Joyce’s!word!and!other!games!do!the!selfsame!thing!with!language!—!and!it!is! clear! that! we! have! to! continue! studying! the! relation! between! fecundating! past!and!experimenting!present!with!unrelenting!passion!in!1967!as!well.!! ! ! ! 154! The! most! modern! architecture! (with! its! oceanic,! naïve,! or! arrogantly! prophetic!sediment!of!debris)!is!our!problem,!which!burns!with!a!40.degrees! fever!—!with!brief!antifebrile!interludes!of!course.!Joyce’s!world!is!directly!re. lated,! through! the! bloodline,! in! its! language,! with! the! problems,! solutions,! and!certainly!with!the!bountiful!failures!of!the!visual!arts.! ! After!having!answered!the!question!—!“Why!Ulysses!again?”!—!in!two#pas. sages:!in!the!first,!that!from!the!social!and!intellectual!perspective!this!mon. umental,!rationalist,!and!realist!work!can!provoke!our!timeliest!excitements! to!a!white.hot!state!of!excitement,!and!in!the!second,!that!from!the!linguistic! perspective!it!is!prone!to!fertilize!modern!poetry!with!great!effectiveness:!we! hold!it!as!our!duty!to!continue!our!inventorying:!what!is!the!duty!of!a!transla. tion!of!Ulysses!as!regards!concrete!translation!techniques?!! This.! On! no! account! can! this! music! of! language! reminiscent! of! Shake. speare’s! songs! be! substituted! with! flat! prose.! On! no! account! can! the! sole! most!essential!component,!language!that!similarly!exhales!poetry!and!intel. lectual!riches,!be!settled!with!a!wink!of!the!left!hand!dismissing!both!intellect! and! poetry! with! a! rashly! magisterial! off.handedness! —! or! more! precisely,! leave!it!unsettled.!! The!new!translation!should!by!no!means!be!a!simple!mirror.image!or! caricature:!the!translator!has!to!play!chess!with!the!original,!that!is!—!a!move! of!the!black!rook!should!be!countered!with!a!move!of!the!white’s!knight:!only! such!can!be!a!rational!and!poetic!game.!This!of!course!should!not!under!any! conceivable!circumstance!mean!that!a!new!Ulysses!may!allow!itself!the!free. dom! of! an! unreasoning! excessBUlysses.! Still,! one! cannot! assemble! a! pocket,! desk,!and!great!dictionary!from!the!music!of!Ariel!and!Miranda.! ! ! 155! One!has!to!draw!on!an!even!broader!range!of!the!Arabian.Nights!bag! of!Hungarian!vocabulary,!extending!from!underworld!cant!to!the!language!of! fantasy.!From!this!bag!one!can!draw!forth,!against!the!still!lingering,!hypocrit. ical,! pretentious! Victorian! pseudo.world:! the! socialist! fist! —! thus! it! can! be. come! an! anti.snob,! anti.bourgeois! Lucifer! spitting! its! merciless! slang! at! the! Capital.God.! The!new!book!should!definitely!not!“attempt”!to!stroke!smoothly!and! mildly! the! double.plus.Dutch! word! order! of! Joyce’s! mother! tongue.! There! where!Joyce!(always!for!some!rational,!social,!and!fairy.magic!purpose)!puts! on!a!foolscap,!the!Hungarian!sentence!must!not!wear!a!bowler!hat.! Joyce’s!book!carries!an!enormous!amount!of!erudition:!but!in!a!laugh. ingly!and!rib.pokingly!anti.bookworm!manner.!In!this!the!author!is!the!blood! relation! of! the! writer! Rabelais! and! the! painters! Brueghel! and! Hieronymus! Bosch.!Joyce!with!his!vast!erudition!behaves!(as!we!have!already!pointed!out)! one!moment!like!Titania!licking!the!Ass.head,!and!the!next!like!some!embit. tered!executioner.! The!prime!duty!of!the!new!Ulysses!is!to!possess!this!culture,!for!only! this!way!will!it!be!able!to!play!with!it,!only!so!can!it!comprehend!it!fully,!and! only!so!can!it!be!a!barbarian!in!the!treasure.barracks!of!its!(snob.killing)!eru. dition.! For! the! translation! to! achieve! this,! lexical! “erudition”! is! of! no! value:! here!one!needs!a!root.level,!profoundly!spiritual!kinship!with!the!author.! The!new!translator!has!to!take!advantage!of!the!montage!and!docu. ment!material!assembled!through!these!past!forty.five!years.!By!far!not!for! the! sake! of! “modernizing”! Ulysses! (let! alone! stupidly! over.modernizing! it:! heaven! and! all! its! gods! forbid! indeed),! but! we! know! more! about! the! world! and!about!Joyce!since,!and!the!translator!is!quite!obviously!not!going!to!pump! into,!or!stuff!back!into!the!original!text!today’s!or!tomorrow’s!actualities.!But?! Let!him!be!inspired!by!these!in!his!new!rendering.!It!is!a![certified]!fool!who! will!draw!the!conclusion!from!the!observations!above!that!our!classics!need! ! 156! to!be!retranslated!—!on!a!yearly!basis!—!studded!with!actualities!and!irre. sponsibly!luxuriating!in!piquant!anachronisms.!Yet!on!the!other!hand?! Undeniably! the! world’s! greatest! literary! translators! (Hungarians! in. cluded)!have!never,!never!been!able!to!resist!fusing:!a)!their!own!personali. ties;!and!b)!their!own!most!modern!age,!with!the!style!and!age!of!the!classics.! As!far!as!translation!is!concerned,!we!will!not!here!re.open!the!thea. tres!of!cock.fighting!between!scrupulous!philological!fidelity!and!translatorial! freedom.!All!the!same,!the!new!Ulysses!cannot!tolerate!strident!omissions.! The!great!translators,!Luther!with!his!Bible,!Amyot!with!his!Plutarch!—! further! translated! by! Thomas! North! “for! Shakespeare”! —! and! John! Florio! (likewise!“for!Shakespeare”)!with!his!translation!of!Montaigne’s!Essays,!could! become,!as!it!were,!popular!books!and!the!schoolmasters!of!the!people,!be. cause!they!infused!their!work!with!their!personality!and!modernity,!because! they!lighted!their!torch!with!the!torch!of!the!original:!not!by!photographing! the!original’s!torch.! Let!us!not!be!frivolous!forgers,!but!let!us!not!be!hypochondriac!philol. ogists! either! —! as! Lőrinc! Szabó! was! not! when! in! his! Ovid! he! talks! about! a! strand.!Measure!in!everything!is!paramount!of!course,!and!as!it!can!hardly!be! settled,!we!have!to!take!(cautious)!decisions!in!every!distinct!case,!like!one! weighing! one! actor’s! colorful! performance! against! another’s! interpretation.! Let!the!translator!of!Ulysses!be!neither!cool!nor!scrupulous.! ! Around!the!world,!February!1968! Miklós Szentkuthy, “Why Ulysses Again?” tr. by Erika Mihálycsa, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 146–157. Orig: Miklós Szentkuthy, “Miért újra Ulysses?” Múzsák testamentuma (Budapest: Magvető, 1985) 325–332. ! 157! ! ! Horsey Women & Arse-temises: Wake-ing Ulysses in Translation Erika Mihálycsa ! ! ! "#$%&'$"()%! *#(%+&! ",-! %-.&! )/! ",(%+&0! %)"! ",-! ",(%+&! ",-1&-'2-&0! $&! $%! $2(3! 4)56-! #-$3-#0! %)2-'(&"! 78"-#! -&9 "-#,:;50!<=>=?@!AB!CA=!=C?!KLLM!(B=?JB>=ADB>G! 4DNH?! &NOED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 The attribute which probably harmed rather than aided Szentkuthy’s literary career was given by one of the most influential critics of the interwar period, poet Mihály Babits, who wrote a hostile review of Szentkuthy’s first, monumental novel Prae (1934) which, according to him, strove to resemble Ulysses even in its lack of struc- turing, paragraphs, and punctuation. Babits’s reluctance to warm up to Joyce — whom he considered inferior to near-classic Proust — was transferred to Szentkuthy’s experimental novel, an oppressive, “dreadful baroque-monster” or “gi- gantic parody.” Qtd. in Gyula Rugási, “Leatrice görög arca. Szentkuthy Miklós: Prae” [The Greeg face of Leatrice: M. Szentkuthy’s Prae], in M. Szegedy-Maszák et al., eds., A magyar irodalom történetei [Histories of Hungarian Literature] (Budapest: Gondolat, 2007) Vol. III, 310–322. The still widely held topos is founded on a number of correspondences in the work of the two authors, as critic Dávid Szolláth shows: firstly, both novels use expansive narrative structures, style parodies, cata- logues. If the single most important narrative technique of Ulysses is interior mono- logue/stream-of-consciousness, then, with Szentkuthy’s Prae, it is (self)-commentary progressing from digression to digression; the structural link with both is free associ- ation. Both works employ the strategy of contrapuntal montage, manifest in the lib- eral amalgamation of high and low cultural registers, often deployed in the context of a blasphemous Catholicism. Both authors weave their fictions around subtexts and intertextual allusions, their novels being travesties/parodies of classical/mythological narratives (the Odyssey vs. the myth of Orpheus); even the patterns of erudition of the two novelists show surprising similarities: cf. Dávid Szolláth, “Leletmentés. Vál- ogatott szentkuthyzmusok az Ulysses szövegében” [Archiving the Finds: Selected Szentkuthysms in Ulysses] Alföld 9 (2010) 64–74, 65–6. 2 Péter Esterházy, “Yes.” Tr. by Ferenc Takács. Opening lecture read on June 11, 2006, at the XXth International James Joyce Symposium, Budapest. ! 159! Szentkuthy’s! canonic! version! became! the! point! of! depar9 ture!for!a!thorough!re9editing!and!partial!re9translation!by!a!trans9 lator! team! of! four! critics! and! Joycean! scholars! (Marianna! Gula,! András!Kappanyos,!Gábor!Zoltán!Kiss,!Dávid!Szolláth),!which!was! to!bring!the!news!of!Joyce’s!work!for!the!third!time!into!the!lan9 guage! on! Bloomsday! 2012.3! Born! from! a! wish! to! correct! Szentkuthy’s!obvious!mistakes!and!lapses,!to!pare!down!his!intru9 sive!linguistic!concoctions,!to!restore!the!vital!network!of!the!nov9 el’s!structural!allusions!and!intratextual!echoes!and!maximize!the! Hungarian!reader’s!opportunities!to!read!with!the!creative!coop9 eration! that! Joyce’s! text! invites,! the! new,! “Corrected”! version! is! obviously! the! product! of! a! translation! poetics! radically! different! from!Szentkuthy’s,!and!shows!the!team!members’!expertise!in!the! field!of!Joycean!studies.4!! Szentkuthy,!whose!vast!(meta)fictional!output!remains!an! isolated! experience,! out! of! the! groove! of! mainstream! narrative! tradition!in!Hungarian,!seems!to!have!wanted!to!appropriate!Ulys: ses!as!his!own!work!and!to!become!Joyce’s!co9author!rather!than! a!“mere”!translator;5!!this!statement!alone!accounts!for!much!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 All references will be made to the following editions of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake: James Joyce, Ulysses, ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior, with an Afterword by Michael Groden (New York: Random House, 1986). James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, ed. by Robbert-Jan Henkes, Erik Bindervoet, and Finn Fordham, with an Introduction by Finn Fordham (Oxford: Oxford Uni- versity Press, 2012). James Joyce, Ulysses, Vols. I–II, tr. by Endre Gáspár (Budapest: Franklin, 1947). James Joyce, Ulysses, tr. by Miklós Szentkuthy, ed. by Tibor Bartos, with an Afterword by Mihály Sükösd (Budapest: Európa, 1974) (Sze 1). James Joyce, Ulysses, tr. by Miklós Szentkuthy, ed. by Tibor Bartos, with an Afterword by Tamás Ungvári (Budapest: Európa, 1986) (Sze 2). James Joyce, Ulysses, tr. by Mari- anna Gula, András Kappanyos, Gábor Zoltán Kiss, Dávid Szolláth, based on the translation of Miklós Szentkuthy, ed. by András Barkóczi, with an Afterword by András Kappanyos (Budapest: Európa, 2012). 4 On the principles and methodology of the new translation, see Marianna Gula, “Lost a Bob but Found a Tanner: From a Translator’s Workshop,” Scientia Traduc- tionis 8 (2010) 122–133, and András Kappanyos, “Fragments of a Report: Ulysses Translation in Progress,” James Joyce Quarterly 47 (Fall 2010) 553–566. 5 A. Kappanyos, “Ulysses, a nyughatatlan,” [Ulysses the restless]. Átváltozások 10 (1997) 44–53, 50. ! 160! the!criticism!articulated!on!the!translation!text!since.!The!novelist9 translator!—!also!the!author!of!the!canonical!Hungarian!version!of! Gulliver’s+Travels,!a!book!whose!irreverent!satirical!tone!obviously! suited!him!—!came!from!a!tradition!of!domesticating,!poeticizing! translation,!a!tradition!of!the!belles+infidèles+that!produced,!quan9 titatively!as!well!as!qualitatively,!the!better!part!of!the!Hungarian! versions!of!early!20th9century!prose!and!poetry!during!the!inter9 war!period.!Telling!in!this!respect!is!his!translation!“program”!pub9 lished!in!a!1968!essay!in!which!he!announces!his!intention!to!re9 translate!Ulysses:!“it!is!unquestionable!that!the!best!translators!in! the!history!of!world!literature!(Hungarians!included)!could!never! resist! fusing! (a)! their! own! personalities;! and! (b)! their! own! most! modern! age! with! the! style! and! age! of! the! classics.”! Such! claims! simultaneously!signal!a!domesticating!and!visible!translation!poet9 ics,!one!that!willingly!embraces!the!idea!of!cultural!transfer!and! indigenizing!translation!—!quite!at!odds!with!current!translation! norms.!In!the!same!essay!he!argues!that,!on!account!of!the!actual9 ity! of! Joyce’s! Ulysses,! the! translator! must! “resort! to! everything! from!slang!to!the!language!of!fantasy!in!the!Arabian!Nights9bag!of! the! Hungarian! vocabulary.”! Furthermore,! no! translation! can! aim! to!be!the!mirror!image!of!Ulysses!but!rather,!the!translator!has!to! “play!chess”!with!the!original!—!although!he!warns!of!the!danger! of! “over9Ulyssesizing.”6! This! warning! is! all! the! more! surprising! since! Szentkuthy’s! Ulysses,! a! “fireworks! of! joint! creation,”! was! criticized! for! its! tendency! of! “out9Joycing! Joyce! himself”! and! for! treating! literary! translation! as! a! field! of! poetic! contest;7! in! critic! Tamás! Ungvári’s! memorable! phrase,! Szentkuthy! renders! the! “Joyce!of!the!fool’s!cap”!credibly,!but!falls!short!of!the!“Joyce!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Miklós Szentkuthy, “Miért újra Ulysses?” [Why Ulysses again?]. Nagyvilág 13 (1968) 274–279. For a translation of this essay, see XXX–XXX in this issue of Hyperion. 7 Péter Egri, “Szentkuthy Miklós Ulysses-fordításáról” [On M. Sz’s translation of Ulysses]. Nagyvilág 2 (1974) 433–437, 433. ! 161! the!bowler9hat”!when!he!applies!all!his!virtuosity!to!style!parodies! and!the!original’s!“verbal!magic”!but!sins!against!the!text’s!infra9 structure! of! motifs! and! echoes.! Ungvári! blames! this! on! Szentkuthy’s! conception! of! literary! (prose)! translation,! common! for!Hungarian!culture,!as!being!“merely!art,!linguistic!carnival,!and! juggling!with!words:!but!it!is!much!more,!it!is!also!a!science.”8!The! novelist! and! translator! was! obviously! interested,! first! and! fore9 most,!in!Joyce’s!excess!of!language!and!extraordinary!affinity!for! play:!as!he!states!in!an!early,!1947!article!on!Ulysses!and!its!first! Hungarian!translation,!the!novel!which!he!describes!in!such!terms! as!“sound9perversion”!and!“word9promiscuity”!is!but!“one!gigan9 tic,!fairy!tale9like!pun.”9!Rather!than!proposing!a!comprehensive! critical!analysis!of!Szentkuthy’s!text!—!a!task!that!would!require!a! much!wider!scope!—!the!present!essay!attempts!to!map!the!vir9 tual! chess9moves! of! the! reading! experience! that! the! Hungarian! Ulysses!pre9programs.!! To! begin! with,! Szentkuthy’s! text! quite! obviously! suffers! from!a!number!of!major!fallacies,!mostly!due!to!the!fact!that!the! translation! was! carried! out! at! a! time! when! the! bulk! of! Joycean! textual!criticism,!the!Gabler!text,!Gifford’s!notes,!and!the!Ulysses! concordance!were!unavailable.10!Furthermore,!neither!the!trans9 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8 Miklós Györffy, “A modern regény magyarul. Musil: A tulajdonságok nélküli ember Tandori Dezső fordításában [The Modern Novel in Hungarian. Musil’s The Man Without Qualities in D. Tandori’s translation]. In Szegedy-Maszák et al., eds. A mag- yar irodalom történetei, Vol. III, 730–743: 736. 9 Márta Goldmann, James Joyce kritikai fogadtatása Magyarországon [James Joyce’s Reception in Hungary] (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2005) 48. 10 Although the second, 1986 edition, re-edited and often rather arbitrarily tampered with by Tibor Bartos (who didn’t submit his alterations to the translator) was alleg- edly revised in concordance with the Gabler text, as several critics have shown, there is no evidence to support this claim. Szolláth demonstrates through a number of examples how far Bartos failed to take into account even the typographical errors corrected by Gabler (70). Besides the correction of some obvious mistakes, the 1986 edition tends to iron out some of Szentkuthy’s more extravagant verbal artillery, as well as his rendering of some of the original’s most disruptive textual effects. As an example of the latter, at the beginning of “Eumaeus,” the original’s half-sober Ste- phen “thought to think of Ibsen” (16.52), the straightforward repetition of words ! 162! lator!nor!his!editors!(Tibor!Bartos!and!Levente!Osztovits)!were!in! contact!with!foreign!or!Hungarian!Joyceans,!and!they!lacked!both! the!necessary!Irish!cultural!and!historical!background!and!a!work9 ing!knowledge!of!idiomatic!Hiberno9English!to!be!able!to!decipher! the!novel’s!dense!network!of!Irish,!local!allusions.!Consequently,! with! instances! when! specific! (Anglo9Irish)! cultural! information! is! offered!in!the!original,!the!translator!rather!too!heavily!relied!on! the!technique!of!covering!the!original’s!place!up!with!something! that! might! contextually! fade! into! the! background;! in! addition,! Szentkuthy’s!off9the9cuff!“makeup”!solutions!tend!to!be!ostenta9 tious!language!games!and!effects,!filling!in!the!semantic!gaps!with! flamboyant! linguistic! contrivances.! An! even! more! painful! short9 coming!regards!editing!and,!in!a!broader!sense,!structural!and!sty9 listic! fine9tuning,! and! is! probably! to! be! ascribed! to! both! Szentkuthy! and! his! editor! Bartos:! the! Hungarian! text’s! careless9 ness! for! the! intricate! interrelations! among! the! episodes! and! its! network!of!intratextual!echoes!often!obfuscates!the!text’s!argua9 bly!most!important!structural!principle.!Thus,!the!characters’!Ho9 meric! attributes! are! subject! to! wide! variations! across! the! epi9 sodes;!an!odd!name!that!generates!semantic!nuclei,!like!the!horse! Throwaway,! the! man! in! the! mackintosh,! or! Ruby! Cohen! (rebap9 tized! Ruby! Kohn,! to! chime! in! with! Rubicon)! are! unsatisfactorily! dealt! with;! since! these! recurrences! are! often! the! reader’s! only! tool!for!recuperating!the!“plot,”!the!Hungarian!Ulysses!risks!to!be9 come,!by!and!large,!more!puzzlingly!“unreadable”!than!the!origi9 nal.11! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! speaking of mental, linguistic automatism. Whereas the 1974 edition [Stephen úgy gondolta, Ibsenre gondol: ‘Stephen thought to think of Ibsen’ (Sze 1: 680)] reproduces the breach of stylistic norm in the original, the 1986 edition covers this up as though it were a transmissional error [Stephen úgy vélte, Ibsent juttatja eszébe: ‘Stephen was of the opinion that it brought Ibsen to his mind’ (Sze 2: 718)]. 11 A. Kappanyos, “Ulysses, a nyughatatlan,” 46–50. ! 163! ! Although!the!topos!“Hungarian!Joyce”!does!little!justice!to! Szentkuthy,!not!to!mention!the!Irish!master,!the!1934!novel!Prae,! completed! when! the! author! was! barely! 25,! can! nevertheless! be! read!as!an!illuminating!subtext!to!Szentkuthy’s!Joyce.12!The!meta9 fictional!work!capitalizes!chaos!theory!—!it!even!uses!the!adjec9 tive!“chaocosmic”!(káokozmikus)!some!years!before!“in!the!cha9 osmos!of!Alle”!was!added!to!the!galley!proofs!after!193613!—!and! is! built! around! a! theory! of! wordplay! that! embraces! everything! from! language! to! contemporary! architecture,! complete! with! the! launch!of!a!new!editing!style:!detours!(Prae!I,!9).!This!theory,!out9 lined! in! the! treatise! of! the! author’s! fictional! alter9ego! Leville9 Touqué,14!shows!what!Szentkuthy!assimilated!from!his!Joycean!—! both!Ulyssean!and!Wakean!—!readings:!!! The! whole! century! is! progressing! to! wordplay...! Wordplay! is! an! expression! of! the! instinct! that! we! consider! relations! ordained! by! chance! as! being! much!more!eternal!realities!and!much!more!typical! beings! than! the! individual! things! which! are! the! characters! of! the! relationship.! One! can! imagine! a! new!arrangement!of!the!world!whereby!trees!van9 ish!from!an!alley!of!trees!and!only!the!smudges!of! touching!boughs!are!left;!the!constitutive!elements! disappear! from! chemical! compounds,! and! lines! of! bonding!force!are!all!that!remain!as!sole!material! reality;!the!cells!of!living!tissues!have!all!been!anni9 hilated!to!give!way!to!the!relation!between!cells:!in! the!places!where!hitherto!there!had!been!nothing,! where! only! purely! intellectual! bonds! of! relation! had!run,!in!other!words,!in!practice,!an!emptiness! yawned,!that!is!precisely!where!realities!live!nowa9 days.! Every! right! bank! and! every! left! bank! fades! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12M. Szentkuthy, Prae I–II. 2nd ed. (Budapest: Magvető, 1980). 13 Szolláth 73. 14 Leville-Touque may also perchance be based on, in part, Paul Valéry. Consider this brief but cryptic if not suggestive note, a passage from one of Szentkuthy’s dia- ries: “Leville-Touque…Valéry.” The ellipses are part of the passage, not an omission of text. Cf. Miklos Szentktuthy, Fájdalmok és titkok játéka (Budapest: Magvető: 2001) 100. ! 164! away,! but! the! world! is! filled! up! with! an! endless! multiplicity!of!solid!bridges.!(Prae!I,!30,!translation! courtesy!of!Tim!Wilkinson)!!! The!linguistic!mimicry!of!Prae,!playing!on!a!wide!range!of! authorial!registers,!embraces!a!vast!array!of!wordplay!relying!on! the! translation! or! interlingual! trafficking! of! foreign9language! (German,! French,! Latin! and! English)! quotes,! puns,! and! turns9of9 phrase;!these!ironic!foreign!sentence9collages!are,!however,!most9 ly! felt! to! be! components! of! one! language! and! style.! As! Gyula! Rugási,! Szentkuthy’s! most! sensitive! exegete! writes,! the! English9 ness!or!French9ness!of!some!of!his!fictional!characters!is!immate9 rial!as!far!as!the!author!tends!to!produce!the!same!puns!in!all!lan9 guages;!these!contrivances!function!more!as!metaphors!translat9 able!from,!and!into,!Hungarian,!than!idioms!characteristic!of!the! language!in!which!they!are!voiced.15!!!!!!! By!critical!consensus,!Prae!never!quite!lived!up!to!its!theo9 ry!of!wordplay;!this!theory!arguably!bore!its!finest!fruit!only!sev9 eral!decades!later,!in!the!translation!of!Ulysses,!in!what!became! Szentkuthy’s! signature:! his! contrived,! multiply! allusive! Szentkuthysms! —! especially! when! some! contextual! difficulty! needed!to!be!bridged.!One!instance!of!the!translator!filling!in!the! semantic!blanks!with!the!de+rigueur!word9concoction,!as!if!penned! by!his!woman!writer!character!dubbed!Hippopochondra!Stylopo9 tama!(Prae!I,!28),!occurs!in!Lestrygonians,!where!Bloom!indulges! in! erotic! fantasies! on! an! Amazonian! widow:! “Strong! as! a! brood! mare! some! of! these! horsey! women…+ Born! courtesan”! (8.345).! Although!the!English!original!hardly!presents!the!reader!with!in9 terpretive!difficulties,!the!Hungarian!translation!makes!a!point!of! punning:! “Az! ilyen! fartemiszek! szívósabbak! a! tenyészkancánál...! Született!nimfomáriája! van”!(196).!Fartemisz! plays!on!the!Greek! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 “Leatrice görög arca,” 316. ! 165! goddess! Artemis! and! the! Hungarian! for! “backside”! [far],! giving! birth!to!a!buxom!“Arse9temis,”!while!“born!courtesan”!is!rendered! with!the!phrase!“(she)!has!an!inborn!nymphomaria.”!What!in!the! English!original!is!a!sexual!innuendo!is!explicitated!in!conspicuous! contrivances,! inscribing! an! all9devouring! sexuality! on! the! chaste! goddess’!name!and!dragging!in!the!Virgin!Mary!as!her!sexually!vo9 racious!double.! ! !In!a!neighboring!passage!in!Lestrygonians,!Bloom!vents!his! resentment!against!Purefoy,!an!aging!Methodist!vegetarian!who! annually!presents!his!wife!with!offspring:!!“Saffron!bun!and!milk! and!soda!lunch!in!the!educational!dairy.!Eating!with!a!stopwatch,! thirty9two!chews!to!the!minute.!And+still+his+muttonchop+whiskers+ grew”!(8.358,!my!emphases).!The!rationale!for!the!appearance!of! Purefoy’s!“muttonchop!whiskers”!might!be!a!belief!that!meat!eat9 ing!made!(male)!hair!grow,16!besides!increasing!potency!—!both! visibly!disproved!by!Purefoy’s!diet!and!his!large!family.!In!transla9 tion,! the! ornamental! facial! hair! mutates! into! the,! faintly! sexual,! “bakkonbartoló!kotlett”!(196)!—!a!nonce!construct!loosely!based! on!bak![buck/goat],!a!self9coined!word,!bartoló!(present!participle! of! a! non9existent! verb),! and! kotlett! [cutlet];! the! cluster! chimes! with!barkó![whiskers].!The!phrase!can!be!“read,”!however,!as!an! interface! between! Hungarian! and! German,! Backenbart! and! Ko: telette+being!alternative!terms!for!whiskers!in!German,!the!latter! also! standing! for! cutlet.! Szentkuthy! (born! Pfisterer),! of! German! and!Jewish!extraction,!knew!German!von+Haus+aus,!obtained!his! degree! in! English! and! French,! and! had! more! than! a! bowing! ac9 quaintance!with!Latin!and!Italian;!his!translation!offers!us!a!slight9 ly! Wakean9leaning! Bloom! who,! unlike! his! original,! the! timid! bri: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16 See Don Gifford, Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce’s Ulysses, 2nd ed., revised and expanded by Don Gifford (Berkeley: University of California Press) 166. ! 166! coleur!of!the!words!of!others,!in!his!interior!monologues!routinely! lets!loose!idiosyncratic!witticisms!and!“high!falutin!stuff”!(7.260).!! If! the! Hungarian! Bloom! is! linguistically! promoted! to! the! status!of!a!“university!wit,”!then!one!might!with!some!right!expect! Mulligan! and! Stephen! to! pour! forth! a! deluge! of! verbal! sparkles.! Skimming!the!first!pages!of!the!Hungarian!translation!one!comes! upon! the! following! apellations:! the! memorable! Mulliganism! “je9 june! jesuit”! (1.45)! is! rendered! as! “loyoládé+ jezsuita”! (6)! which! combines!the!name!of!St.!Ignatius!Loyola!and!loyal(ty)!with!choco9 late/marmalade,! giving! Stephen! the! nay9sayer! a! sweet! tooth.! Haines!the!“ponderous!Saxon”!(1.51)!is!defined!with!an!“essence”! of!Englishness!—the!War!of!the!Roses—!in!the!formula!“pondero: sa+Tudor+Rózsa”!(6),!punning!on!tuberose!and!Tudor+rose,!at!the! first!occurrence!of!his!name!when!the!(Hungarian)!reader!needs! to!decrypt!the!information!that!he!is!English.!The!same!character,! dubbed!a!“woful!lunatic”!(1.59)!is!turned!into!a!syphilitic!for!the! sake!of!alliteration!(lueszes+lunatikus,!7),!coupling!two!terms!that! sit!well!in!the!mouth!of!medical!Mulligan.!Compulsive!alliteration9 cum9wordplay!gets!the!upper!hand!in!the!following!exchange!be9 tween!Mulligan!and!Stephen:! ‘Ah,!poor!dogsbody!...!I!must!give!you!a!shirt!and!a! few!noserags.!How!are!the!secondhand!breeks?’! ‘They!fit!well!enough,’!Stephen!answered.!(1.112)! Ó,! csorvasz+ csipkerózsám...! Adok! neked! inget! és! egy!pár!fikafityulát.!Antik+gatyáiddal,!mondd,!hogy! állsz?! Fitten+fittyengek!–!válaszolt!Stephen.!(Sze!8–9,!my! emphasis)! Mulligan’s!patronizing!“poor!dogsbody”!is!transformed!in9 to! the! alliterating! Hungarian! “wither(ed)! rose9hip,”! the! plant’s! name!also!translating!as!Sleeping!Beauty!(Csipkerózsika),!lending! Stephen! an! air! of! a! girls’! boarding! school.! The! mock9Homeric! ! 167! compound!“noserag”!is!turned,!with!a!characteristic!lowering!of! register,! into! an! alliterating! “snot9cap”! (fikafityula),! whereas! the! “secondhand”!breeches!are!decreed!“antique”!by!the!translator’s! antics!of!style.!Stephen’s!wry!response!to!such!teasing!is!turned! into!a!phrase!that!would!out9clown!many!a!Mulliganism:!fitten+fit: tyengek!is!a!disseminative!construct!that!combines!an!adverb!de9 rived! from! the! English! adjective! fit! (which,! decades! before! the! global!marketing!of!fitness,!would!hardly!have!been!at!the!finger9 tips! of! Hungarian! readers)! and! a! self9coined! verb! that! connotes! fityeg! (“to! hang! loose”)! and! füttyöng,! itself! derived! from! fütyül! (“to!whistle”)!with!the!addition!of!the!verbal!suffix!–(o/e/ö)ng!de9 noting! repetitive! action! (gyakorító+ képző).! Thus! the! Hungarian! syntagm! relies! on! interlingual! play,! reading! the! English! fit! in! at! least!two!senses,!yielding!a!Stephen!fit!as!a!whistle!in!his!not!par9 ticularly!tight9fitting!secondleg!apparel.!The!fact!that!the!alliterat9 ing! syllable! fitty! also! chimes! in! with! words! with! sexual! connota9 tion!—!a!mild!slang!for!penis!(fütyi)!and!prepuce!(fityma)—adds! unorthodox!overtones!to!the!mutual!teasing!game!which!gleefully! glosses!over!Stephen’s!psychological!unease.! Such! examples! where! Szentkuthy! camouflages! relatively! straightforward!information!in!arcane!cultural!allusions!are!galore! in! Telemachus! alone,! baffling! a! reader! already! at! a! loss! in! the! dense! Joycean! text.! One! gets! the! impression! that! the! translator! couldn’t!resist!dropping!his!“fahroots!of!cullchaw”!(FW!303.20)!—! the!exotic!fruits,!far9faring!roots,!and!contrapuntal!farts,!of!his!en9 cyclopaedic!erudition!—!on!every!occasion!the!text!presented.!For! not!only!does!Szentkuthy!start!off!his!word9machine!at!full!gear,! punning!and!alliterating!even!where!the!original!doesn’t!support! such!effects!of!language!but,!as!the!above!example!shows,!he!is! not! above! slipping! in! allusions! to! the! “abominable! regions”! ! 168! (14.1566),! sensibly! adding! in! bawdry.17! The! playful! tautology! in! Mulligan’s!exclamation,!“We’ll!have!a!glorious!drunk!to!astonish! the!druidy+druids”!(1.296,!my!emphasis),!for!instance,!is!rendered! with!the!fourfold!alliteration,!“Dicső!dáridót!rendezünk,!ámuljatok! durrantó!druidák”![‘We’ll!organize!a!glorious!revelry,!marvel!you! banging!druids’!(15)]!where!the!onomatopoeic!epithet!durrantó+is! common!euphemism!for!“farting.”!! ! That! translation! is! an! opportunistic! business! relying! on! whatever! linguistic! opportunities! the! target! language! offers,! is! one!of!the!clichés!of!translation!studies.!In!this!sense,!Szentkuthy! seems! never! to! have! let! an! occasion! pass! to! “commit! his! filthy! synecdoche,”!to!quote!Beckett’s!Murphy,!especially!when!an!oc9 casion!to!alliterate!presented!itself.!The!Oxen+Coda!which,!without! the!advantage!of!Gifford’s!notes!and!recent!textual!criticism,!must! have!seemed!indeed!one!“giant,!fairy!tale9like!pun”!with!its!near9 portmanteaux,!egregious!gaps,!and!semantic!obscurities,!was,!in! many! respects,! an! ideal! terrain! for! Szentkuthy’s! “word9 promiscuity.”! Where! the! English! text! demands! that! Stephen! de9 liver!his!parody!of!the!Apostles’!Creed!—!“Parson!Steve,!Apostates! creed!”!(14.1451)!—!the!Hungarian!text!(“Stephanosz!Szentatya,! aposztaták! prosztatája,”! 527)! not! only! promotes! Stephen! to! the! status!of!pope!(Szentatya:!Holy!Father),!but!also!dubs!him!apos9 tates’! prostate,! grafting! unholy! body! imagery! onto+ anti9 ecclesiastic!non+serviam!(&!oblivious!to!the!fact!that!here!“Apos9 tates’!Creed”!is!not!one!of!the!many!alternative!names!of!Dedalus,! but!hides!an!intratextual!allusion).18!An!apparently!harmless!inter9 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17 Cf. Kappanyos, “Ulysses, a nyughatatlan,” 48. 18 According to J.N. Turner, the passage referred to is “He Who Himself begot mid- dler the Holy Ghost and Himself sent Himself, Agenbuyer, between Himself and others, Who, put upon by His fiends, stripped and whipped, was nailed like a bat to barndoor, starved on crosstree, Who let Him bury, stood up, harrowed hell, fared in- to heaven and there these nineteen hundred years sitteth on the right hand of His Own Self but yet shall come in the latter day to doom the quick and dead when all ! 169! jection,! “Steve! boy”! (14.1528),! yields! the! nickname! Dedili! (530),! which!amalgamates!Dedalus,!debil(ity)!—!the!only!meaning!of!de: bilis! in! Hungarian! being! idiocy,! mental! retardedness! —,! and! the! slangy! syntagm! de+ dili(s),! “how! bonkers,”! that! renders! the! Div.! Scep.!a!dedal!gaga.!A!reference!to!the!Yeats!sisters,!Elizabeth!&! Lily!—!apostrophized!“the!weird!sisters”!in!Telemachus!(1.365)!—! &!Dun!Emer!Press,!which!they!ran!in!Dundrum,!where!several!ear9 ly!volumes!of!Yeats!were!published!—,!occasions!a!disseminative! construct!that!asks!for!back9translation!into!normative!Hungarian! and!raises!the!question,!tongue9in9cheek,!what’s!in!a!name:!! To!be!printed!and!bound!at!the!Druiddrum!press!by! two!designing!females.!Calf!covers!of!pissedon! green.!(14.1454)!! HU/Szentkuthy!527:!Nyomtatták!és!kötötték!impri9 máturha!pergamenter,!borítót!pervezte!rafinő.! [Printed!and!bound!in!imprimatur+++spit!parchment! (+!Lat.!–er),!cover!designed+++pervert(ed)!by!re: fined/cunning+female.]!! “Standard+Hu”:!Nyomtatták!és!kötötték!imprimát9 urba!pergament(re),!borítót!tervezte+rafinált!nő.! Szentkuthy’s!translation!version!conflates!the!two!sentences,!add9 ing! a! (mock)9pedantic! Latinate! inflection.! The! portmanteaux! for! “designing!females”!slip!in!a!strong!sexual!innuendo,!corroborated! by! the! hint! at! perversion! on! design!(rafinált,! cognate! and! false! friend!of!“refined,”!means!somebody!cunning,!worldly!—!said!of!a! woman,!it!would!connote!a!person!who!skilfully!exploits!her!sex9 appeal!for!achieving!her!goals),!while!also!forsaking!the!metamor9 phic!Homeric!epithet!“pissedon!green”!(a!relative!of!“snotgreen”)! for! the! sake! of! a! full9blown! Szentkuthysm.! The! internal! corre9 spondence! with! Telemachus19! is! partially! obscured,! being! trans9 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the quick shall be dead already” (9.492–499): J.N. Turner, “A Commentary on the Closing of ‘Oxen of the Sun’,” James Joyce Quarterly 35 (1997) 83–111, 84. 19 “Five lines of text and ten pages of notes about the folk and the fishgods of Dun- drum. Printed by the weird sisters in the year of the big wind” (1.365). ! 170! ferred!to!another!textual!locus:!the!reference!to!the!mucous!sub9 stance!coughed!up!(turha)!in!the!distortion!of!imprimatur!never9 theless!creates!a!link!to!the!“bard’s!noserag”!(1.73)!of!that!color,! turhakapca!(7),!a!mock9Homeric!compound!of!“spit/snot”!and!the! pejorative!kapca,!foot9rag,!or!any!cheap!piece!of!cloth,!appositely! illustrating!the!translator’s!custom!of!literally!lowering!the!regis9 ter.!! Many! such! translation! choices! give! the! impression! that! Szentkuthy! was! approaching! the! Ulysses! text! from,! with! a! back9 ground!knowledge!of,!the!unbound!semiosis!of!the!Wake+—!pack9 aging,!as!it!were,!the!experience!of!reading!two!texts!in!one!for! the!Hungarian!reader.20!He!is!known!to!have!been!one!of!the!early! readers!of!Work:in:Progress+—+of!which!his!library!included!Anna+ Livia+Plurabelle!(1930)!and!Haveth+Childers+Everywhere!(1931)!and! with!which!he!creatively!engaged!before!1939,!supposedly!trans9 lating! an! excerpt! of! it.21! Many! Szentkuthysms! of! the! early! epi9 sodes,!as!well!as!his!rendering!of!the!more!experimental!Aeolus,! Sirens! or! Oxen,! for! instance,! create! the! effect! of! actualizing! the! experience!of!the!Wakean+language!—!a!language!which!already! foreshadows!the!postmodern!linguistic!turn!—!in!translating!the! previous!work,!pre9programming!a!reading!that!is!not!only!linear! but! also! aslant,! askew,! with! multiple! eyes22! to! the! lateral! leaps! and! lapses! of! the! tongue.! This! carnivalized! and! even! babelized! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 Critic Dávid Szolláth, a member of the translator team working on the new Hungarian Ulysses, arrives at a similar conclusion in his 2010 article. 21 Ferenc Takács, oral communication. However, Maria Tompa, the director of the Szentkuthy Estate, claims there is no such translation fragment. The possibility of its existence does however remain, and it could be discovered once the entire contents of the diary, and other manuscripts, have been scoured. 22 Philosopher Béla Hamvas, one of Joyce’s first, and most discerning, critics in Hun- garian, wrote of the “mystical satirico-symbolical poem” Finnegans Wake in a 1931 article, stating that its words are “multiple-eyed” and “live multiple lives.” See Márta Goldmann, “Belated Reception: James Joyce’s Works in Hungary,” Comparative Crit- ical Studies 3, No. 3 (2006) 227–248, 230. ! 171! translation!text!raises!the!question!of!the!fruitful!illusion!of!trans9 latability!—!what!should!a!translator!be!faithful!to,!the!signifier!or! the!signified.!Szentkuthy!seems!to!have!consistently!opted!for!the! former;!playing!on!Martha!Clifford’s!lapsing!letter,!it!is!indeed!se9 ductive!to!affirm!that!he!favors!the!word!to!the!world,!at!only!a! letter’s! remove! from! the! latter,! especially! in! translation! where! structural,!allusive,!and!rhizomatic!connections,!networks,!depend! on!a!series!of!contextual!negotiations.!!!! ! However,!it!must!be!stated!that,!while!Szentkuthy’s!Hun9 garian! version! succeeds,! with! a! creditable! margin! of! honor,! in! making! a! notoriously! difficult! work! even! more! difficult! to! read23! and!pre9programs!a!reading!of!Joyce’s!book9web!as!a!gigantic!car9 nival! of! language! first! and! foremost,! it! also! sensibly! levels! the! styles! and! registers! of! Joyce’s! original.! Szentkuthy’s! self9 generating! word9machine! tends! to! take! over;! as! Kappanyos! and! Szolláth!argue!in!their!2010!articles,!Szentkuthysms!dominate!the! pages!of!the!Hungarian!Ulysses!in!such!overwhelming!density!that! they! become! its! chief! stylistic! marker,! obscuring! thereby! other! important!thematizations!of!language,!diachronic!as!well!as!per9 taining!to!the!use!of!internal!translations!or!dislocutions.!Moreo9 ver,!Szentkuthy’s!theory!of!wordplay,!applied!full!gear!to!Ulysses,! is!backed!up!by!his!own!idiosyncratic,!and!encyclopaedic,!patterns! of!erudition,!liberally!overlooking!such!considerations!as!the!char9 acters’!distinct!levels!of!education!—!to!the!effect!that!most!char9 acters!in!the!Hungarian!version!tend!to!speak!the!Szentkuthyan!id9 iom!only.24!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 23 A view obviously not endorsed by Péter Esterházy, who affirms in Yes: “For me, Joyce’s voice in Szentkuthy’s translation sounded very natural, I had no difficulty reading the book and it gave me much pleasure.” 24 Famously, in Prae, even the prostitute character has a Sorbonne degree and her lengthy philosophical excursions are on a par with those of the finest minds around. ! 172! If!Szentkuthy’s!juvenile!fictional!experiment!was!dismissed! in!1934!by!Babits,!the!most!influential!critic!and!poetaster!of!the! age,!for!lacking!in!Joyce’s!“plurivocity!and!Rabelaisian!richness,”25! it!seems!that,!by!the!time!he!came!to!translate!Ulysses,!he!learned! his!lesson!re!Rabelais!and!did!everything!to!entwine!the!Hungari9 an!Ulysses!with!laughters!low.!In!contradistinction!to!the!earlier,! literalist! translation! by! Endre! Gáspár! (1947)! which,! for! all! its! at9 tention!to!detail!and!its!merits!in!transposing!the!original’s!“surre9 alist,! expressionist,! impressionist,! naturalistic! and! symbolic! ef9 fects,”26! generally! fails! to! see! Joyce’s! humour,! Szentkuthy’s! ver9 sion!is!explosively!Gargantuan.!Considering!the!reputation!of!the! original!—!to!which!G.B.!Shaw!famously!refused!to!subscribe,!but! considered!that!“every!male!Dubliner!between!30!and!50!should! be!forced!to!read!it”27—!and!the!fact!that!the!translation!was!pub9 lished!at!a!time!when!literary!works,!and!films!with!openly!sexual! content,!were!routinely!censored,!cut!in!communist!countries,!the! unabashed! salaciousness! of! Szentkuthy’s! version! is! even! more! striking.28!The!rationale!for!this!can!be!found,!at!least!partially,!in! Szentkuthy’s! 1968! essay! detailing! his! conceptions! of! translation! where! he! announces! his! intention! to! actualize! Joyce’s! novel! —! Gargantualizing!his!text!to!achieve!a!linguistic!and!cultural!shock9 effect!akin!to!that!presumably!produced!by!the!original.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 25 Rugási, “Leatrice,” 735. 26 Péter Egri, “James Joyce’s Works in Hungarian Translation,” James Joyce Quarterly 3 (1967) 234–236, 234. 27 John Nash, James Joyce and the Act of Reception: Reading, Ireland, Modernism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) 100. 28 A comparison might be made to the Romanian Ulysses, translated by poet Mircea Ivănescu and published in 1984, which was sensibly “tamed,” cleansed of taboo words, its register de-slanged, heightened to be compatible with the aesthetics and public morals of communist Romania, as Arleen Ionescu shows in her case-study on Molly’s monologue in Romanian. See Arleen Ionescu, “Un-Sexing Ulysses: The Ro- manian Translation “under” Communism,” Scientia Traductionis 8 (2010) 223–238. ! 173! The!Hungarian!translation,!as!even!a!casual!leafing!through! demonstrates,! tends! to! explicitate! innuendos,! renders! slippery! names!more!overtly!sexual,!and!is!everywhere!sprinkled!with!sa9 lacious!points!and!puns.!!The! French!writer!Paul!de!Kock!for!in9 stance,!whom!Molly!singles!out!for!his!“nice!name”!and!who!once! had!a!wide!Hungarian!readership,!is!rebaptized!Paul!de!Basoche:! the! Frenchified! spelling! hides! a! Hungarian! four9letter! word,! the! author! of! erotic! novels! translating! as! a! Very! Copulator;! Boylan’s! dandy! appellative! is! rendered! with! the! slightly! folksy! adjective+ Bagzó!(horny).!Even!more!interesting!are!Szentkuthy’s,!often!en9 tirely!gratuitous,!inserted!points!and!witticisms.!In!the!Oxen+Coda! for! instance,! where! Joyce’s! intimidating! breakdown! of! idioms,! coupled!with!lack!of!information,!must!have!made!every!second! word!look!potentially!obscenable,!the!timid!thunder9word!“Thun9 deration”!(14.1462),!patterned!on!Bloom’s!“moderation”!and!the! Cyclops! narrator’s! “botheration,”! becomes! “Alea! ejaculata! est”! (527),!in!tune!with!a!Nighttown9bound!carnivalesque!episode.!!!!!!!!!!! Szentkuthy! uses! several! tactics! in! achieving! linguistic! and! cultural!shock9effect.!He!may!resort!to!recondite!double:entendre,! playfully! clothing! openly! sexual! content! in! foreign! phrases! and! quasi9medical9sounding! Latinisms,! as! if! acting! on! the! Beckettian! incentive! to! calculatingly! deprave! the! cultivated! reader.! Such! is! the!case!of!his!rendering!of!a!Sirens+crux!that!combines!the!name! Goodwin! and! the! sound! of! woodwinds! in! a! densely! musical! phrase:!“Woodwind!like!Goodwin’s!name”!(11.!1050).!Szentkuthy! cuts!through!the!Gordian!knot!with!much!aplomb,!forsaking!the! problematic!name:!“Fagott!és!fuvola!mintha!falliteráció”![Bassoon! and! flute,! as! if! falliteration]! (353).! The! Hungarian! sentence! f9 alliterates!on!two!musical!instruments!in!a!word9amalgam!with!a! recognizably!phallic!touch,!from!whose!casual!encounter!with!the! ! 174! (sexually!charged)!flute!the!cultivated!readers!could!also!spell!out! more!than!a!hint!at!fellatio.! ! Another!frequent!device!is!to!lay!linguistic!landmines,!oc9 casions!in!the!Hungarian!text!that!trigger!salacious!associations,!as! in! the! case! of! Joyce’s! smart! play! on! pun/punish! in! Martha! Clifford’s! letter! in! Sirens:! “How! will! you! pun?! You! punish! me?”! (11.891).!As!for!the!Hungarian!version:!“Hogy!fog!megb?+Büntet+ engemet?”![How!will!you!f..+(me)?!(Are!you)!punishing!me?]!(347),! the!coded!linguistic!ellipsis!evokes!the!very!taboo9word,!a!mono9 syllabic!b9word!complete!with!the!verbal!prefix! meg:,!conveying! aspect!(perfect).!Part!of!the!textual!game!in!soliciting!the!reader’s! filling!in!the!four9letter!word!in!the!proffered!gap!is,!to!play!the! expected!association!innocently!down!in!the!next!sentence,!with!a! wink!at!the!reader:!honi+soit+qui+mal+y+pense.!! Reading!Ulysses!in!Szentkuthy’s!Hungarian!might!give!the! impression!that!it!was!intended!for!re9reading!rather!than!read9 ing:!that,!just!like! the!novelist9translator’s! chief!works,!Prae!and! the!St.+Orpheus+Breviary,!written!as!commentaries!around!other! narratives,! the! translation! was! a! rendering9cum9commentary! of! Joyce’s!original.!If!the!text,!rather!too!willingly,!forsakes!much!sty9 listic,!structural!fine9tuning,!it!does!so!to!sin!on!the!side!of!trans: luding.! As! Fritz! Senn! writes,! “translations! are! off! the! toptic,! are! less! dynamic,! less! Protean,! less! gushing,! less! self9righting,! less! looming,!less!weaving,!less!misleading!—!also!more!misleading!—,! less!synechdochal,!less!dislocutory,!less!everything!and!—!perhaps! most! bitterly! —! less! transluding.! They! should! be! admired,! not! trusted.”29! Definitely! a! translation! to! be! admired,! not! trusted,! Szentkuthy’s!Ulysses!noticeably!strives!to!make!Joyce’s!text!more! kaleidoscopic! —! as! far! as! an! inherently! less! kaleidoscopic! lan9 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 29 Fritz Senn, Joyce’s Dislocutions: Essays on Reading as Translation, ed. by John Paul Riquelme (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984) 37. ! 175! guage,!Hungarian,!allows!—!in!a!superlatively!misleading!way,!in!a! collideorscape! of! transfers! that! often! allows! structurally! vital! senses!to!fade!in!favor!of!punning!interlingual!bridges.!! *! Given!the!cultic!status!of!Szentkuthy’s!text!in!the!translating!cul9 ture,! the! 2012! translation! version! had! to! address! the! multi9 faceted! Joyce! work! against! the! canvas! of! its! reception! and! the! creative!responses!that!Szentkuthy’s!strong!(mis)reading!triggered! in! Hungarian! literature! –! in! addition! to! trying! to! prioritize! those! aspects! of! Joyce’s! text! which! have! been! adumbrated! by! earlier! readings.!Even!if!a!thorough!analysis!of!the!systemic!differences! between!the!two!versions’!strategies!far!exceeds!the!scope!of!the! present! work,! perhaps! a! few! examples! may! throw! light! on! the! reading! experience! offered! by! the! two! dispatchings,! especially! with!a!view!to!such!facets!of!Joyce’s!self9generating,!overflowing! textuality!that!have!been!seen!by!both!early!and!recent!criticism! as!the!most!disruptive!stylistic!strategies.!These!examples!will!be! taken!from!the!Coda!of!“Oxen!of!the!Sun,”!a!near9Wakean!jumble! of!dialects,!pidgins,!and!slangs!likely!to!face!translators!–!especial9 ly!early!translators!working!without!the!assistance!of!most!of!the! critical!apparatus!–!with!nearly!insurmountable!difficulties!in!es9 tablishing! even! the! denotative! meaning! of! the! overlapping,! clipped,! ruptured! sentences.! This! extended! “word9promiscuity”! that! receives! special! attention! in! Szentkuthy’s! discussion! of! the! achievement! of! his! predecessor! Gáspár,! reveals! both! the! strengths!of!Szentkuthy’s!linguistic!creativity,!and!the!limits!of!his! versatility! and! perceptiveness! to! non9standard! usages.! The! 2012! translation! in! its! turn! has! to! attempt! to! show! to! the! Hungarian! reader! what! Szentkuthy’s! version! largely! failed! to! convey:! the! multidialectal! tissue,! the! intricate! intratextual! echoes! and! corre9 ! 176! spondences,! the! continuities! and! discontinuities! of! the! clipped! voices.!! In!translation,!structural,!allusive,!and!rhizomatic!networks! depend! on! a! series! of! contextual! negotiations.! The! information! that!one!of!the!speakers!lost!money!as!a!result!of!betting!the!Gold! Cup!tip!offered!by!a!certain!Stephen!Hand!–!a!real9life!figure!who! allegedly! paid! a! telegramboy! to! slip! him! the! private! racing! tele9 gram! he! was! carrying,! opened! it,! bet! the! horse! in! question! and! lost!his!money!–!is!certainly!not!easy!to!retrieve!from!the!follow9 ing!passage,!even!by!a!native!speaker:!“The!ruffin!cly!the!nab!of! Stephen! Hand! as! give! me! the! jady! coppaleen.! He! strike! a! tele9 gramboy!paddock!wire!big!bug!Bass!to!the!depot.!Shove!him!a!jo9 ey!and!grahamise”!(14.1514).! As!Gifford!informs!us!(445),!the!first!phrase!is!a!direct!bor9 rowing!from!“The!Beggar's!Curse”!section!of!Richard!Head’s!The+ Canting+Academy+ (1673),!being!seventeenth9century!underworld! cant!for!“the!devil!take!the!head!of.”!The!“coppaleen”!stands!for! diminutive,! Gaelic! horse;! “joey”! is! mid919th! century! slang! for! a! fourpenny!coin.!Finally,!“grahamise”!(meaning,!opening!letters!se9 cretly)!springs!from!the!name!of!English!politician!Sir!James!Gra9 ham!(1792–1861),!who!achieved!fame!by!procuring!a!warrant!to! open! the! letters! of! Italian! revolutionary! Giuseppe! Mazzini! (who! was! seeking! political! asylum! in! England)! and! communicated! the! contents!to!Austrian!officials!and!thereby!enraged!public!opinion.! The!three!sentences!defamiliarize!English!both!synchronically!and! diachronically,!forcing!English!readers!to!a!fresh!reconceptualiza9 tion!of!language,!of!narrative!cohesion!and!continuity.! A! translation! text,! on! the! other! hand,! obviously! has! to! weigh!contextual!intelligibility!against!possible!alternatives!of!de9 familiarizing! the! target! language.! Szentkuthy’s! version! retrieves! ! 177! most!of!the!elements!of!the!narrative!sequence,!which!he!explici9 tates!in!contemporary!colloquial!Hungarian!–!with!the!only!lapse! that! Stephen! Hand! becomes! easily! confused! with! Stephen! Dedalus,!the!novel’s!Stephen:! Hogy!a!húsát!mérnék!ki!a!lómészárszékbe!ennek!a! Stephennek!! A! rossz! hordár! nekem! ad! tippeket! arról!a!gereblyecsontú!gebéről.!Összeakad!egy!sür9 gönykihordóval!az!istálló!tövében,!s!elszedi!tıle!an9 nak!a!szemétláda!Bassnak!a!táviratát.!Odaköp!neki! valami! pekuniált! és! megfújja! a! táviratot.! (Sze! 1/529)! [May! the! meat! of! this! Stephen! be! sold! out! in! the! horse!butcher’s!shop!!The!wretched!carrier!wants! to! sell! me! his! tips! on! that! rake9boned! jade.! He! bumps! into! some! telegramboy! around! the! stalls! and!gets!that!scumbag!Bass’s!telegram!out!of!him.! Spits! him! some! pecunia+saliva! and! blows! (i.e.,! steals)!the!telegram.]! While!his!solution!offers!neither!historical!nor!dialectal!variations! within! “Standard”! Hungarian,! his! tendency! to! court! propinquity! and!excesses!of!language!can!be!seen!in!the!alliterative!syntagm! gereblyecsontú+gebe+[‘rake9boned!jade’]!and!the!rhetorically!elab9 orate! oath,! “May! the! meat! of! this! Stephen! be! sold! out! in! the! horse!butcher’s!shop.”!More!interesting!is!his!solution!for!the!last! sentence:!while!the!verb!grahamise+is!obviously!beyond!transla9 tors’!reach,!he!attempts!to!compensate!this!loss!with!a!portman9 teau.!In!the!phrase!odaköp+neki+valami+pekuniált+[spit!him!a!bit!of! pecunia++!nyál+(saliva)]!the!Latin!for!money+hides,!in!the!attribu9 tive! suffix,! the! pronunciation! of! the! Hungarian! nyál+ [saliva].! The! occurrence! of! saliva+ is! in! tune! with! the! chosen! verbs! [odaköp:! ‘spits,’! megfújja:! ‘blows! –! i.e.,! steals! (the! telegram)’].! The! “Cor9 rected”!version!on!the!other!hand,!! Hogy! a! ragya! verje! ki! a! képit! ennek! a! Stephen! Handnek,! hogy! ilyen! ágrólszakadt! gebét! passzolt! nekem.!Elkap!egy!sürgönykihordót!a!kifutó!mellett,! és! elszedi! tőle! annak! a! szemétláda! Bassnak! a! ! 178! táviratát.!Odadob!egy!kis!jattot,!és!gőz!fölött!kinyit9 ja.!(“Corr”!/!405–6)! explicitates! narrative! information! –! including! the! name! Stephen! Hand! –! with! no! attempt! at! defamiliarization.! The! last! sentence! amply! illustrates! the! differences! between! the! two! translations’! objectives:!while!Szentkuthy!made!recourse!to!arcane!cultural!and! linguistic!concoctions!which!the!Hungarian!reader!has!to!unpack! in! order! to! retrieve! the! message,! the! new! text! slips! in! a! slightly! obsolete! slang! for! money,! jatt,! and! explains! the! recondite! gra: hamise+as,!open!a!telegram!by!steaming!it.!Where!the!original!so9 licits!the!English!reader’s!creative!backtranslating!effort,!the!Hun9 garian!reader!of!both!versions!may!safely!lean!back:!the!message! –! or,! “messes! of! mottage”! (FW! 183.22)! –! is! explained! (away)! to! her/him.! Szentkuthy’s!attempt!to!recreate!the!kaleidoscopic!textu9 ality!of!the!Coda+rests!on!four!main!strategies!that!can!be!distin9 guished:! A)! the! studding! of! the! text! with! extra! language! games! and! portmanteaux;! B)! the! arbitrary! insertion! of! literary! and! cul9 tural!allusions!–!mostly!not!supported!by!the!original;!C)!augment9 ing! linguistic! humor! through! sliding! signification,! (vulgar)! double+ entendre;!and!finally,!D)!a!tendency!to!proliferate!tropes!and!en9 hance!rhetoric.!In!contradistinction,!the!“Corrected”!text!clarifies! and!explicitates,!pares!down!language!effects,!rectifies!textual!loci! perverted! by! Szentkuthy,! resorting! as! a! rule! to! nonspecific! sub9 standard! linguistic! forms,! with! an! occasional! touch! of! German9 Yiddish!accents!or!loan!words!from!the!Gypsy!language.!Only!em9 phatic! language! effects! in! the! original! are! rendered! in! portman9 teau!form.! Where! in! the! original! we! find! a! playfully! ungrammatical! slang!oath,!“Tarnally!dog!gone!my!shins!if!this!beent!the!bestest! puttiest! longbreak! yet”! (14.1541),! Szentkuthy! significantly! en9 ! 179! hances!rhetoric!and!language!effects!–!interweaving!extra!word9 play!and!uniquitous!(even!multilingual)!portmanteaux,!taking!ad9 vantage!of!homophonous,!homographic,!and!paronymic!opportu9 nities! offered! at! a! lexical! level.! His! version,! “A! Belzebloom+ rokkáján!pörögjek!örögre,!hanetán!nemez!vala!a!legbumlibb!bak: kanális”! [May! I! spin! forever! on! the! spinning9wheel! of! Beel9 zebloom,! if! this! wasn’t! the! racketiest! Bacchanal:! Sze! 1/530],! in9 scribes!Bloom’s!name!on!that!of!Satan!–!foreshadowing,!as!a!gra9 tuitous! intratextual! link,! the! surreal! metamorphoses! to! occur! in! “Sirens.”! The! aural! distortion! of! örökre! [forever]! slips! in! ördög! [devil],!thus!doubly!inscribing!the!devil!in!the!oath;!the!rhetorically! somewhat! overwrought! phrase! is! also! strongly! alliterative,! the! phonetic!spelling!of!Bacchanal!also!allowing!for!an!askew!reading:! bak+kanális! [buck/male! +! sewer].! The! 2012! translation,! “Kutyák! rágják!a!sípcsontomat!mindörökké,!ha!nem!ez!az!eddigi!legjobb,! legfaszányosabb! nyári! szünetünk,”! irons! out! both! the! deviant! spelling!and!the!humorous!ungrammaticality!of!“bestest,”!explici9 tating!the!sentence.!Closer!to!the!original,!the!register!is!kept!col9 loquial!–!faszányos![appr.!bitching9twitching]!slipping!a!low!collo9 quial!note,!since!it!encodes!the!taboo!word!for!penis.! Among! its! many! untranslatabilities,! the! “Oxen”! Coda! sports! an! impressive! range! of! dialects,! pidgins! and! minor! lan9 guages,!with!long9standing!historical!and!literary!traditions!within! Standard!English.!Translation!texts!have!to!somehow!signal!their! difference!and!deviation!from!the!“major,”!standard!language!and! in!so!doing,!foreignize!and!minorize!the!target!language.!The!post9 mortem!tribute!to!Pat!Dignam,!“Of!all!de!darkies!Massa!Pat!was! verra!best“!(14.1557)!employs!a!variety!of!Black!English!that!ironi9 cally! inscribes! Blackness! on! the! stereotypical! Irish! name! Pat.! Szentkuthy’s! solution! does! not! make! any! attempt! at! inventing! a! variety! of! Hungarian! that! could! function! as! a! translated! dialect.! ! 180! His!solution,!“Az!egész!nacionálgaleriben!VII!Piás!vere!Dignam!volt! a!legbecsületesebb!fickó”![In!the!whole!(National!!Gallery!+!galeri:! sl.,!gang)!(Pius+++Boozer)!VII!vere+Dignam!was!the!most!honourable! fellow”!531]!performs!an!act!of!foreign9language!substitution:!in9 stead!of!a!minor!(dialect)!form!of!the!source!language,!it!harness9 es!Latin,!the!language!of!classical!erudition;!the!name!of!numer9 ous!popes,!Pius,!is!“miswritten,”!resulting!in!the!Hungarian!boozer+ [from! pia:! ‘booze’],! also! preserving! the! initials! of! the! fictional! character! who! turns! into! a! pope! of! dipsomaniacs.! At! the! same! time,! a! play! on! the! phonetic! spelling! of! National+ Gallery+ is! chanced,! galeri+ being! Hungarian! slang! for! gang,! resulting! in! an! ironic!side9slant!at!nation(hood).!What!for!the!English!reader!is!a! matter!of!internal!translation!becomes,!in!the!case!of!the!Hungar9 ian! one,! a! fake! interlingual! translation,! juggling! with! erudition! terms.! The! 2012! text’s! phrase,! “Minden! csávók! közül! Pat! gazda! volt! a! legfrankóbb”! [Of! all! fellows! master! (=farmer)! Pat! was! the! spiffiest],!restitutes!the!stereotypical!Irish!name!of!the!character,! and! attempts! to! harness! a! dialectal! version! of! Hungarian! that! could! elicit! an! effect! comparable! to! that! of! the! original.! The! phrase,! colloquial! rather! than! slangy,! is! colored! by! a! loanword! from! the! Gypsy! language,! long! current! in! colloquial! Hungarian:! csávó+[‘man,!guy’];!Black!English!is!assimilated!to!Gypsy!Hungari9 an,! both! minor! languages! having! traditionally! been! associated! with!an!underprivileged!position.! Towards!the!end!of!the!Coda,!one!of!the!drunken!company! heading!to!the!kips,!spots!Leopold!Bloom!and!exclaims!in!a!mem9 orable! portmanteau:! “Christicle,! who’s! this! excrement! yellow! gospeller! on! the! Merrion! hall?”! (14.1579)! Szentkuthy! concurs! with,!“A!pápa!seggire,!ki!az!a!bélsárga!bibliás,!aki!felfirkált!a!Mer9 rion!Hallra?”![Arse!of!the!pope,!who!is!this!excrement+yellow+bi9 ! 181! bleman!who!scribbled!on!Merrion!Hall?![Sze1/532].!While!Christi: cle,+ amalgamating! Christ! and! testicles,! is! exchanged! for! a! vulgar! oath! on! the! pope,! an! attempt! at! portmanteau9ing! is! made! else9 where!in!the!sentence,!in!pasting!bélsár+[med.,!‘excrement’!–!lit.,! ‘bowel! +! mud’]! and! sárga+ [‘yellow’];! the! language! effect! is! rein9 forced! by! the! alliteration.! The! 2012! version,! on! the! other! hand,! makes! no! attempt! whatsoever! at! reproducing! the! blasphemous! portmanteau,!replacing!it!with!a!mild!oath:!“Uramjézus,!ki!a!bánat! ez!a!székletházi!prédikátor!a!Merrion!Hall!falán?”![Lord!Jesus,!who! the!sorrows!is!this!preacher!from!excrement9abode!on!the!wall!of! Merrion!Hall?![407]!Word!amalgamation!is!attempted!elsewhere! in!the!sentence,!the!pasting!of!széklet+[med.,!‘stool’]!and!székház+ [‘headquarters’]!yielding!a!humorous!term!for!origins.! Not! only! does! Joyce! play! practical! jokes! on! innocent! and! scholarly! reader! alike,! packaging! well9nigh! irretrievable! (mis)quotes!in!even!the!most!unbuttoned!“broken!doggerel,”!but! he! further! complicates! the! work! of! deciphering! by! confounding! the!voices!and!inserting!links!to!other!passages!within!the!episode! or!elsewhere!in!the!novel.!As!genetic!scholars!demonstrated,!be9 tween! the! early! summer! of! 1920,! the! finishing! of! the! initial! fair! copy!of!the!episode!and!the!emergence!of!what!would!eventually! be!the!published!(1922)!text,!Joyce!made!significant!additions!to! the!episode:!his!insertions!–!sometimes!clipped!lines,!phrases!and! even!words!–!provide!intratextual!links,!as!well!as!augment!the!ef9 fect! of! simultaneity! of! the! episode,! of! different! speakers! inter9 rupting!each!other.!Such!a!late!addition!was!the!truncated!word! “Atitudes!”!that!punctuates!the!rhythm!of!an!American!Civil!War! marching! song! (Tramp,+ tramp,+ tramp,+ the+ boys+ are+ marching),! which! shares! its! tune! with! God+ Save+ Ireland,! and! which! here! is! given! a! comical! boozing! touch:! “British! Beatitudes!...! March!! Tramp,!tramp,!tramp,!the!boys!are!(atitudes!)!parching”!(14.1453– ! 182! 58).!The!truncated!Atitudes!echoes!an!earlier!list!of!B9words!in!the! same!passage,!the!“British!Beatitudes”!that!Szentkuthy!singles!out! in! his! 1947! essay! on! Gáspár’s! Ulysses.! In! the! 1926! Shakespeare! and!Company!edition!this!became,!by!an!unacknowledged!print9 er’s!error,!Attitudes,!the!correct!form!of!the!military!command.30! Arguably! the! most! significant! language! effects! that! translations! have!to!carry!over!are!the!carnivalizing!of!the!military!march,!and! the!clipping!of!the!“Beatitudes”!to!yield!an!intrusive!word!with!ha9 zily!Brit9bashing!military/colonial!associations.!In!Hungarian:!! Britt!bájak!...!Marcia!!Marstól!arschig!tempora+mu: tant.+Úr.!Torkom!tapló,!aszok!aszalva.!! [From! Mars! /! march! to! Arsch! tempora+ mutantur+ ++ ‘Lord.’! My! throat! (is)! (a)! parchment,! I! am! parched! parching:!Sze!1/527]! A!Brit!boldogságokat!...!Dulj!!Trapp,!trapp,!trapp,!a! torkok!(dogságok!)!szárazak.!! [March!! Tramp,! tramp,! tramp,! the! throats! are! (dognesses!)!dry:!“Corr”!/!404]!! Szentkuthy’s! solution! is! a! belle+ infidèle! that! weaves! its! own! rhi9 zomatic!network!of!allusions!and!(intra9)intertextual!connections:! it!toys!with!two!“master!languages”!–!the!language!of!Rome,!giv9 en! here! an! operatic! bend,! and! German,! the! colonial! “father9 language”!which!for!centuries!in!Hungarian!history!had!been!the! coercive!language!of!the!army.!His!rendering!light9heartedly!drops! the! (be)atitudes! and! so! forsakes! an! important! intratextual! link,! creating!a!seamless,!univocal!line.!Interestingly,!in!another!trun9 cated!word,!a!Gargantuan!joke!is!made!at!the!expense!of!the!mili9 tary:!by!“decapitating”!the!classical!deity!of!war!(in!Hungarian,!a! homonym!of!the!military!command!marsh)!we!get!the!unseemly! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30 On Joyce’s authorial changes and systematic additions to this passage, see James P. Sullivan, “Avant Texts and Polyglot Joyce. Expanding the Polyphonic Circus,” Rosa Maria Bollettieri Bosinelli & Ira Torresi, eds., Joyce Studies in Italy: Joyce and/in Translation (Roma: Bulzoni, 2007) 77–94, 91. ! 183! German!word!for!backside:!Arsch.+The!sentence!highlights!the!cul9 tural,!linguistic,!and!register!divide!between!the!two!words!by!an! offhand!perusal!of!the!classical!adage!tempora+mutantur,!tagging! Úr:! “Lord,”! signaling! at! the! same! time! a! change! of! the! musical! beat! and! tune,! to! underscore! the! sprightly! marching! rhythm.! Moreover,!the!pun!on!parching!is!supplanted!with!an!alliterating! cadence!that!echoes!the!wording!of!the!first!known!poem!in!the! Hungarian! language,! the! Lament+ of+ the+ Virgin+ Mary+ (Ómagyar+ Mária:siralom),!translated!from!a!Latin!Planctus!in!the!early!13th! century!–!an!arcane!example!of!the!replacement!of!some!(cultur9 ally!coded)!feature!of!the!original!text!with!a!feature!available!in! the!stock!held!by!the!target!language!genre.!His!version!thus!jug9 gles!with!a!series!of!both!domestic!and!foreign!literary!and!cultur9 al!allusions!and!transferences!and!eventually!turns!the!blabber!of! the!not!exactly!sober!company!into!the!verbal!sparkles!of!genuine! university!wits.!!! The! “Corrected”! text,! clipping! the! military! command! In: dulj![march],!fortuitously!yields!the!double9decker!command!dúlj,! the! imperative! of! the! verb! dúl:ni! [loot/pillage],! so! makes! visible! the! dark! side! of! militarism.! With! its! overlapping! voices,! it! also! short9circuits! the! B(e)at(t)itudes! (“boldogságok”)! with! bulldogs! –! one! of! the! “British! Beatitudes”;! accommodating! the! foreignness! of! the! English! word! (which! may! also! suggest! a! playful! back9 translation,!since!“dog9ness”!was!a!frequent!offensive!term!in!his9 torical! Hungarian),! it! passes! a! scathing! comment! on! British! rule.! Missing!altogether!is,!however,!the!humorous!punning!on!“parch9 ing”:! while! salvaging! the! military! march’s! beat,! the! Hungarian! phrase!irons!out!the!sentence’s!double9coding.! Based!on!these!few!examples,!it!is!easy!to!see!that!the!two! Hungarian!Codas!offer!a!very!different!experience!to!the!Hungari9 an!reader.!Where!Joyce’s!original!exploits!the!whole!range!of!Eng9 ! 184! lishes!diachronically!and!synchronically,!using!as!subtexts!a!wealth! of,! mostly! comic! music9hall,! songs! and! bawdry! rhymes,! Szentkuthy,!to!whom!many!of!the!dialectal!idiomatic!turns!and!al9 lusions!to!popular!culture!remained!obscure,!copes!by!starting!off! his!word9machine!at!full!gear.!His!version!transmogrifies!classical! erudition! terms! and! (mis)quotes! with! low! colloquial! Hungarian,! smuggles!in!misleading!allusions,!extra!intertextual!byplay!(either! domestic,!or!playing!on!French,!German,!and!Latin!by!way!of!for9 eign9language! substitution),! and! as! a! rule! proliferates! tropes,! augmenting!the!passage’s!Gargantuan!humor.!His!baroque!Coda! offers!the!Hungarian!reader!the!Babelized!“confusium”!of!indeed! “the!babbelers!with!their!thangas”!(FW!1.15)!where!every!seman9 tic! obscurity! is! transformed! into! a! linguistic,! stylistic! event! –! whether!by!ubiquitous!(often!multilingual)!portmanteau9ing,!allit9 eration,! sliding! signification,! or! aural! miswriting! to! court! vulgar! double+entendre.!It!is!a!translation!that!takes!risks!and!fails,!inevi9 tably,!but!these!failures!speak!of!a!text!that!is!eminently!risky!as! well!as!risqué.!! The!“Corrected”!version!goes!in!the!face!of!this!word9ing! strategy!and!as!a!rule!attempts!to!clarify!the!passage!semantically! and! contextually;! in! place! of! Joyce’s! variety! of! historical! to! con9 temporary!slangs,!dialects!and!broken!alcoherent!lingos,!we!find! mostly! (updated)! Hungarian! slang,! phonetic! approximations! of! drunken!babbling,!and!accents!that!suggest!Gypsy!Hungarian.!In! conformity!with!the!translator!team’s!“Ten!Commandments,”!the! least! specific! of! available! target! language! registers! is! used.31!Ex9 cesses!of!language!and!the!passage’s!explosive!humor!have!been! pared!down,!the!occurrence!of!portmanteaux!is!significantly!lower! than! with! Szentkuthy;! their! disseminative! joy:sense,! however,! is! made! to! perform! along! lines! traced! by! the! original’s! linguistic! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 31 Cf. Kappanyos, “Fragments of a Report,” 565. ! 185! mushrooming.! Where! the! first! translation! sins! on! the! side! of! transluding,! weaving! its! own! kaleidoscopic! patterns! of! “miswrit9 ing”!that!significantly!depart!from!the!original!while!emulating!the! effects!of!its!stylistic!daring!and!experimentation!with!language(s),! the! new! version! seems! to! forget! that,! in! case! of! the! “Oxen”! “messes! of! mottage”! (FW! 183.22)! at! least,! form! is! content,! and! content,! form! –! to! borrow! the! phrase! of! the! one9time! (in)disciplined!disciple,!Beckett.!Thus!it!opts!for!narrative,!seman9 tic,! and! contextual! cohesion! but,! in! its! attempt! to! emancipate! Joyce’s!voice!from!the!voiceover!of!Szentkuthy!with!which!it!has! been!too!long!and!too!unproblematically!equated,!rather!too!of9 ten!remains!oblivious!to!the!Joycean!elfish!grin!and!the!accompa9 nying! incentive! to! “write! dangerously”! and! “be! prepared! to! founder.”32! ! Erika Mihálycsa, “Horsey Women & Arse-temises: Wake-ing Ulysses in Translation,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 158–186. This is an expanded and redeveloped version of my essay, “Hors- ey Women and Arse-temises: Wake-ing Ulysses in Translation,” originally published in Why Read Joyce in the 21st Century? Joyce Studies in Italy 13, ed. by Franca Ruggieri & Enrico Terrinoni (Roma: Edizioni Q, 2012) 79–91. Additionally, it also uses ex- cerpts from another essay of mine, “From mess to message: On transposing the ‘Oxen’ Coda into Hungarian,” published in the e- journal MediAzioni 14 (2013) 1–32. E.M. would like to thank the editors of Joyce Studies in Italy and the editors of MediAzioni for granting their permission to repub- lish this material. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 32 Joyce in conversation with Arthur Power, quoted in Tim Conley, Joyces Mistakes: Problems of Intention, Irony, and Interpretation (Toronto; Buffalo; London: Toronto University Press, 2003) 36. ! 186! ! Pigeon-Quivering Test Idols: John Cowper Powys & Miklós Szentkuthy Nicholas Birns ! !"#$%&%$'% ! !!!!"#$%!&#%'()*+,-! -!./01! ! "#$%&'("! %)! *$+! ,(-*-"$! .%/+&-"*! '.0! +""'1-"*! 2%$.! #%34+(! 4%31"!56789:6;<=>!$'/+!'&3'1"!0+,'*+0!3$+*$+(!%(!.%*!$+!3'"! '!?%0+(.-"*@!ABCDBCE!BFG!CHIBJGFG!KL!MLMGMJN!GDJDCG!KO!PKLGPFKMGLCGG! JLQ!RECJSFLT!DJRKKG!IMD!BFH!FLDK!DBC!NCJTMC!KO!UFQCV!2KWPCV!&JAECLPCV!KE! 3KKNOV! KE! ABCDBCE! BFG! BCODWV! HMNDFINKD! LKXCNG! ECHJFLCQ! FL! /FPDKEFJL! formal!confines!albeit!with!very!changed!perspective!and!subject!matter.! Powys! was! one! of! a! large! family,! many! of! who! achieved! excellence! in! writing! or! other! forms! of! creative! endeavor;! two! brothers! of! his,! Theodore! Francis! (T.F.,! a! metaphysical! allegorist! who! was! the! most! favored! of! the! brothers! by! the! then\regnant! critical! consensus)! and! Llewelyn! (of! whom! more! later)! also! became! prominent! writers.! John! Cowper!Powys!did!not!fully!develop!as!a!writer!until!he!was!in!his!fifties! and!in!the!United!States,!where!he!spent!many!years!living,!traveling,!and! lecturing.!In!the!1920s,!he!began!a!remarkable!series!of!novels!that!are! among! the! most! convulsive! and! mighty! to! come! out! of! the! twentieth! century! —! Wolf% Solent% (1929),% A% Glastonbury% Romance! (1932),! Weymouth% Sands% (1933).% He! also! wrote! much! else,! including! literary! criticism! and! massive! books! such! as! The% Complex% Vision! (1920),! In% Defense% of% Sensuality% (1930;% a! fun! alternate! title! for! this! would! be% Marginalia%on%Casanova),!and!The%Art%of%Happiness!(1935),!all!of!which! hovered!in!a!space!between!metaphysics!and!self\improvement.!Powys’s! output! is! so! prodigious,! and! the! space! allotted! for! him! in! canonical! modernism! so! small,! that! his! reputation! is! still! being! assessed.! One! aspect,!though,!is!certain:!in!an!era!that!prized!international!recognition,! Powys! did! not! have! that! to! the! extent! he! was! known! in! the! English\ speaking!world.!When,!very!late!in!his!life,!Powys!was!presented!with!a! literary!award!from!the!city!of!Hamburg,!bestowed!by!the!German!man! of!letters!Rolf!Italiaander,!it!was!a!late,!astonishing,!&!all!too!isolated!gift.! !!!!!!! There!was!however!one!reader!who!found!Powys,!in!a!country!far! different!from!England!in!tongue!and!topography,!but!similar!in!having!an! overlay! of! history! where! early! and! later! settlements! and! contending! heritages! meant! that! the! sense! of! the! past! was! as! splayed! as! the! innuendos!of!perception.!Miklós!Szentkuthy!(1908–1988),!who!was!over! thirty!years!younger!than!Powys,!had!a!similarly!ambitious,!multifaceted,! 188 and! inevitably! misunderstood! career.! Szentkuthy! first! came! to! fame! in! the! mid\1930s! with! Prae,! his! answer! to! Joycean! modernism,! and! an! aphoristic!philosophical!book,!Towards%The%One%And%Only%Metaphor.%He! then! began% the% St.% Orpheus% Breviary,! his! life’s! work,! a! metahistorical% roman%fleuve.!!Communist!oppression,!though,!meant!that!this!work!had! to!be!interrupted,!as!Szentkuthy!(who!was!deeply!learned!about!music,! and!had!a!musical!dimension!to!his!writing!possessed!by!few!of!his!more! world\renowned! literary! contemporaries)! turned! largely! to! novels! and! biographical!‘fantasias’!about!composers.!It!was!only!in!the!1970s!that!he! returned!to!his!magnum!opus,!which!he!managed!to!barely!finish!before! he! died.! Szentkuthy! was! rigorous! and! lyrical! where! Powys! was! often! multifarious!and!sensate,!living!under!successive!state!oppressors!while! Powys! enjoyed! the! ambiguities! of! freedom,! was! nonetheless! one! of! Powys’s!truest!readers.!In!scrutinizing!this!act!of!reading,!we!can!see!how! author!and!reader!can!make!a!connection!not!only!in!the!time!of!their! own! living! but! through! the! alternate! ‘times’! of! history! and! the! imagination,! that! it! is! not! just! a! connection! between! isolated! geniuses! but!between!the!skeins!of!implications!that!gifted!writers!gather!around! them.!! ! It! is! Powys's! novel! A% Glastonbury% Romance% (1932)! that! is! strategically!mentioned!in!Szentkuthy’s!oeuvre.!Szentkuthy!read!the!book! in!the!early!spring!of!1934!and!heavily!underlined!and!marked!his!copy.! Although! Szentkuthy! mentions! him! several! times! throughout! Towards% the%One%&%Only%Metaphor,!the!key!Powys!reference!occurs!very!early!on! in! Black% Renaissance,! the! second! book! of! the! St.% Orpheus% Breviary.! Szentkuthy! begins! the! book! by! describing! the! life! of! St.! Dunstan,! the! principal!spiritual!leader!and!power!broker!of!tenth\century!Anglo\Saxon! England:! ! 189 He! received! a! religious! upbringing! in! Glastonbury,! the! setting! for! J.C.! Powys’! monumental! novel! A% Glastonbury% Romance,! and! what! is! decisive! (for! both! Dunstan! and! Powys)! is! that! they! were! fused! together! by! Celtic! Benedictine! monks! who! had! fled! from! Ireland! from! the! above\mentioned! Irish! old! pagan! myths,! old! Judaic! and! early! Christian! legends,! and! the! uncategorizable! variegation!of!the!kaleidoscopic!pantheon!of!the!early!or! imperial! Romans.! In! that! Christianity! there! was! more! paganism!than!people!might!imagine,!but!there!was!also! more! Christianity! (nonetheless)! than! people! imagine.! For! pedagogical! aims,! therefore,! on! the! left! side! of! a! highly! simplified! stage! would! stand! Stonehenge’s! gigantic! prehistoric!altar!or!temple!stones,!as!stormily,!bones!and! dissection! of! the! sky,! as! the! way! the! painter! Constable! portrayed! them! (1836)! —! whereas! on! the! right! side! Roman!temples!with!Greek!orders!in!which!Christians!have! already!said!mass.! ! ! The!elastic!property!of!intertextual!citation,!that!if!it!is!made!once! it! can! be! applied! everywhere,! emanates! from! this! conjunction.! If! Szentkuthy!had!never!mentioned!Powys,!the!fruits!of!such!a!connection! would! forever! remain! speculative;! that! he! did! even! once! opens! up! a! whole!range!of!parallels!to!scholarly!inquiry.!Szentkuthy’s!Dunstan!is!very! much! a! Powysian! Dunstan.! Szentkuthy! concedes! that! Dunstan! was! a! conventionally,! though! brilliantly,! pious! Christian,! but,! drawing! on! accounts! —! perhaps! revealed! to! Szentkuthy! through! the! Dunstan! of! Andrew!Lang’s!Book%of%Saints%and%Heroes,!a!book!read!frequently!by!the! young!in!the!early!twentieth!century!—!made!by!his!enemies!of!pagan! and! occult! tendencies.! The! Dunstan! presented! in! Black% Renaissance! is! more!like!Walter!Pater's!Denys!D’Auxerre!(from!Imaginary%Portraits)%than! anybody! who! actually! existed! in! the! tenth\century! English! church.! Szentkuthy’s! portrait! is! one! of! mediality! —! Dunstan! is! a! Christian! with! pagan!aspects.!One!can!see!Szentkuthy!standing!between!two!extremes! of! modernist! attitudes! towards! religion:! the! reaffirmation! of! Christian! 190 tradition!made!by!T.S.!Eliot,!and!the!utter!rejection!of!it!by!D.H.!Lawrence.! Powys!might!have!offered!to!the!Hungarian!writer!an!example!of!how!to! dwell!innovatively!between!these!opposites.!! Though!Powys,!like!Lawrence,!was!a!vitalist,!a!channeler!of!bodily! energies,! and! an! erotic! visionary,! he! was,! though! not! a! Christian,! not! exactly!not!a!Christian!either.!The!son!of!a!country!parson,!he!retained! respect! for! the! religion! even! if! he! did! not! practice! it,! preferring! the! ecstatic!if!eccentric!and!minute!visions!often!experienced!in!his!fiction.! Whereas!Lawrence,!in!the!phrase!of!the!critic!Gladys!Lebolt,!positioned! himself!as!“the!true!redeemer”!—!the!false!one!being!Christ!—!Powys!left! possibilities!for!redemption!clouded,!in!the!ether.!In!his!early!nonfiction! manifesto! The% Complex% Vision% (1920)! Powys,! typically,! endorses! a! spiritual,!affective!redemption!in!which!Christianity!is!present!but!placed! at!one!remove,!through!a!citation!of!Blake:! ! The! secret! of! this! kind! of! love,! when! it! comes! to! the! matter! of! human! relationships,! may! perhaps! best! be! expressed!in!those!words!of!William!Blake!which!imply!the! difficulty! which! love! finds! in! overcoming! the! murderous! exactions! of! the! possessive! instinct! and! the! cruel! clairvoyance! of! malice.! “And! throughout! all! eternity,! I! forgive!you:!you!forgive!me:!As!our!dear!Redeemer!said!—! This!is!the!wine:!this!is!the!bread.”! ! In! the! mid\twentieth! century,! there! was! a! sense! of! extreme! polarization!as!to!one’s!religious!standpoint:!one!had!to!be!either!Eliot!or! Lawrence,! neo\Christian,! or! neo\pagan,! to! quote! the! last! line! of! A% Glastonbury% Romance,! “never! or! always.”! Anyone! trying! to! stake! out! a! third!position,!as!Powys’s!thundering,!yearning!final!sentence!clearly,!in! utter! boldness! and! contrariness,! is,! was! accused! of! being! wishy\washy,! laodicean,! indecisive,! social! democratic! in! an! age! that! Eric! Hobsbawm! called! “The! Age! of! Extremes,”! where! extremes,! political! and! spiritual,! 191 were! deemed! the! only! proper! articulateness.! Today,! with! Slavoj! Žižek! saying! the! Christian! legacy! is! worth! fighting! for,! with! Marxist! philosophers!Giorgio!Agamben!and!Alain!Badiou!praising!St.!Paul!as!the! universal! man,! the! extreme! left! has! found,! on! the! traditional! Christian! Right,! attributes! to! praise! and! succor;! and! there! is! a! sense! that! to! understand!the!role!Christianity!has!played!in!European!and!world!history! is! not! to! fecklessly! endorse! it,! and! that! to! analyze! Christianity’s! role! critically! is! not! to! reject! it.! Even! Nietzsche,! the! self\appointed! ‘anti\ Christ,’! recognized! that! and! honored! Christianity’s! contributions! to! culture!and!human!civilization.!Szentkuthy’s!very!title!—!the!St.%Orpheus% Breviary% —! mingles! the! Christian! and! the! pagan,! the! sacred! and! the! sensuous,! in! ways! that! to! the! dogmatic! modernist! might! have! seemed! impure,! diluted,! no! matter! what! stance! one! took.! Both! Powys! and! Szentkuthy!were!fascinated!and!appalled!by!a!Christianity!they!knew!they! could!not!entirely!reject,!by!whose!values!of!altruism!and!sympathy!they! were!attracted!even!if,!in!terms!of!stance!and!emotion,!they!preferred!to! wander! on! more! wayward! paths.! This! quickening! skepticism! that! does! not!totally!rule!out!belief!is!seen!in!Szentkuthy’s!conjuring!of!the!operatic! composer,!Claudio!Monteverdi,!meditating!on!the!Palazzo!Grimani:! ! I! do! not! believe! anything! until! it! is! in! the! shape! of! a! disease:! that! is! the! most! philosophical! form,! the! most! reassuring!style.!Time!as!god?!Time!as!clock?!Time!as!‘à%la% recherche% du’?! No,! no,! those! are! tastes! in! art.! Time! as! a! tangible! physical! disease,! that! is! a! valuable! beginning.! (Black%Renaissance!124)!! ! As! with! Powys,! Szentkuthy! was! not! totally! at! home! in! canonical! Modernism,!or!at!least!the!bromides!about!time!and!consciousness!that! clustered!around!writers!such!as!Proust!and!Woolf.!Time!as!a!disease!—! reminiscent!of!the!thought!of!Wyndham!Lewis,!from!whom!Szentkuthy! otherwise! wholly! differed! —! indicates! the! lack! of! a! solution! in! the! 192 physical! world! for! human! deficiencies.! Yet! the! recognition! of! disease! is! not!an!end!in!and!of!itself,!it!is!also!a!kind!of!inverse!foundation!for!belief;! once! the! worldly! category! of! time! is! thought! of! as! a! disease,! then! and! only!then!can!a!spiritual!alternative!be!posited.! The! physical,! though,! for! these! two! writers,! is! not! just! inert,! Cartesian:! it! is! vividly,! passionately! sexual.! This! is! a! surprise! since! the! overt!writerly!sexualities!of!the!two!men!might!seem!closer!to!the!pallid! and!eviscerated!Eliot!than!the!robust!and!licentious!Lawrence;!they!are! not!titillating!or!aphrodisiac,!proffer!no!gospel!of!erotic!liberation.!Both,! though,! are! intensely! sexual,! and! see! Eros! as! a! way! both! to! manifest! interest! in! phenomena! outside! them! and! to! offset! the! morbid! and! domineering!tendencies!that!they!see!in!themselves,!and!that,!in!a!sense,! they%have%to%have%to%be%writers.%Thus!it!is!very!important!that!Szentkuthy! annotated!the!following!Passage!in!Powys!1937!novel!Morwyn:!! ! I! decided! that! what! the! human! race! meant! by! love! was! totally!unknown!to!me.!I!decided!that!I!possessed!the!gift,! or!the!curse!if!you!like,!of!pity,!to!an!abnormal!degree;!but! of!pity,!you!must!remember!—!for!otherwise!I!could!not! possibly!have!survived!what!I!shall!presently!relate!to!you! —!for!physical!rather!than!for!mental!suffering.! I!decided!that!my!enjoyment!of!life!was!so!narrow! that! no! human! being! who! didn’t! share! my! peculiarities! could! possibly! believe! that! such! narrowness! could! exist.! They! would! say! —! as! you,! my! son,! are! probably! saying! now! —! that! I! have! a! mania! for! self\laceration! and! for! making!myself!out!worse!than!I!am;!whereas,!as!a!matter! of!fact,!I!have!a!deep!suspicion!that!I!am!really!far!worse! than!I!dared!to!conclude!on!that!memorable!ascent!of!the! mountain!!(12)! ! Szentkuthy! writes,! in! the! margin,! “exactly! Me,”! and! a! few! pages! on! in! Morwyn,!emphasizes!the!line,!“…!for!what!does!a!girl!ever!really!know!of! the! desire! of! a! man! of! my! type?”! (22)! This! sensibility! —! of! a! distant,! potentially!manipulative!intellectuality!that!is!seismically!dissatisfied!with! 193 its! limitations,! so! much! wishes! to! be! empathetic! and! loving! that! it! perhaps!in!a!weird!way!ends!up!being!so,!is!shared!by!the!two!writers.! Both!cultivate!a!dandyism,!as!a!mode!for!enjoyment!of!life!or!vice!versa,! halfway!between!Wilde!and!Lawrence,!or,!alternately,!one!can!see!Powys! as! a! Huysmans! gone! west,! aired! out,! leavened! by! the! mountains! and! vales! of! the! Celtic! fringe,! and! Szentkuthy! as! a! Huysmans! gone! east,! crossing!the!old!Holy!Roman!realm,!and!being!exposed!to!the!lacerating! winds! of! the! Hungarian! plain.! In! particular,! the! sexuality! in! both! men,! though! different! in! its! articulation! —! Powys! much! more! sensory,! Szentkuthy! more! intellectual! —! is! analogous.! It! is! poised! between! the! heterosexual!and!the!homosexual.!It!certainly!more!hetero!than!homo!in! expression! —! Powys! was! not! a! “homosexual”! in! any! literal! way,! and! Szentkuthy! was! decidedly! heterosexual,! although! in! an! idiosyncratic! fashion,!both!more!spirited!and!more!analytical!than!the!norm!—!but!it!is! heterosexuality!informed!by!the!transgressiveness,!the!brio,!the!scorned! extravagance!of!the!queer.!Unlike!the!always!purportedly!hyper\macho! Lawrence,! Powys! and! Szentkuthy! admit! this! in! their! prose,! and! the! tension!of!the!overtly!unsayable!is!replaced!by!a!luxuriance!of!the!still\ not\quite!articulable.!! Thus! Szentkuthy’s! interest! in! the! intellectual! sensuous,! as! epitomized!in!figures!such!as!Casanova!(the!protagonist!of!Marginalia%on% Casanova,! the! first! book! of! the! Breviary)% and! Brunelleschi! and! Monteverdi!(both!figuring!prominently!in!Black%Renaissance!as!well!as!his! fascination!with!the!licentious!imperial!figures!of!the!past!chronicled!by! Procopius! and! Tacitus).! Szentkuthy’s! sexual! self\laceration,! his! frank! admission! of! a! narcissism! that! he! felt! presumably! had! hindered! him! in! relationships,! becomes! a! vehicle! for! an! uncanny! ability! to! see! meaning! and!value!in!the!distant!interstices!of!history.!! ! 194 ! ! This!intermingling!—!with!more!than!one!layer!of!connoisseurship! —!of! sexual! and! historical! yearning! points! to! the! qualities! embodied! in! the!“black”!adjective!of!the!title!of!the!second!book!of!the!breviary,!Black% Renaissance.!A!dark!Renaissance,!an!unofficial!Renaissance,!the!dark!side! of!the!Renaissance,!an!off\the\map!Renaissance.!What!Szentkuthy!saw!in! A%Glastonbury%Romance%is!perhaps!a!‘black!medievalism,’!a!sense!of!the! resonance!of!the!Middle!Ages!in!the!presence!that!was!not!nostalgic!or! religious,!melodramatic!or!fantastic,!but!was!interested!in!stubborn,!illicit! continuities! of! eccentricity.! Szentktuhy! —! born! with! the! German! name! Pfisterer!—!and!Powys!—!an!Englishman!bearing!a!Welsh!surname!who! always!felt!an!affinity!with!Welsh!legend!and!moved!to!Wales!in!his!old! age!—!both!operated!slightly!outside!of!essentialist!national!identity.!The! very!word!Wales!—!which!is!a!Germanic!name,!meaning,!“foreigner,”!the! Welsh!word!for!Wales!is!“Cymru”!—!comes!from!the!same!root!that!gave! us!“Wallachia”!(a!region!of!Romania!near!to!Hungary)!and!the!“Olasz”!in! “Olaszország,”!the!Hungarian!word!for!Italy).!In!one!of!the!Powys!books! that!Szentktuhy!most!heavily!underlined,!Obstinate%Cymric!(Cymric:!itself! meaning! Welsh,! as! Powys! in! old! age! came! to! identify! more! and! more! with! the! Wales! where! he! dwelled,! although! his! ancestry! was! mostly! English),!Szentkuthy!singled!out!this!passage,!next!to!which!he!wrote!“I”:!! ! If!Oxford!is!the!natural!home!of!Lost!Causes,!Wales! is! the! natural! cross\road! between! Past! and! Future,! the! natural!pointMd’appui!of!the!invisible!currents!that!stir!the! tree\tops!above!the!heaps!of!dry!bones.! Something! about! the! mountains! of! this! country! acted!as!such!non\conductors!to!the!“de\bunking”!power! of! the! Eighteenth! and! Nineteenth! Centuries! that! it! is! possible!in!Wales!to!find!medieval!feelings!existing!side!by! side!with!surrealist!sensations,!while!a!thousand!years!of! religious!experience!can!be!reflected!in!the!skepticism!of! contemporary!intelligence.!(109)! 195 ! One!could!say!the!same!of!Hungary,!a!nation!whose!heritage!not! so! much! questioned! the! Enlightenment! itself! as! the! smooth! metanarratives! of! Western! evolution! and! secularization! that! clustered! around! them.! The! German\Hungarian\Mitteleuropäisch\Italophile! Szentkuthy! was! familiar! with! the! overlay! of! adjacent! nationalities! as! signifiers! of! overlapping! modes! of! consciousness! and! thought,! worlds! fundamentally!different!—!like!the!spliced!cities!of!Beszel!and!Ul!Qoma!in! China!Miéville's!fantasy!novel!The%City%And%The%City%—!and!so!was!Powys,! Anglo\Welsh\American!that!he!was.!The!two!writers!were!both!immersed! in!what!I!have!termed,!in!my!2013!monograph!of!that!name,!“barbarian! memory,”! a! sense! of! the! interruption! of! European! history! by! waves! of! barbarian!invaders!that!is!nonetheless!not!atavistic!or!racialist,!insists!on! continuity.!Powys!and!Szentkuthy!each,!in!their!own!way,!add!to!this!an! undercurrent! of! often! occult! religiosity.! This! expressed! itself! very! differently:! Powys! was! above! all! a! ‘nature\writer,’! participating! in! a! characteristically! English! tradition! of! minute! observation! of! particular! experienced! landscapes,! whereas! Szentkuthy! was! drawn! to! art,! architecture,!and!opera,!what!Powys!would!call!“life\illusions.”! Szentkuthy! wrote! under! censorship,! and! under! fear! of! state! silencing! and! repression;! Powys! was! far! freer! to! express! himself,! yet! there! was! another! kind! of! censorship! in! his! case:! of! neglect,! of! misunderstanding,! of! seldom! reaching! beyond! a! circle! of! dedicated! readers!(among!whom,!though,!have!numbered!writers!as!prominent!as! Henry!Miller,!George!Steiner,!and!Iris!Murdoch).!Both!writers!avoided!the! fads! and! conveniences! of! the! times.! Powys! (unlike! fellow! elementalists! like! Yeats! and! Lawrence)! never! came! close! to! fascism,! and! Szentkuthy! lived!under!both!fascism!and!Communism!but!never!came!near!either!of! them.!In!an!era!when!writers!were!often!lauded!for!their!contact!—!even! 196 if! it! was! averse! contact! —! with! extreme! ideologies,! these! two! writers! abstained! from! that! inverse! glamour.! Equally,! although! they! were! both! fundamentally!modernists!in!technique,!they!abstained!from!the!default! avant\gardism!that!by!the!mid\twentieth!century!had!become!too!easy!a! stance,!while!also!refusing!to!act!as!if!modernism!had!never!happened!at! all,! a! la! serious! yet! ultimately! non\innovative! writers! such! as! Feuchtwanger! or! Zweig.! A! quote! from! Powys’s! Obstinate% Cymric,! underlined!by!Szentkuthy,!is!relevant!here:! ! However! much! the! orthodox! interpreters! of! Joyce! bring! proof,!as!Frank!Budgen!does,!that!Joyce!himself!declared! that! he! based! his! work! on! dreams,! I! still! remain! totally! unconvinced! that! Finnegan’s% Wake! deals! with! anything! else! than! normal! human! life! with! which! all! great! writers! deal.! I! daresay! he! meant! and! intended! to! base! it! on! dreams,!but!I!am!convinced!that!it!ran!away!with!him!!And! the!same!thing!is!true!of!the!Homeric!element!in!Ulysses.! (35)! ! Both!writers!admire!Joyce,!but!refuse!to!take!him!as!gospel;!they!see!an! element!of!factitiousness!in!his!work,!especially!in!his!refusal!to!admit!his! two!great!works!were!autonomous!conceptions!with!no!organic!relation! to!dreams!and!memory.!In!one!sense!they!were!asking!for!more!genuine! innovation! in! art! than! Joyce! was! giving! them;! in! another,! they! were! protesting! against! the! affirmation! of! disruptive,! unconventional! techniques!for!their!own!sake.!This!is,!again,!a!common!viewpoint!in!the! twenty\first!century,!but!it!is!easy!to!have!such!a!viewpoint!now.!It!was! not!in!the!twentieth!century,!and!Powys!and!Szentkuthy!were!then,!as!so! often,!against!the!grain.! Nor,! though,! does! other! writer! seek! a! substantive! counter! to! heedless!experimentation.!In!particular,!it!would!be!easy!to!both,!given! their!erudition,!to!designate!myth!and/or!history!as!a!salvific!substrate,! but! they! are! both! too! ascetic,! too! skeptical,! to! do! this.! It! is! interesting! 197 that!Szentkuthy,!despite!all!his!ironies!as!a!historicist!and!medievalist!au% fond,!refers!to!A%Glastonbury%Romance,%a!novel!set!in!the!England!of!the! twentieth! century,! and! not! Powys’s! later! medieval! historical! novels,% Owen%Glendower%(1940)!and!Porius!(1949),%both!of!which!are!actually!set! in!the!past,!in!the!manner!of!Szentkuthy’s!treatment!of!Dunstan.!These! books,! though,! were! published! in! the! 1940s,! after! the! publishing! continuity!between!Britain!and!the!Hungary!of!the!interwar!Horthy!era!—! registered!so!vividly!in!John!Lukacs’!memoir,%Confessions%of%an%Original% Sinner!(1990),!and!in!Szentkuthy’s!early!and!manifest!Anglophilia!—!was! broken! by! the! war! and! then! immured! by! the! Iron! Curtain.! Moreover,! these! works! (unlike! Glastonbury,! which! was! well! reviewed! in! the! New% York% Times)! were! never! widely! reviewed! or! well! received! even! in! the! Anglophone!world.!Szentkuthy’s!Powys!was!the!Powys!of!the!1920s!and! especially!the!1930s!—!he!read!Wolf%Solent%(1929),!the!first!of!Powys's! truly!major!novels,!memorable!in!its!allegorical!dichotomy!of!the!earthy! Gerda!and!the!sylphlike!Christie!as!the!two!objects!of!the!titular!hero’s! erotic!attention—;!the!1934!Weymouth%Sands%(under!its!British!title!and! redacted! edition! of! Jobber% Skald),% a! seriocomic! beachside! chiaroscuro;! the! polemical! anti\vivisection! Morwyn! (1937),! a! key! text! for! Powys’s! meditations! on! sadism,! cruelty,! and! self\sacrifice;! and,! perhaps! most! pertinently! of! any! of! the! fictions! except! Glastonbury,% the! 1937% Maiden% Castle,! whose! crucial! relationship,! of! the! deracinated! and! cerebral! Dud! No\Man!with!his!lover,!the!elemental!yet!capricious!Wizzie,!was!seen!by! Szentkuthy,! according! to! his! marginal! inscriptions,! as! analogous! to! his! relationship!with!Maria!Hercz.! %In! The% Breviary,! though,! Szentkuthy! is! seldom! either! overly! autobiographical! or! contemporary,! and! this! is! very! different! from! the! characteristic! mode! of! the! Powys! novels! he! read,! in! which! there! is! a! central!figure!—!Jobber!Skald,!Wolf!Solent,!John!Crow,!Dud!No\man! — 198 who!is!a!direct!Powys!surrogate.!It!is,!though,!in!a!sense,!advantageous! that! the! 1930s! novels% and! not! Owen! or! Porius! were! the! nodal! Powys! works!for!Szentkuthy,!as!Powys!is!not!really!a!historical!novelist.!He!uses! history! as! a! vehicle! for! consciousness,! as! another! channel,! another! dimension,!to!make!sure!we!are!not!trapped!in!a!monolinear!present.!He! is! not! out! to! vindicate! or! to! immerse! himself! in! history! as! such,! and! Szentkuthy,!despite!his!inherently!far!greater!interest!in!and!knowledge! of! history,! followed! him! in! this! perceptual! respect.! It! is! indicative! that! Szentkuthy!wrote!actual!marginalia!on!Powys’s!books,!as!the!metaphor!of! marginalia! animates! the! first! installment! of! the! Breviary,% and! the! intensity! of! Szentkuthy’s! work! on! history! and! experience! is! the! sheer! dynamism! it! generates! from! a! marginal,! supplementary! position.% Szentktuhy! and! Powys,! in! a! sense,! deliberately! chose! unpopularity! because!they!refused!to!have!anything!to!do!with!the!kinds!of!power!—! political,!stylistic,!encyclopedic,!and!erotic!—!that!were!common!coin!in! the!literary!worlds!of!the!twentieth!century.!! Both!writers,!though,!were!unafraid!of!ideas,!of!exposition,!of!a! discursivity! that! a! modernist! century! so! conscious! of! the! image! often! seemed! to! forsake.! It! could! indeed! be! that! Powys’s! nonfiction! —! essayistic,!speculative!books!such!as!A%Complex%Vision!—!that!seem!more! premonitory! of! the! Breviary! than! Powys’s! novels! in! general,! which! are! filled,! Victorian\style,! with! multiplot! trajectories,! and! vividly! sketched,! quirky,! interlocking! characters! in! fully! realized! physical! environments.! Szentkuthy!is!far!likelier!to!take!famous!people!from!history!and!animate! them,! have! them! wander! among! the! detritus! of! time! and! beauty,! and! muse! metaphysically,! phantoms! in! a! layered,! temporal! diorama:! his! fiction!is!far!less!peopled,!far!more!abstract.!Geographically!and!modally,! there!are!many!writers!—!Proust,!Gide,!Mann,!Broch,!Musil,!von!Döderer! —! between! Powys! and! Szentkuthy,! but! it! is! still! the! literary! turn,! the! 199 pulse! of! each! individual! phrase,! that! resonates.! That! Szentkuthy! read! Powys’s! nonfiction,! and! was! able! to! link! it! to! his! fiction,! is! seen! in! his! marginal! inscription! of! the! name! of! the! character! Sam! Dekker,! from! A% Glastonbury% Romance,! alongside! this! passage! from! In% Defense% of% Sensuality:! ! But! there! is! another! and! much! bolder! view! of! the! Absolute’s!guilt.!One!may!use,!in!one’s!anger,!the!sublime! help! of! the! daring! Christ\mythology,! that! supreme! act! of! auto\salvation!of!the!troubled!human!race,!which!condones! the! cruelty! of! existence! in! a! much! subtler! way.! For! what,! when!one!puts!it!in!plain!terms,!is!the!concept!behind!the! Incarnation?! Nothing! less! than! a! man’s! determination! to! reconcile!himself!to!this!original!sin,!or!blunder,!of!the!First! Cause,! by! which! so! much! cruelty! entered! the! world,! by! conceiving! the! staggering! idea! of! this! great! spirit’s! own! terrific!suffering?!(25)! ! Here! can! also! be! seen! Powys's! simultaneous! interest! in! Christianity,! as! the!supreme!counterpoint!to!sadism!and!cruelty,!yet!also!his!rebuke!of!it! for!resolving!into!a!cosmic!economy,!which,!in!the!interests!of!an!overall! salvation\history,!condones!this!cruelty.!On!the!other!hand,!both!writers! affirm!there!must!be!some!cruelty!in!the!very!idea!of!pleasure,!and!that! this!should!be!owned!opulently,!unabashedly;!that!only!by!conceding!this! minor!cruelty!can!major!cruelties!be!avoided.! It!is!not!the!datum,!the!referent,!which!mattered!to!Szentkuthy,! but!the!torque,!the!valence,!which!applied!to!it.!This!can!be!seen!in!his! comment! on! another! Powys! brother,! Llewelyn.! Mainly! an! essayist! who! lived!for!a!considerable!time!in!Africa,!Llewelyn!was!closer!to!Szentkuthy! in!age!and!mien,!and!might!have!been!the!Powys!brother!Szentkuthy,!in! person,! would! have! had! a! meaningful! dialogue! with! —! John! Cowper’s! outsized! personality! tended! to! fill! up! the! room,! particularly! with! a! younger! would\be! disciple,! whereas! Llewelyn! was! more! self\effacing,! observant.! In! Szentkuthy’s! marginal! notes! to! Llewelyn’s! The% Pathetic% 200 Fallacy,!he!annotates!this!passage:!! ! I!recollect!that!I!saw!some!black!hair!adhering!still!to!one! of!those!exposed!skulls,!and!the!look!of!its!matted!texture,! so!dusty!and!yet!so!lively!a!colour,!shocked!my!imagination! into!a!vivid!understanding!of!the!amazing!achievement!of! these!enthusiasts!whose!heads!had!whirled!so!wildly!with! misinformation!(49),!! ! thusly,!“scriptor!es,!Llewelyn!”!This!literary!cheer,!this!commendation!of! brio!and!style,!distinguishes!a!writer!from!a!mere!chronicler!or!describer.! Similarly!Szentkuthy!writes!the!one!word!“style!”!alongside!this!passage:! “In!the!monstrous!matrix!of!matter!how!fallible!and!paltry!appears!the! miracle!of!mentality”!(114).!And!with!this:!! ! Certain! bishops! were! unwise! enough! to! arrange! for! a! public! disputation! with! the! two! frenzied! women,! and! behold!!Forthwith!the!bishops!were!reduced!to!silence,!a! humiliating! issue! long! remembered! against! them! in! Asia! Minor!(68),!! ! the! word! “scena!”! It! is! not! the! underlying! information,! in! other! words,! but!the!style!with!which!Llewelyn!Powys!operates,!the!way!he!energizes! the! underlying! referents! into! a! memorable! scene.! Most! indicatively,! responding!to!the!following!passage:!! ! However,!in!the!ecumenical!council!convened!at!Nicaea!it! was!decided!that!Jesus!was!‘of!the!same!substance’!as!the! Father,! and! eventually,! after! several! resuscitations,! the! heresy!died!out.!Arius!himself!dropped!dead!while!walking! in!the!streets!of!Constantinople!in!the!year!A.D.!336!(72),!! ! Szentkuthy!writes!“moment!”!It!is!the!dropping!dead!while!walking!in!the! streets!that!registers!here,!the!rogue!detail!that!leaps!out!from!the!scrim! of! historical! data.! Accurate! scholarship! (in! Auden’s! phrase)! can! tell! us! 201 who! Arius! was,! and! the! nature! and! the! significance! of! his! theological! positions,!but!the!rogue,!apt!detail!of!how!and!where!he!dropped!dead,! lends! the! flavor,! gives! the! tilt.! Unlike! certain! contemporary! writers! —! William!T.!Vollmann!leaps!to!mind!—!who!get!so!overwhelmed!with!the! historical!detail!they!embrace!that!it!bogs!down!their!work!and!renders!it! uninflected! and! undigested,! Szentkuthy,! following! Llewellyn’s! example,! savors! and! inflects! every! moment,! places! his! own! sensibility! on! the! datum! so! it! is! not! merely! received! or! inert.! In! writing! of! Dunstan,! Szentkuthy!parades!an!opulent!series!of!physical!details,!all!infused!with! a!characteristic,!scene\setting,!stylish!tonality:! ! The! noviciates! (and! therefore! Dunstan,! too)! always! ‘bathed,’! standing! with! candles,! in! the! huge! baptismal! basin!at!Glastonbury!in!new!and!freshly!consecrated!water,! spiced!with!a!few!drops!of!martyr’s!blood!and!a!few!drops! of! the! waters! of! the! River! Jordan! (possibly! with! Mary! Magdalene’s! scent! and! a! relic! of! her! ‘night! and! cold! creams,’! in! halo\light! headgear! reminiscent! of! wandering! apostles,! wound! around! by! disintegrating! mignon\paper! ivy! leaves,! flowing! blond! locks! of! hair,! reviving! snakes! under!the!Madonna’s!trampling!feet,!angelic!face,!musing,! Hadrian’s! lover! and! Good! Shepherd,! wavering! breasts,! crimson! cap,! a! discrete! potbelly,! the! Oriental! pasque\ flower!of!the!navel,!candle!in!hand,!a!pigeon\quivering!test! idol!of!light,!he!dropped!out!of!the!heavenly!nest!of!‘Let! There!Be!Light’!his!arms!and!thighs:!velvet!canale%giocosi! of!heat!sources,!adventurer!delta\gambolings.! ! ! The!phrase!“pigeon\quivering!test!idol!of!light,”!a!bravura!instance!of!the! superb! skill! Tim! Wilkinson! shows! as! translator! of! Szentkuthy,! is! fascinating;!this!refers!to!the!noviciates,!and!in!particular!Dunstan,!as!at! once!a!typical!and!exemplary!manifestation!of!them,!but!is,!as!opposed! to!some!of!the!earlier!laments!in!the!paragraph!about!how!Dunstan!looks! to! others,! not! how! he! perceives! himself;! the! passage! moves! towards! externalization! without! increasing! the! emotional! distance! to! Dunstan,! 202 himself!a!worshipper,!is!hardly!an!idol,!yet!his!beauty!is!such!as!to!make! him!almost!a!play\idol,!a!test\idol,!hovering!in!a!third!provisional!space! between! the! material! and! the! ideal,! the! sacred! and! the! profane! —! a! space! heavily! sampled! in! the! opening! paragraph! of! Powys’s! A% Glastonbury%Romance:! ! At!the!striking!of!noon!on!a!certain!Fifth!of!March,!there! occurred!within!a!causal!radius!of!Brandon!railway\station! and!yet!beyond!the!deepest!pools!of!emptiness!between! the! uttermost! stellar! systems! one! of! those! infinitesimal! ripples! in! the! creative! silence! of! the! First! Cause! which! always! occur! when! an! exceptional! stir! of! heightened! consciousness! agitates! any! living! organism! in! this! astronomical!universe.!!! ! This! conjunction! of! the! ordinary! and! the! numinous! registers,! in! the! Szentkuthy!passage,!in!the!quivering!of!the!pigeon:!an!ordinary!bird!made! vibrant! by! Dunstan’s! beauty! and! fervor,! but! also! an! image! of! the! Holy! Spirit! —! as! bird,! pigeon! as! secularized! dove! —! as! itself! being! awed,! quickened,!made!more!alive!by!Dunstan,!the!spirit!spirited.!! Dunstan! is! not! a! figure! of! merely! academic! interest! for! Szentkuthy;! no! more! than! were! the! English! and! Welsh! settings! about! which! Powys! wrote,! all! of! whom! he! dwelled! in! and! knew! intimately.! Hungary! was! converted! to! Christianity! around! the! year! 1000,! and! Szentkuthy!in!the!Breviary!is!perennially!conscious!of!Hungary!as!bursting! into!the!middle!of!Europe,!into!the!middle!of!history!from!inchoate!and! Asian!origins,!placed!between!the!Byzantine!and!the!Western,!the!pagan! and! the! Christian,! the! ancient! and! the! modern! Dunstan! is! thus,! in! his! tenth\century! condition,! a! crypto\Hungarian.! (A! few! decades! later,! the! sons! of! the! overthrow! Anglo\Saxon! king,! Ethelred! II,! actually! sought! sanctuary! in! Hungary).! The! Crown! of! St.! Stephen,! the! symbol! of! Hungary’s!Christian!conversion,!was!in!the!United!States!at!the!time!for! 203 safekeeping,!and!many!headlines!revolved!around!its!possible!reversion! to!then\Communist!Hungary.!In!the!seventh!volume!of!the!Breviary,!the! Second% Life% of% Sylvester% II! (the! Pope! who! converted! St.! Stephen,! and! presided!over!the!Millennium),!published!in!the!1970s,!Szentkuthy!was!to! go! into! these! appositions! further.! But! Dunstan! is! something! more! personal;! he! is! a! crypto\Szentkuthy.! Szentkuthy! was! born! in! 1908;! Dunstan,! from! all! sources! available! to! us,! almost! exactly! 1000! years! earlier,!in!909.!Dunstan!served!as!a!mirror,!an!analogue,!through!which! Szentkuthy!could!depict!himself.!This!interest!in!both!self\revelation!and! self\occultation,! of! parading! and! hiding,! is! also! there! in! the! Powys! brothers!who!wrote!autographically!yet!were!men!of!fierce!secrets,!who! wrote!in!voices!unmistakably!their!own!but!were!always!oriented!to!the! vistas!they!witnesses!and!created.!!Szentkuthy!and!the!Powyses!aired!out! the! self! without! being! egotistical.! They! let! the! world! know! they! were! there!not!to!impress!or!be!aggressive!but!to!share!rare!experiences!they! thought,!they!trusted,!would!be!of!value!to!others.!! If!we!are!lucky,!we!know!who!are!the!important!writers!for!us!as! readers.! Yet,! other! than! in! an! extreme! instance! of! luck,! writers! rarely! know!who!are!their!most!important!readers.!Little!did!the!elderly!John! Cowper!Powys,!living!wholesomely!and!frugally!in!the!small!Welsh!town! of! Blaenau! Ffestiniog! with! his! companion! Phyllis! Playter,! know! that,! behind! the! Iron! Curtain,! a! cerebral,! cynical,! yet! pulsatingly! inspired! Hungarian!was!understanding!his!spiritual!and!historical!backbone!more! than! anyone! else! had.! And,! a! year! or! so! after! Szentkuthy! finished! the! second! draft! of! Black% Renaissance,! the! one! in! which! he! included! the! Dunstan!introduction,!a!nine\year\old!boy!going!to!a!Christian!school!in! Greenwich!Village!(one!block!away!from!where!Powys!had!lived!in!New! York! City! a! half\century! before)! was! fascinated! by! Anglo\Saxon! history,! including! St.! Dunstan,! and! was! well! aware! of! the! captivity! of! the! 204 Hungarian!people.!Szentkuthy!and!I!did!not!know!of!each!other!then;!but,! ultimately,! he! reached! me,! as! Powys! reached! Szentkuthy;! as! history! reaches! those! somewhere! scrunched! in! the! middle! of! it.! Our! searching! thoughts,!we!may!hope,!do!not!go!unperceived.!This!is!at!least!suggested! by! the! way! that! exuberant! old! man! in! North! Wales! was! found! by! a! sardonic! Hungarian! living! under! totally! different! conditions,! and! read! with!insight!piercing!enough!to!make!a!pigeon!quiver.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Nicholas Birns, “Pigeon-Quivering Test Idols: John Cowper Powys & Miklós Szentkuthy,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 187–205. 205 ! ! ! Balázs Kerber Ancient Rome as Postmodern Metaphor Miklós Szentkuthy & Federico Fellini’s Rome Interpretations ! ! ANCIENT!ROME!AS!CARTOON,!COMIC!STRIP,!MOSAIC1LIKE!VISION,! OR!A!SATIRE!OF!FASCISM?!Mosaic1like!not!only!in!the!sense!of!the! pictures,! but! also! in! the! sense! of! narrative! techniques.! A! combination! of! letters,! reflexions,! memories! &! performance.! Miklós! Szentkuthy’s! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years) is! a! mélange! of! optional! poetic! strategies.! Reading! the! novel! we! can! follow! as! many!routes!as!we!can!at!the!same!time!that!we!can!discover!a! really!complex!if!not!even!postmodern!Rome.!But!this!Rome!floats! between!Szentkuthy’s!time!(or!the!moment!contemporaneous!to! his! writing! the! book)! and! ancient! times.! It! is! a! mixture! of! the! young!Cicero’s!thoughts,!the!lectures!of!his!master,!Agragas,!and!a! recollection!of!atmospheres.!! There!is!no!‘central!route’!in!the!novel!(it!is!even!dubious! whether!Cicero!is!a!main!character!or!not);!we!have!to!construct! our! own! path.! Because! of! the! variety! of! styles! and! the! combination! of! literary! forms,! cultural! registers,! thoughts! and! adventures! (or! rather:! the! parody! of! adventures),! Szentkuthy’s! 1945!novel!can!be!considered!an!early!postmodern!work,!but!also! a! rewriting! of! an! ancient! genre,! the! so! called! ‘ancient! novel,’! or! more! precisely! the! rewriting! of! one! ancient! novel,! the! famous! ‘Menippean!satire’!of!Petronius!Arbiter,!the!Satyricon.!Despite!the! fact!that!Szentkuthy!does!not!mention!Petronius!in!relation!to!the! novel,! it! seems! obvious! that! the! world! of! the! Roman! author! affected!his!style,!so!Szentkuthy!creates!a!fusion!of!the!‘Petronian’! world!and!a!special!experimental!narrative!technique.!The!mixture! of! the! two! forms! results! in! a! coherent! world! that! can! be! interpreted! as! ‘Roman’! and! also! as! ‘contemporary.’! Petronius’! vagabond!characters,!his!satire!of!the!Neronian!age,!the!milieu!of! the! Satyricon! is,! so! to! say,! a! hidden! predecessor! of! Cicero’s) Journeyman)Years.)) 207! ! ! But,! as! already! noted,! Szentkuthy’s! novel! is! not! only! ‘floating’! in! the! sense! of! styles! &! poetic! techniques,! it! is! also! a! fusion!of!two!historical!eras,!two!cultures.!It!is!an!intermingling!of! the!1940s!&!of!Cicero’s!age.!(Or!is!it!really!Cicero’s!age?!We!shall! see!later.)!Szentkuthy’s!question!is:!by!investigating!our!own!age,! can! Rome! be! better! understood,! &! with! our! contemporary! doubts,! do! we! get! closer! to! Rome?! It! is! not! only! about! where! Rome!can!be!detected,!or!where!Petronius!&!Cicero!would!crop! up!with!the!distressing!experience!of!World!War!II,!but!also!how! the! elements,! the! characteristics! of! the! modern! age,! already! appeared! in! ancient! Rome,! how! we! can! find! the! atmosphere! of! the!1940s!there.!It!is!not!only!WWII!that!reminds!us!of!the!chaotic! Petronian! world,! but! this! Roman! milieu! also! reminds! us! of! the! same!war;!it!is!a!very!important!“dual”!experience!of!Szentkuthy’s! floating!reality.!It!is!more!apropos!to!say!that!Szentkuthy’s!Rome! does! not! actually! remind! us! of! the! 20th! century;! his! Rome! contains)the!characteristics,!the!possibility!of!the!modern!era.!The! world! of! the! novel! is! not! the! 20th! century! in! a! Roman! mask;! in! Szentkuthy’s! Rome! we! can! actually! catch) sight! of! the! 20th! century.!And!finally!it!is!also!an!interesting!question!of!his!novel:! what!would!modern!Italy!mean!to!ancient!Rome?!Sometimes!we! feel!that!Cicero!is!sitting!&!talking!to!Agragas!in!an!Italian!piazza,) not! in! a! forum:! “He! was! watching! the! walls;! what! good! Italians! have!scribbled!there,”1!says!Szentkuthy!in!“Bad!Day,”)one!of!his! short!stories!in!which!Cicero!is!the!protagonist.!Cicero!is!really!a! journeyman! in! Szentkuthy’s! interpretation:! a! traveler! of! literary! dimensions,! eras,! &! cultures.! Szentkuthy! somehow! unites! the! intellectual!tradition!of!Antal!Szerb’s!Journey)by)Moonlight)with!a! fresh!and!inquiring!optic!of!satires!&!comic!magazines!to!open!an! 1 Miklós Szentkuthy, “Rossz nap” [“Bad day”], Iniciálék és ámenek [Initials and Amens] (Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1987) 222. 208! ! ! exciting!&!less!researched!Hungarian!postmodern.!The!reserved!&! intelligent! Cicero! is! on! the! road,! like! Mihály! Szerb’s,! between! ancient!Rome!&!modern!Italy.!! But!Szentkuthy!was!not!completely!alone!with!this!vision!of! Rome:!in!1969,!Federico!Fellini!created!a!conscious!adaptation!of! Petronius’! Satyricon.! In! this! work,! Fellini! uses! very! similar! visualization! techniques,! and! his! interpretation! is! very! close! to! Szentkuthy’s!optics.!For!both!Szentkuthy!&!Fellini,!Rome!is!none! other! than! a! set! of! questions! that! they! challenge! their! own! age! with.!In!the!following!analysis,!I!will!concentrate!on!Szentkuthy’s! unsaid,! hidden! path! in! the! Satyricon,! and! compare! it! to! Fellini’s! conscious! adaptation! to! see! what! commonalities! exist! between! the! two! works,! and! what! kind! of! ‘Petronian! techniques’! both! artists!used,!either!stylistically!or!terms!of!visual!representations.! Beyond!shared!techniques,!Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years)and! Fellini?Satyricon!have!another!common!element:!the!motif!of!the! latent! fear! that! always! frightens! the! characters,! that! is! always! beneath!them.!This!motif!is!also!present!in!Petronius’!novel,!which! serves! as! a! basis! for! me! to! travel! through! these! modern! imaginings!of!Rome.!This!type!of!hidden!fear!can!be!noticed!very! well!in!the!“Cena!Trimalchio”1episode![Trimalchio’s!feast]!(I!refer! to!it!as!the!‘Damaian!motif’!as!Dama!is!an!important!character!in! this!scene).!This!type!of!fear!is!one!of!the!most!relevant!points!of! Szentkuthy’s!and!Fellini’s!Rome!interpretations,!so!I!will!compare! the! two! modern! works! of! art! through! this! motif.! By! this! comparison,!I!believe,!it!will!be!much!more!understandable!why! Szentkuthy’s!work!is!so!intriguing!today,!as!it!is!not!only!a!unique! vision!of!Rome!but!also!a!precursor!of!the!later!artistic!styles!&! poetic!methods!of!the!20th!century.2!!!! 2 I would like to thank Anna Kótay-Nagy and Ildikó Tóth for their valuable help in the translation of this essay. 209! ! ! ! I.!The!Satyricon! If!we!wish!to!understand!the!world!of!either!Szentkuthy’s!novel!or! Fellini’s!film,!it!is!necessary!to!first!examine!Petronius’!work!itself.!! The!rather!fragmented!text!—!an!estimated!one1twentieth!of! its!original!length!—!of!the!Satyricon!survived!from!the!1st!BC.!A! so1called! “Roman! novel,”! the! Satyricon! is! believed! to! have! been! written! by! Titus! Petronius! Arbiter,! Roman! Emperor! Nero’s! intimate! associate! and! arbiter! elegantiae,! about! whom! historian! Tacitus!writes!in!his!Annals!(Book!XVI!18–19),!and!who!was!indeed! forced!to!commit!suicide.!! As! should! be! known,! the! term! “novel”! is! a! highly! modern! notion,! and! there! was! no! such! category! in! antiquity.! Scholars! in! antiquity!never!coined!such!a!term,!and!we!do!not!know!if!they! had! any! synthetic! category! for! the! genre.! There! are! no! records! whatsoever! of! how! what! we! might! term! ancient! ‘novels’! were! conceived! and! defined! among! scholars! (there! are! only! suppositions).! In! regards! to! the! ancient! conceptions,! Petronius’! writing! is! viewed! as! a! Menippean! satire;! that! is,! prose! fiction! mingled!with!verse!composition,!called!in!Latin!prosimetrum.!! However,!the!unusual!form!of!characterization,!the!mastery!of! narrative! and! descriptive! prose,! may! very! well! justify! its! being! deemed! a! ‘novel’! in! modern! terms.! Petronius,! according! to! our! categories,!is!one!of!the!earliest!gems!of!European!fiction.!In!his! Satyricon,! the! account! of! three! Neronian! vagabonds! (Encolpius,! Ascyltus,!and!Giton)!and!a!poet!(Eumolpus)!is!narrated!by!one!of! the!three!vagabonds,!Encolpius,!in!an!often!experimental!prosaic! manner! abounding! in! various! registers! and! alternate! lingos! that! could!be!viewed!as!a!precursor!to!the!20th1century!novel.!! Likewise,! there! is! an! inverse! to! everything;! the! grotesque! humor!&!the!vagabonds’!hilariously!absurd!picaresque!very!often! 210! ! ! conceals! sadness,! a! decaying! world! with! its! vanishing! values! &! questionable!ideas.!Nevertheless,!the!text!is!characterized!by!an! ironical! but! benevolent! approach,! &! we! shut! our! eyes! to! the! repulsiveness! of! certain! characters.! This! medley! of! misery! and! exhilaration! is! exactly! what! makes! Petronius’! style! elegant.! The! novel! depicts! ordinary! people! for! whom! the! world! of! myths! remains! an! unattainable! ideal! in! their! small1town! life,! &! they! become!ridiculous!because!of!Petronius’!continuous!references!to! the! mythical! stories.! In! this! way,! these! figures! might! be! considered!the!first!if!not!very!early!incarnations!of!anti1heroes.! The! Roman! world! is! depicted! in! a! most! unusual! way,! too.! Among!the!surviving!portions!of!the!text,!the!two!most!important! episodes!are!the!“Cena!Trimalchionis”!(Trimalchio’s!dinner),!which! introduces! the! feast! at! the! estate! of! the! newly1freed! Trimalchio! with! his! crude,! uneducated! guests,! and! that! of! the! tale! of! “the! widow!of!Ephesus,”!which!is!a!highly!ironic!and!grotesque!vision! of!death!in!a!crypt!where!elements!of!erotic!scenes!unfold.!! Petronius’! humor! and! vision! is! timeless;! the! Neronian! confusion! and! the! absurdity! of! vagabond! life! inspired! both! Szentkuthy!and!Fellini.!!! ! II.!An!Inspiring!World!All!Around! “It!is!not!going!to!be!a!historical!film,”!said!Fellini,!“but!a!science! fiction!film.!The!Rome!of!Ascyltos,!Encolpius,!and!Trimalchio!is!far! more!fantastic!and!remote!than!Flash!Gordon’s!planets.”3!It!was! the!fragmentariness!and!riddle1like!nature!of!Petronius’!work!that! attracted!the!director!most,!and!he!thought!that,!similarly!to!an! archaeologist!who!has!to!piece!together!a!relic!and!an!epoch!from! shards,! he! would! produce! a! film! from! bits! of! episodes! and! 3 Federico Fellini, Mesterségem: a film [My Trade: Film], tr. by Éva Székely (Budapest: Gondolat, 1988) 153. 211! ! ! incomplete! stories! that! would! recall! the! silhouettes! of! a! bygone! era.!! However,! Fellini’s! statement,! according! to! which! he,4! unlike! the! renaissance! humanists,! had! no! preconceptions! about! the!ancient!times,!and!therefore!could!not!have!projected!them! into!his!image!of!antiquity,!is!debatable.!Although!later!we!shall! see! that! Fellini’s! concept! of! the! Roman! era! was! far! from! being! conventional,!and!therefore!he!indeed!alienated!himself!from!the! Renaissance! canon,! he! nevertheless! did! have! his! own! preconceptions! and! these! evidently! defined! his! vision! of! Petronius.!! He! also! mentions! that! he! wanted! to! refrain! from! moralization,! and! that! he! had! no! intention! of! observing! the! Roman!world!through!two!thousand!years!of!Christianity;!rather,! he!would!attempt!to!create!through!a!neutral!eye!with!which!he! would!peer!into!a!different!dimension.!This!experiment!also!had!a! dubious! outcome,! one! which! Fellini! himself! admits! to:! “It! might! not!be!possible,!still!I!want!to!try...”5!! Fellini! talks! about! an! “oneiric! Satyricon”6! and! Bernardino! Zapponi,!the!screenwriter!of!Satyricon!as!well!as!friend!of!Fellini,! also! confirms! that! the! director! “meant! to! produce! a! film! of! an! immensely!faraway,!unknown,!and!mythical!land.”7!According!to! Zapponi,! LSD,! which! was! then! so! popular! among! intellectuals,! inspired!Fellini!to!such!an!extent!that!his!visions!induced!a!great! deal!of!pleasure!and!inspiration!for!him,!especially!the!numerous! tangible!colors!and!the!dream1like!sense!of!flying.!! 4 Ibid., 148. 5 Ibid., 153. 6 Ibid. 7 Bernardino Zapponi, Az én Fellinim [My Fellini], tr. by Rita Szentgyörgyi (Budapest: JLX Kiadó, 2003) 34. 212! ! ! Contemporary!comic!strips,!most!importantly!Peellaert!and! Bartier’s!Jodelle,!also!strongly!determined!the!visuality!of!the!film.! These!drawings!reminded!Zapponi!and!Fellini!of!the!“flamboyant! ravings”8!of!ancient!Rome,!a!fact!that!might!serve!as!a!key!to!the! interpretation!of!Fellini’s)Satyricon,)too.!However,!for!Fellini!and! Zapponi,!ancient!Rome!was!not!only!a!world!of!riddles,!splendid! colorfulness,!and!people!living!in!long1forgotten!social!structures! practicing!mysterious!customs,!but!it!was!a!period!of!alienation,! dread,!and!something!“totally!different.”!! Zapponi! starts! the! very! first! version! of! the! script! with! a! scene!set!in!the!underground!labyrinth!beneath!Circus!Maximus.! The!most!salient!feature!of!the!scene!is!a!grotesque!contrast:!one! of!the!characters!is!drunk!and!sleeping!with!his!mouth!wide!open;! the!other!one!is!happily!eating!and!drinking!away;!and!the!third! one!is!crying!with!his!head!buried!in!his!hands.!In!the!background! we!can!hear!the!roaring!and!howling!of!wild!animals,!while!others! are! “chatting! loudly! in! a! strange,! incomprehensible! language,! what! seemed! to! be! for! our! ears! more! like! Serbian1Croatian! or! German,! but! was! Latin! indeed.! The! kind! of! Latin! that! was! somewhat! obscure! and! uttered! in! staccato! style! in! a! Latin! dialect...”9!! The! atmosphere! of! the! scene! suggests! that! in! this! antiquity1vision,!modern!man!cannot!compare!perceived!facts!to! his! actual! world! and! instead! senses! something! completely! different.! Thus,! antiquity! is! partly! fantastic! and! distant,! partly! enigmatic!and!chaotic.!Therefore,!Fellini!indeed!breaks!away!from! the! humanist! approach! to! ancient! Rome! insofar! as! he! does! not! imagine! antiquity! as! homely! and! sympathetic.! It! is! a! view! of! antiquity!more!akin!to!the!new!vision!Nietzsche!presented!of!it!in! 8 Ibid., 35. 9 Ibid., 38. 213! ! ! the!late!19th!century,!one!in!strong!contrast!to!the!bucolic!vision! espoused! by! humanists! and! neo1classicists.! According! to! Fellini’s! interpretation,!when!we!arrive!in!the!ancient!world,!we!don’t!land! in!a!familiar!civilization!closely!related!to!and!known!by!us!from! course!books,!but!in!a!remote!land!that!overwhelms!us,!not!only! with!incomprehension!and!confusion,!but!also!with!fear.!! However,!Fellini’s!antiquity!has!a!binary!effect:!although!it! alienates! us! from! the! conventional! images! of! antiquity! with! its! otherness!and!fearfulness,!at!the!same!time!it!brings!our!modern! anxieties! to! the! surface! too.! As! the! director! puts! it,! the! disintegration! on! display! in! the! Satyricon! symbolizes! or! is! the! equivalent!of!our!present!day!disintegration.10!! And! although! he! regards! the! similarity! between! the! present!era!and!the!Roman!one!an!unimportant!feature!compared! to!the!real!reason!for!creating!the!film,!i.e.,!the!pleasure!of!film! production,11!he!nevertheless!highlights!some!interesting!parallels! between! the! two! worlds,! one! of! which! is! the! surprising! resemblance!of!Encolpius!and!Ascyltos!to!contemporary!hippies.! In! his! autobiographical! writing,12! Fellini! justifies! this! view! by! the! fact! that! these! two! characters! also! focus! only! on! obeying! their! own! bodies! and! they! turn! away! from! problems.! The! other! important! parallel! in! his! opinion! is! aggression,! haughtiness,! and! the!abdication!of!principles,!which!are!very!much!characteristic!of! both!periods.!! Undoubtedly,! the! colorful! cartoon! illustrations,! the! popularity! of! the! then! so! common! drug1induced! hallucinations,! and!the!feeling!of!rootlessness,!created!a!unique!interpretation!of! Petronius!with!vivid!spaces,! face1painted! figures,!and!dream1like! 10 Federico Fellini, Mesterségem, ibid., 148. 11 Ibid., 154. 12 Ibid. 214! ! ! scenes.!The!’60s!of!the!20th!century!infiltrated!Fellini’s!antiquity,! and!this!of!course!can!be!regarded!as!a!preconception,!for!Fellini! recognized!the!reflection!of!his!own!century!in!Encolpius’!world,! and,!even!if!involuntarily,!this!realization!indeed!shaped!his!vision! of!Rome.!! What!makes!this!even!more!interesting!is!that!if!we!define! the! humanist! view! of! antiquity! with! Fellini’s! words! (“the! Renaissance! humanists! reached! back! to! ancient! times! for! justification!and!self1expression!and!they!projected!onto!antiquity! what! they! thought! about! their! own! era”),13! then! in! this! sense! Fellini! was! a! humanist! himself,! since! the! way! he! thought! of! his! own! time! influenced! (whether! involuntarily! or! not)! his! ideas! of! antiquity,!therefore!his!film!is!about!a!dialogue!between!two!eras,! cultures,!and!“continents,”!too.!Or!rather,!if!not!a!humanist,!Fellini! at!very!least!engaged!in!as!equal!a!distorting!projection!as!did!the! humanists,!though!not!a!sanitizing!one.! However,!if!we!return!to!the!opening!quote!in!which!Fellini! calls! his! film! science! fiction! and! sets! Petronius’! epoch! in! the! remoteness!of!planets,!it!may!occur!to!us!that!another!continent! is!too!near.!So,!is!Fellini’s!film!a!space!journey!to!ancient!Rome?!! The! director! once! again! affirms! this! association! when! describing! that,!one!night,!he!saw!the!gigantic!Colosseum!as!a!testimony!of! an!extraterrestrial!civilization.14!! Fellini!therefore!did!not!only!sense!secrecy!and!uncertainty! in! Petronius’! work,! but! an! unbridgeable! distance,! too.! The! film! lacks!the!feeling!of!comfort!even!more!than!Petronius’!Satyricon.! Most! of! the! scenes! are! accompanied! by! unfamiliar! noise! and! sound! effects;! there! are! an! abundance! of! African! and! oriental! musical! motifs.! In! Fellini’s! interpretation,! for! modern! man,! the! 13 Ibid., 148. 14 Ibid., 152. 215! ! ! Satyricon!is!an!exploration!into!the!unknown,!a!journey!into!the! everyday!reality!of!a!completely!different!civilization.! Miklós! Szentkuthy! wrote! his! novel! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years)in!1945.15!In!a!twelve1hour1long!portrait!film16!recorded!in! 1986,! Szentkuthy! explains! that! his! main! inspiration! was! the! bilingual! (Latin/German)! edition! of! Cicero’s) Letters) in! which! he! discovered!a!Cicero!very!different!from!the!one!existing!in!public! perception.! “Cicero! is! known! as! the! grandiose! political! orator! uttering!harsh!words,!whereas!through!his!letters!he!comes!across! as! an! anxious,! restless,! shy,! and! neurotic! person,”17! says! Szentkuthy.! Later! he! adds:! “and! this! is! closely! related! to! my! confession!now:!I!have!always!been!and!will!always!be!in!search!of! what! lies! in! the! depths! of! things.! It! is! this! psychological! realism! that!we!admire!beneath!the!marble!bust.”!! Therefore,!Szentkuthy!is!also!in!pursuit!of!something!that! has! been! consigned! to! oblivion:! he! is! looking! for! the! forgotten! everyday!Cicero,!the!floundering,!discontented,!clumsy!man!who! is!always!at!odds!with!himself,!the!man!behind!the!rhetorician!and! philosopher.!The!term!“marble!bust”!might!be!compared!to!what! Fellini!summarized!as!“humanism”!or!“humanist!way!of!thinking.”! The! marble! bust! can! symbolize! the! canon,! i.e.,! the! shell! that! conceals!the!‘true’!face!of!the!world!from!us.!! Similarly! to! Fellini,! who! broke! with! the! humanist! view! of! antiquity!and!tried!to!see!the!world!of!Encolpius!and!Trimalchio! through! fresh! eyes,! Szentkuthy! also! observed! Roman! culture! by! setting! aside! conventional! (as! Fellini! puts! it,! ‘humanist’)! conceptions,! and! his! novel! is! just! as! much! a! dialogue! of! two! worlds,! as! is! Fellini’s! film.! Moreover,! for! Szentkuthy,! the! two! 15 The editor of the manuscript, Mária Tompa, devised the title of the book, which was published posthumously. 16 This part of the interview is cited in: Miklós Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei [Cicero’s Journeyman Years] (Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1990) 369−371. 17 Ibid., 370. 216! ! ! epochs! (contemporary! history,! i.e.,! a! Europe! still! recuperating! from!the!devastation!of!World!War!II!and!the!Roman!era)!literally! got!tangled.!! The! poetics! of! Szentkuthy’s! pseudo1historical! novels! is! summarized!by!Zoltán!András!Bán:!“Szentkuthy!practically!wrote! only! historical) novels! [...],! but! a! unique! kind! that! was! actually! invented! by! him! and! in! which! history! becomes! fiction,! more! precisely,! it! overflows! its! banks! and! without! any! further! ado! —! through!the!eye!of!the!narrator!—!flows!into!the!writer’s!present! time;!at!the!same!time,!however,!the!present!also!flows!back!into! historical!time!and!into!a!series!of!events!that!are!already!closed! and!are!passed!down!to!us!in!various!documents.”18!! However,! this! incessant! intermingling,! the! tangle! of! the! two! ages,! does! not! induce! a! tangled! or! obliterated! Rome1vision! (and!neither!can!we!call!it!abstract,!because!it!is!just!the!narrator! and! the! characters’! internal! and! external! monologues,! associations! that! are! abstract,! and! not! the! background! world! itself),!but!a!tangible!solidity!in!which!we!can!hang!onto!antiquity! with! the! help! of! modern! components.! We! shall! not! forget! that! Fellini! intended! to! create! a! sci1fi! film! functioning! as! a! telescope! that! allows! us! to! gain! insight! into! an! unknown! world,! and! although!he!spoke!of!a!neutral!perspective,!he!also!scrutinized!the! Satyricon!by!projecting!the!sign!system!of!his!present!time!(comic! strips!and!pop1drawings)!into!antiquity,!albeit!transfigured,!and!it! was!this!sign!system!that!guided!him!during!his!journeys!through! the!past.!!! 18 Zoltán András Bán, A bábú nagyáriái [The Great Arias of the Puppet] (Web: Litera, 2009) ! Szentkuthy! himself! confirms! —! and! József! J.! Fekete! also! mentions!this!in!P.O.S.T.19!—!that!contemporary!history!strongly! influenced!the!spirit!of!the!novel:!“Well,!I!can!smell!a!rat!here,!so! to! say! the! smell! of! historical! blood,! the! hee1haw! of! a! donkey,! a! satire,!a!parody...”20!—!He!also!refers!here!to!the!fourth!volume!of! the! St.) Orpheus) Breviary!(Bloody) Ass,! 1984).! Just! as! in! Fellini’s) Satyricon! (in! which! Fellini! draws! a! connection! between! Lichas’! voyage! and! the! Roman! military! coup),! power! and! authority! appear!in!Szentkuthy’s!writing!too:!in!the!first!half!of!the!novel,! the! troops! interrupt! a! performance! and! wreak! havoc! in! the! theater.!As!for!Cicero,!the!Roman!chief!superintendent!summons! him!during!his!journey!to!Greece!with!the!intention!of!questioning! him!over!his!speeches!condemning!Marius.!! !!!!!! !Parallel!to!that,!in!Fellini’s!film,!we!can!see!a!Petronius1like! aristocrat! who! escapes! into! suicide,! apparently! acting! under! the! threat! of! the! emperor! &! of! his! authority! (he! hints! at! the! impending! command! too).! All! of! these! demonstrate! that! the! representation! of! the! threatening! state! apparatus! was! an! important! element! in! the! image! both! artists! devised! of! Rome,! something! to! which! the! experiences! of! the! 20th! century! could! offer! personal! background,! too:! Fellini! came! of! age! during! the! fascist!era!(fascist!authority!also!flares!up!in!Amarcord),!whereas! Szentkuthy! wrote! his! novel! right! after! the! devastation! of! World! War!II.!! !!!!! Although!these!experiences!might!not!directly!provide!an! answer! as! to! why! the! artists! had! a! preference! for! the! cultural! milieu! and! setting! of! antiquity! (as! a! “mask”! as! József! F.! Fekete! 19 József J. Fekete, P.O.S.T.: Szentkuthy Miklós élete és művei [P.O.S.T.: The Life and Works of Miklós Szentkuthy] (Újvidék: Forum, 2005) Web. 28 May 2013. ! puts!it!when!referring!to!Szentkuthy),21!but!they!do!explain!why! both!Fellini!and!Szentkuthy!created!such!an!image!of!antiquity!and! why! they! used! the! world! of! the! Roman! novel! together! with! its! tramps,! “infernal”! feasts,! and! people! who! long! for! magic! and! spirituality.!! !!!! The!magical!vision!is!mainly!a!characteristic!of!Apuleius;!in! Petronius’! writing,! it! appears! with! sarcastic! alienation,! but! in! Fellini’s! film,! the! magical! effects! have! an! important! role,! and! Szentkuthy’s! novel! also! remarks! on! mortal! fear! and! contains! mysterious!orations.!In!Fellini’s!case,!it!is!evident!from!the!title!of! the!film!that!the!ancient!novel!serves!as!a!basis,!and!it!seems!that! Szentkuthy!also!refers!to!the!ancient!novel!when!he!states!in!his! own!work!that!“Cicero’s!way!of!life!in!Greece!did!not!resemble!at! all!the!Greek!ideals!of!the!5th!and!6th!centuries!BC,!rather!a!later1 time!pulp1fiction.”22!! !!!!!The! word! “pulp1fiction”! can! refer! to! how! the! ancient! scholars! saw! and! ignored! the! genre! that! we! define! now! as! the! novel.23!Setting!out!from!this!interpretation,!we!may!even!suspect! a!closer!intertextuality!between!Petronius!and!Szentkuthy,!which! certain!motifs!of!Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years)seem!to!support!too.! Moreover,!even!though!Szentkuthy!doesn’t!mention!the!Satyricon) itself) in! the! 1986! documentary,! he! does! mention! “satire”! and! “parody,”!which!are!both!essential!components!of!Petronius’!text.! !!!! The!Cicero1novel!and!the!Satyricon!are!also!related!to!each! other! in! terms! of! their! wide! range! of! linguistic! and! stylistic! registers:! just! like! in! the! Roman! work! of! fiction,! in! Szentkuthy’s! writing,!we!can!also!find!a!blend!of!slang,!erudite!speech,!oration,! and!meditation.!The!connection!between!the!term!“pulp1fiction”! 21 Fekete, P.O.S.T., ibid. 22 Szentkuthy, Cicero vándoréve, ibid., 246. 23 See: Tim Whitmarsh, Cambridge Companion to the Greek & Roman Novel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 3. 219! ! ! and! the! ancient! novels! is! reinforced! by! its! attribute! too! (“later1 time”),!as!both!the!Roman!and!the!Greek!novel!were!born!in!the! age! of! Roman! Imperialism,! thus! they! cannot! be! regarded! as! products!of!the!“Greek!ideals!of!the!5th!and!6th!centuries!BC.”! !!!!!! Additionally,! the! term! “pulp1fiction”! can! also! refer! to! the! rejection!of!classical!(or!“humanist,”!as!Fellini!phrased!it)!ideas!of! antiquity! as! well! as! to! the! fact! that! Szentkuthy’s! work! is! the! depiction!of!a!late!period,!at!least!in!its!atmosphere.!His!novel!can! be!connected!to!the!Petronian!world,!if!we!interpret!Szentkuthy’s! statement!as!a!reference!to!a!conscious!literary!playfulness!in!his! novel,! too.! The! plot! seemingly! takes! place! during! Cicero’s! adolescence,! in! the! period! of! the! crisis! of! the! Roman! Republic! (Sulla!and!Marius!are!haunting,!depressing!shadows!&!background! characters!who!are!continuously!present!and!manipulate!the!fate,! thoughts,!and!fears!of!the!main!characters).!However,!in!fact,!with! its!distinctive!colors,!characters,!associations!and!philosophy,!the! text!rather!evokes!the!turmoil!of!the!1st!century,!and!in!particular! the!imperial!rule!of!Nero!(or!at!least!its!atmosphere)!as!well!as!the! Roman! literature! responding! to! the! period,! which! includes! Petronius.!The!queer1looking!vagabond!characters!of!the!Roman! Empire!also!allude!to!the!historical!period!of!the!Satyricon!—!no! wonder! that! Cicero! utters! the! following! during! one! of! his! embittered!contemplations:!“will!his!friends!only!come!from!the! populace!of!a!faceless!and!infernal!Rome?”24!! !!! !!In! other! parts! of! Szentkuthy’s! novel,! Cicero! actually! evokes! the! fears! and! doubts! that! are! in! the! depths! of! the! food! descriptions! of! Petronius’! Cena! and! reflects! on! the! ironic! and! disillusioned! vision! of! the! Satyricon,! the! unpredictability! of! fate,! the!meaninglessness!and!sadness!of!life:!“history!was!born!to!be!a! history?animal,! an! independent! and! an! end1in1itself! kind! of! 24 Miklós Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 331. 220! ! ! physiological!species![...],!but!that!barrel!of!grease!!put!in!pliant,! thin!staves!with!twisted!straws!!that!huge!sack!of!green!peas![....]! These!are!gods,!these!are!women,!these!are!men,!thought!Cicero,! they!bear!something!eternal,!something!more!humanly!sorrowful! and!pretty!than!humans,!every!fate!and!every!piece!of!poetry,!and! every!spleen,!and!every!renunciation!manifests!in!objects!and!in! delicious!food!”! Both!Fellini!and!Szentkuthy!were!searching!for!what!they! recognized!in!their!own!time,!too:!the!infernal!carnival1like!nature! of!life.!According!to!J.R.!Morgan,25!Petronius’!dinner!scene!can!be! interpreted! as! a! descent! to! the! underworld! since! several! of! its! episodes!remind!us!of!the!katabasis!of!the!Aeneid,!and!its!motifs! often!suggest!that!there!is!an!allusion,!a!literary!game!in!the!story.! Fellini’s! dinner! scene! appears! to! stem! from! a! similar! interpretation:!it!starts!off!with!a!scarlet!sky,!and!the!characters! are! absurd! and! ludicrous,! their! faces! are! painted! and! the! colors! are! otherwordly,! or! at! least! dreamlike,! more! akin! to! contemporary!than!ancient!Rome.!! Although! Szentkuthy’s! image! of! Rome! is! less! abstract! (at! least!in!terms!of!the!physical!world),!he!still!leaves!similar!clues!in! Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years:!what!is!more,!we!can!find!references! to!the!katabasis)too:!at!the!beginning!of!the!novel,!Cicero!visits!a! barber’s! shop,! where! the! barber,! a! rather! Trimalchio1looking! figure!with!a!striking!resemblance!to!the!other!guests!of!the!Cena,) is!neglecting!his!duties!because!he!is!complementing!the!speech! of! an! orator! called! Emilianus.! We! receive! an! insight! into! how! narrative! and! spatial! aspects! interact! in! an! attempt! to! achieve! abstract!effects,!as!is!the!case!in!several!scenes!from!Fellini’s!film,! too.!The!following!line!is!a!clear!justification!of!this!idea:!“as!many! 25 Jonathan R.W. Prag and Ian D. Repath, Petronius: A Handbook (Chichester: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2009) 35−36. 221! ! ! as!three!stairs!isolated!it!from!the!men’s!ward!and!this!tiny!depth! was! far! more! than! enough! for! Cicero! to! associate! it! with! the! enigmatic!underworld!of!the!women’s!world...”26!All!of!a!sudden,! the!spatial!narrative!is!elevated!into!a!mythical!context.!It!can!be! seen! that,! in! certain! aspects,! Szentkuthy! and! Fellini! sought! to! depict!a!very!similar!world!within!the!Roman!milieu.!! ! III.!Dama’s!Remarks!in!the!Satyricon!! The! correspondences! between! the! two! Rome1visions! and! their! relationship! to! the! Satyricon! can! be! better! understood! if! we! investigate!them!in!relation!to!one!scene!from!Petronius’!text,!the! Dama!speech.!It!incorporates!motifs!and!emotions!that!both!20th1 century! works! intensely! reflect! on.! In! one! part! of! the! Cena,! Trimalchio! exits! the! room! and! the! guests,! having! got! rid! of! the! dominant! host! (this! is! when! Encolpius! uses! the! word! tyrannus),! begin! to! chat! and! make! “speeches.”! The! first! speaker! is! Dama,! who! starts! his! speech! in! a! quite! unusual! manner.! I! will! focus! primarily! on! his! oration,! but! will! also! touch! upon! Seleucus’! speech.!As!for!the!two!characters,!Fellini!blended!them!into!one! by!putting!the!words!of!both!figures!into!Dama’s!mouth.!! !!!!Dama’s! speech! can! be! understood! as! a! cliché! and! the! parody!of!pseudo1philosophy,27!nevertheless,!it!also!proves!to!be! frightening! and! uses! words! that! are! just! as! much! depressing! as! parodistic.! He! commences! with! the! words! Dies) nihil) est.) Dum) versas)te,)nox)fit.!(“Day!is!nothing.!Night!is!on!you!before!you!can! turn!round.”)28!His!words!give!account!of!a!fearful!perception!of! time! and! the! dramatic! terseness! created! by! the! grammatical! simplicity!of!the!sentences!goes!far!beyond!cliché!(and!the!parody! 26 Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 16. 27 Valeria M. Hope points out that contemplating death was a conventional part of table talk at that time. Cf. Prag & Repath, Petronius, ibid., 140−141. 28 Translations appearing in parentheses are my own loose translations of the Latin and Italian texts. 222! ! ! of! cliché)! and! raises! a! new! interpretation! besides! the! comic! understanding.!! While! it! is! possible! to! call! Dama’s! style! of! speech! (as! Victoria! Rimell! does)29! staccato,! inebriated,! and! “lazy1tongued,”! we! can! also! consider! the! brokenness! of! the! speech! a! special! poetic!solution!of!Petronius!with!which!he!expresses!the!drama!of! the! suddenly! disappearing! sun.! Thus,! the! literary! text! works! simultaneously!on!two!levels.!The!drunk!freedman!will!remain!a! drunk!freedman,!and!some!of!his!words!in!the!given!context!can! indeed!sound!parodistic!(and!he!is!not!a!poet,!nor!a!philosopher!in! the! general! meaning! of! these! words),! however,! his! monologue,! extracted!from!its!context,!can!be!regarded!as!a!poetical!speech! that!reflects!Petronius’!fear!and!refers!to!the!Satyricon’s!general! range!of!emotions!and!anxieties.! !!!!!!Therefore,! the! Dama! monologue! can! be! interpreted! both!from!the!perspective!of!the!concrete!scene!as!well!as!of!the! general!meaning!of!the!work.!In!the!latter!case,!the!discursiveness! and!the!clumsy!compilation!of!the!sentences!become!the!sensitive! and! poetically! complex! means! of! the! expression! of! fear! rather! than! the! comic! and! distorted! manifestation! of! illiteracy.! In! this! interpretation,! however,! it! is! not! Dama! who! transforms! into! a! philosopher,! but! his! words! rise! above! his! own! character.! For! instance,!if!we!examine!his!speech!through!the!perspective!of!his! personality!and!the!cultural1mental!milieu!of!Trimalchio’s!dinner,! then!the!utterance!Et)mundus)frigus)habuimus)(“We!had!a!really! cold! world/weather)) can! indeed! be! compared! to! the! everyday! Italian!expression!“abbiamo)avuto)un)bel)freddo”!(“We!had!really! cold!weather)30!and!therefore,!can!be!regarded!as!small!talk!about! 29 Prag & Repath, Petronius, ibid., 67. 30 Gareth Schmeling, A Commentary on The Satyrica of Petronius (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) 163. 223! ! ! the! weather,! but! the! short! remark! might! as! well! be! a! brief,! dramatic!assertion!in!a!poetic!sense.!! !!!!Seleucus’!utterances!work!in!a!similar!manner:!Nos)non) pluris) sumus) quam) bullae! (“We! are! nothing! but! bubbles”),! or! Baliscus)enim)fullo)est:!aqua)dentes)habet!(“The!bather’s!a!mere! fuller.!Water’s!got!teeth”).!However,!if!we!do!not!wish!to!separate! the!two!levels!of!the!text!so!explicitly,!then!we!can!assume!that! Dama’s!words!remain!Dama’s!words!in!both!interpretations,!it!is! only!that,!in!the!poetical!interpretation,!Dama!is!not!a!poet!who! consciously!applies!finely!shaded!diction,!but!one!who!speaks!in!a! “deeper”!way!than!he!himself!would!think.!Although!at!the!level! of!the!dinner’s!table!talk!he!cites!phrases!and!clichés,!his!sayings! are!penetrated!by!his!very!fear!of!cold!and!death!that!makes!his! words! authentic! and! poetic.! This! is! how! the! “lazy1tongue”31! and! inebriated! oration! turns! into! death! poetry,! and! this! is! how! the! symbolic! meaning! of! Petronius’! scene! comes! to! life! by! the! intertwining! of! the! two! interpretation! levels:! we! can! see! a! man! who!becomes!a!poet!for!a!short!moment!by!his!own!fear!and!thus! also! elevates! the! space! around! him! from! the! confines! of! the! ordinary! to! the! poetical.! This! is! why! man! is! floating,! or! as! Petronius!puts!it:!En)homo)quemadmodum)natat)(“That!is!human,! and! look,! how! he! is! swimming!”)! This! kind! of! fear,! hidden! in! gestures! and! speech,! which! is! always! beneath! the! characters! of! the!Satyricon,!can!be!called:!‘Damaian’!fear!after!Dama.!This!type! of! latent! distress! has! a! really! relevant! role! in! both! Szentkuthy’s! novel!and!Fellini’s!film.!This!kind!of!fear,!so!to!say,!provided!a!key! to!the!two!modern!artists!for!how!to!depict!what!they!felt!in!their! own!times.!Beyond!the!form!and!the!various! linguistic! registers,! this!latent!fear!characterizes!most!their!relation!to!Petronius!and! his!style.!! 31 Prag & Repath, Petronius, ibid., 67. 224! ! ! IV.!Szentkuthy,!Fellini,!&!the!‘Damaian’!Motif! In!Miklós!Szentkuthy’s!text!we!can!find!an!extensive!form!of!the! system!identified!by!us!as!Damaian!symbolism,!and!the!novel!can! be!placed!into!dialogue!both!with!Petronius!and!Fellini.!! In! Petronius’! Satyricon,! the! hidden,! concealed! and! yet! ever1present! nature! of! the! web! of! fears! is! well! signified! by! the! way! the! quite! profane! environments! are! elevated! —! due! to! certain!references!and!motifs!—!into!a!mythological,!frightening,! and! mystical! context.! These! profane! environments! (like! Trimalchio’s! dinner)! can! be! full! of! humor! and! irony;! however,! deep! down,! they! mostly! involve! fear.! But! just! as! a! dinner! can! transform! into! a! descent! to! the! underworld,! a! beach! can! also! transform!into!one!through!a!very!similar!though!more!mosaicked! technique.!By!analyzing!some!parts!of!Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years) in!a!more!detailed!way,!we!can!demonstrate!how!this!technique! works.!! At!the!beginning!of!Szentkuthy’s!novel,!a!young!Cicero!is!at! the! beach! but! is! uncomfortable.! The! boy! is! extremely! clumsy! in! terms!of!practical!affairs,!and!his!constitution!does!not!allow!him! to!resemble!the!Roman!male!ideal,!therefore!Cicero!is!strangled! by! anxiety! and! detestation! and! he! distances! himself! from! the! “Herculeses.”! Take! note! of! the! symbolism! of! the! scene’s! colors! and! objects:! first! we! can! see! a! sunny! seashore! (yellow),! then! muscular!cadets!and!actors!carrying!a!fishing1boat.!The!text!also! directs!our!attention!to!the!yellow!ring!of!one!of!the!carriers.!The! figure! with! the! yellow! ring! is! mentioned! in! the! text! once! more,! then!Cicero!holds!back!a!hiccup!because!an!actress!is!approaching! “in!a!golden!high1heeled!shoe,!with!a!greyhound!and!a!black!silk! fan.”32! The! golden! heel! therefore! matches! the! color! of! the! carrier’s!ring,!so!“yellow”!can!right!away!be!interpreted!as!Cicero’s! 32 Miklós Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 8. 225! ! ! counter1color!symbolizing!sunshine,!muscles,!and!the!women!who! despise!him.!The!silk!fan!and!the!greyhound!are,!however,!even! more!interesting.!Black!(at!least!in!its!modern!and!contemporary! interpretation)! can! be! considered! as! the! evident! color! of! death! (and!the!fan,!coupled!with!this!color,!is!also!mysterious),!and!our! image!of!death!is!reinforced!by!the!word!“greyhound”!too,!which! appears!as!the!symbol!of!death!in!other!works!of!Szentkuthy’s!as! well,!as!in!his!novel!Pendragon)and)Apollo)XIII:!“King!Pendragon! had! the! face! to! inhale! the! tasty1blue! fume! of! the! sizzling! black! pudding!into!his!death1greyhound!nostrils.”33!In!the!beach!scene,! the!connection!between!death!and!light!(golden!heel!and!silk!fan)! appears! even! more! concretely! some! lines! later:! “when! the! sun! comes! out,! I! continue! to! feel! cold,! […]! the! sea! becomes! a! question,!death!becomes!a!question...”34!The!infernal!and!deathly! nature! of! the! actress’! colors! are! further! reinforced! by! the! subsequent! and! previously! mentioned! barber! scene! where! the! infernal!mysteriousness!of!the!female!world!is!discussed.!Here!we! face!a!Trimalchian!phenomenon!again:!the!basic!tone!of!the!scene! is! comical! and! grotesque;! in! a! certain! sense! we! laugh! at! Cicero,! while!in!the!background!the!cold,!the!underworld,!and!death!are! lurking.!! This! technique! is! mosaicked,! because! the! key! to! the! interpretation! of! the! opening! beach! scene! as! death! and! underworld!is!only!given!later!in!the!novel!when!the!preacher!in! the!Eos!Psychas!temple!speaks!as!follows:!“If!you!see!a!girl!in!a! saffron!dress!on!the!street!or!in!a!boat,!if!a!saffron!curtain!quickly! moves! in! the! gate! of! the! bathing! hall! …! Watch! the! sky! in! the! morning:! is! there! anything! more! beautiful! than! the! pale! yellow! 33 Miklós Szentkuthy, Pendragon és XIII. Apolló [Pendragon and Apollo XIII] (Budapest: Magvető, 2009) 38. 34 Miklós Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 8. 226! ! ! horizon?!...!Karkom1Saffron!!Karkom1Saffron!!—!this!is!what!death! is!like!”35!Then!later!he!says:!“Dawn!is!not!only!light,!dawn!is!the! wind,!too!!...!this!is!what!rips!away!the!first!wrapping1waves!from! the!surface!of!the!sea!…The!air!is!ink,!filth!and!silver,!the!weather! is!neither!flesh!nor!fish,!this!is!the!wind,!Karkom1Saffron!”36!The! preacher!is!a!deformed!figure;!he!looks!as!if!he!was!one!of!Fellini’s! masked!Romans!standing!in!front!of!us.!“His!chin!was!extremely! sharp,!small!and!sharp!…!his!mouth!was!thin,!his!teeth!were!bad,! yellow! and! longish! …”37! (The! yellow! symbolism! reappears.)! The! strange! face! reminds! us! of! Fellini’s! technique! of! creating! alienation,! fear,! and! uncertainty,! but! the! commentary! of! the! narrator! is! also! important:! “What! is! it?! A! poet?! A! burnt1out! lebemann?! A! charlatan?! ...! A! magician?”38! This! rhetorical! technique! of! guessing! and! enumerating! images! gains! a! certain! importance!here!because!it!seems!as!if!the!narrator!directed!his! look!toward!an!unknown!person,!described!what!he!directly!saw,! and! then! examined! it.! Thus! the! strong! visualization! here! serves! similar! aims! to! those! of! Fellini’s,! although! Szentkuthy’s! narrator! usually!interprets!more!consciously,!has!knowledge!and!opinions! of!the!world!he!is!talking!about,!and!does!not!intend!to!reach!such! a! neutral,! inspecting,! and! distanced! perspective,! which! Fellini! endeavored!to!create.! Returning!now!to!the!oration,!the!images!of!the!preacher’s! speech!seem!to!intentionally!remind!us!of!the!first!scene’s!images! of!the!beach!and!seashore.!The!morning!sun!appears!but!together! with!the!wind!and!the!cold!(the!young!Cicero!is!simultaneously!hit! by!the!sun!and!cold!sensations),!and!the!seashore!is!also!present! with!the!pier!and!the!bathing!(although!the!narrator!mentions!a! 35 Ibid., 267. 36 Ibid., 268. 37 Ibid., 267. 38 Ibid. 227! ! ! bathing! hall! instead! of! a! beach).! The! most! important! thing! is,! however,! that! the! preacher! continuously! emphasizes! the! importance!of!“yellow”!and!“saffron”!and!finally!names!it!as!the! color! of! death.! In! other! words,! this! is! when! the! forebodings! we! had!in!connection!with!the!silk!fan,!the!greyhound,!and!later!with! the!barber’s!shop,!are!finally!proven!to!be!true.!This!is!how!the! beginning!of!the!novel!is!reinterpreted!in!the!light!of!the!priest’s! words! and! becomes! a! hidden! katabasis,! just! like! Trimalchio’s! dinner!based!on!the!ominous!motifs!of!the!Satyricon.!! However,!the!juxtaposition!of!the!saffron1dressed!girl!and! death!reminds!us!not!only!of!Cicero’s!experience!on!the!beach!but! also! of! the! general! connection! between! death! and! marriage:! in! Aeschylus’s! Agamemnon,! the! Chorus! narrates! the! scene! of! Iphigenia’s!sacrifice.!They!mention!the!saffron!dress!of!Iphigenia! too,!which!is!not!coincidental,!as!saffron!was!the!color!of!wedding! dresses! in! antiquity,! and! Agamemnon! has! Iphigenia! brought! to! Aulis! with! the! pretext! of! marrying! her! to! Achilles.! Thus,! death,! saffron,! and! marriage! are! closely! connected! here,! and! the! same! connection! appears! in! Sophocles’! Antigone! when! Antigone! identifies! her! grave! with! her! wedding! room.! The! symbolism! of! “saffron1dress”!and!“sun,”!“beach”!and!“death”!can!also!refer!to! the! dual! nature! of! saffron,! as! it! is! also! an! aphrodisiac,! but! if! consumed!in!excess!it!can!also!kill.!Thus!the!comic!“pop”!elements! and! the! humorous! side! of! the! novel! (the! clumsy! Cicero! on! the! beach)! and! the! frightening,! dark! side! (approaching! death)! are! somehow!united!in!the!yellow!color!of!the!saffron.!With!a!layered! reference!system,!Szentkuthy!transforms!our!reading!in!multiple! ways!and,!like!Fellini!and!Petronius,!weaves!a!hidden!web!of!fears.! In! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years,! like! in! Szentkuthy’s! other! works! as! well,! the! rhetorical! construction! of! the! text! is! very! important:! the! characters! make! speeches,! teach,! argue;! we! can! 228! ! ! also! often! follow! their! inner! trains! of! thought! and! imaginations.! Cicero! is! in! a! sense! the! connector! of! the! text’s! meditations! and! threads!or!motifs,!or,!as!Mária!Tompa!says!in!the!epilogue!to!the! 1990! edition,! “he! is! the! figure! who! connects,! deeply! contemplates,! and! experiences! many1many! stories,! a) million) metaphors)and!ideas.”39!! The!varied!linguistic!registers!represent!different!milieus!as! well! as! the! intelligence! level! of! the! characters.! Sometimes! the! imitation! of! everyday! language! bears! a! latent! poetical! meaning,! the! expression! of! a! latent! fear,! just! like! in! the! case! of! the! Satyricon.!The!complex!rhetorical!construction!is!not!unfamiliar!to! Petronius! either;! Encolpius! delivers! an! oration! about! rhetoric,! Trimalchio! and! his! guests! also! speak! rhetorically,! and! Eumolpus! talks!about!art!and!poetry.!This!characteristic!appears!in!Fellini’s! case!too:!in!Fellini’s!Satyricon,!we!can!hear!a!farewell!speech!from! Eumolpus!that!does!not!appear!in!the!Latin!novel!at!all.!The!poet! tells!Encolpius!the!following:!“Ti)lascio)il)vento,)il)sole,)ti)lascio)il) mare”40! (I! bequeath! the! wind,! the! sun,! the! sea! to! you).! In! the! speech!we!can!see!the!sea,!the!sun,!and!the!wind!from!the!point! of! view! of! Eumolpus,! who! is! saying! goodbye! to! life,! and! as! a! symbol! of! poetry! (as! he! wants! to! leave! all! of! these! things! to! Encolpius!as!part!of!poetry).!The!sea,!the!sun,!and!the!wind!are! furthermore!the!main!emblems!of!the!Satyricon,!which!is!set!on!a! ship! and! in! a! storm! too! (en) homo) quemadmodum) natat),! and! these! are! the! most! important! symbols! in! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years)as!well.)At!the!beginning!of!Fellini’s!film,!Encolpius!says!to! Giton,!or!rather!about!Giton!since!the!boy!is!not!present:!“sei)il) sole,)sei)il)mare…”!(“you!are!the!sun,!you!are!the!sea”).41!In!the! 39 Ibid., 374. 40 Federico Fellini & Bernardino Zapponi, Satyricon: Screenplay. Web. 28 May 2013. 229! ! ! final!scene!of!the!film!we!can!see!the!sea!again!when!Encolpius!is! slowly! transforming! into! a! wall1painting.! Thus,! it! is! important! in! both!Szentkuthy’s!as!well!as!in!Fellini’s!work!that!the!sea!and!the! sun!are!the!symbols!of!both!death!and!troubled!and!restless!love! (Cicero’s!longing!after!the!actress,!Encolpius’!jealousy).! In! Szentkuthy’s! novel,! just! like! in! Fellini’s! film! or! in! Petronius’! work,! death! appears! in! small! patches:! it! occurs! throughout! the! whole! text! in! an! extensive! web! of! symbols.! The! greyhound1motif!of!the!first!scene!reappears!later!in!the!novel.!In! one!part!of!the!text,!Egyptian!ministers!appear,!who!the!narrator! calls,!by!quoting!one!of!the!characters,!“snobbish!greyhounds.”42! Then! some! lines! later! we! can! read! that! “the! Egyptians! entered,! like! greyhounds! indeed,! thin! and! distinguished…”! The! face! of! death!in!this!case!is!coldness!and!ceremonial:!“The!Egyptians,!who! were!colder!and!more!ceremonious!than!ice!and!hydrangea,!went! out!from!the!tent.”43!A!black!panther!on!a!leash!also!appears.!The! Egyptians! negotiated! “so! coldly! and! stiffly”44! “as! if! they! were! puppets.”45! The! exaggerations! and! stylizations! of! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years! are! emphasized! by! Fekete! too,! who! actually! uses! the! words! “puppet1show”46! and! stresses! the! element! of! “danse) macabre”! to! describe! a! motif! that! runs! through! the! author’s! whole! oeuvre.! This! constant! employment! of! puppets,! masks,! and! theatricality,! this! ceremoniousness! giving! rise! to! misgivings,! is! exactly! what! characterizes! Fellini’s! Satyricon! too.! The! prime! mover! of! the! whole! scene! is! death:! the! Egyptian! ministers!look!for!the!corpse!of!a!prince!and!the!Armenian!king!is! dying!in!the!tent!that!they!enter.!The!ministers!fulfill!the!role!of! 41 Ibid. 42 Miklós Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 312. 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid., 315. 45 Ibid. 46 Fekete, P.O.S.T., ibid. 230! ! ! death!owls!too!for!the!king!dies!that!evening.!Finally,!the!daughter! of!the!king,!Ankcsojl1Mbéga,!lies!to!the!ministers!that!she!knows! where!the!corpse!of!the!young!prince!is,!hoping!that!she!will!get! money!in!return.!After!the!father!dies,!Ankcsojl!hides!his!body!in! the! coffin! and! gives! it! to! the! Egyptians.! Thus,! if! we! look! at! the! story! from! the! perspective! of! the! “false! corpse”! motif,! then! we! can! even! connect! it! to! the! story! of! the! widow! of! Ephesus,! although! this! connection! is! of! course! distant! to! how! it! is! in! the! Satyricon.!However,!interpreted!from!the!point!of!view!of!Fellini’s! film,!it!is!not!that!distant!at!all.!In!Fellini’s!scene!of!the!widow!of! Ephesus,!the!mourners!follow!the!wife!to!the!grave!like!cold,!black! puppets,!with!ritual!gestures!and!lamentation.!In!all!of!the!scenes! of! the! film,! we! see! puppets! whose! behavior! is! unfamiliar! to! us.! The!alienated!ritual!and!the!fear!of!death!lying!underneath!is!one! of! the! most! important! characteristics! of! both! Fellini’s! and! Szentkuthy’s!work,!just!like!the!carnival,!the!vivid!colors,!and!the! strange!characters:!“If!someone!had!been!looking!at!the!streets!of! the! city! from! the! terrace! of! a! hillside! villa,! he! would! have! simultaneously!seen!the!two!groups!approaching!each!other:!from! the! north! the! Eos! priests! surrounded! by! Roman! soldiers,! dilapidated! charlatans,! and! drunk! show1girls.”47! Of! course,! the! premonitory! signs! of! death! are! present! in! the! carnival! too:! “Agragas! was! stammering! something! to! the! poor! woman! about! the! importance! of! death! and! the! actual! insignificance! of! all! important! things! […]! then,! amid! sobs! and! hand! kisses,! he! apologized! to! her! and! called! her! Persephone.”48! Carnival! and! confusion! as! the! symbols! of! death! appear! in! the! novel! in! the! context! of! eating! and! feasting,! too! (like! in! Petronius’! Cena).! Xenia’s!grandfather!organizes!the!funeral!feast!and!its!rehearsal!in! 47 Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 308. 48 Ibid., 309. 231! ! ! honor! of! Pluvius! Acer.! The! guests! start! a! “parlor! game”! on! this! occasion:! the! old! man! is! presiding! on! a! chair! on! the! top! of! the! table!while!the!participants! are!spitting!wine!in!paper1light!cups! swimming!in!bowls.!The!dreamlike!vision!completely!reminds!us! of! the! grotesque! scenes! of! Fellini’s! Satyricon! (recall! for! example! the! beginning! of! the! Trimalchio! scene! of! the! film! where! naked! women!are!jumping!in!the!water).!Moreover,!the!participants!of! the! “game”! are! “701year1old! equestriennes! and! flea! circus! performers! […]! arm! in! arm! with! the! laughing! ladies! of! Xenia’s! house,”49! thus! the! diversity,! repulsiveness! or! strangeness! of! the! characters,!also!reminds!us!of!the!world!of!Fellini’s!film.!We!can! find!here!the!same!grotesque!madness!and!the!image!of!lurking! mortal!fear.!Beneath!the!‘parlor!game’!there!is!the!fact!of!Pluvius’! death;! the! characters! are! eager! to! forget! the! coldness! and! fearfulness! of! death! by! the! strange! revelry;! however,! the! frightening! darkness! and! absurdity! still! remains,! just! like! in! the! Cena)of!both!Petronius!and!Fellini.)!! As!mentioned!earlier,!Fellini!was!very!much!inspired!by!the! colorful!pop!drawings!of!contemporary!comics!as!well!as!by!the! marvelous!visions!invoked!by!LSD.!And!it!seems!that!Szentkuthy! was! driven! by! visual! ideas! and! interests! quite! similar! to! Fellini’s! too,!such!as!the!face1painted!figures!of!Trimalchio’s!dinner!as!well! as!the!film’s!surreal!color!scheme!and!oriental!and!African!musical! motifs.!! Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years)is!full!of!wild!and!hallucinatory! similes! and! metaphors! that! seem! to! intentionally! serve! the! creation!of!visionary!and!homogeneous!scenery.!In!the!first!part! of! the! novel,! the! old! Greek! teacher! Agragas! imagines! that! he! is! telling!a!story!to!the!young!Cicero.!In!one!of!these!paragraphs,!it! seems!as!if!we!are!reading!the!ars)poetica!of!the!work:!“This!is!the! 49 Ibid., 274. 232! ! ! Rome!that!I!love,!Cicero,!this!Ephesian!idol!pulled!by!a!string,!this! loan1East!credit!limit!of!superstition,!painted!by!a!big,!rough,!and! tangled!brush,!and!the!chanting!priests!and!charlatan!doctors,!and! the! urchins! and! the! syphilitic! slaves!! All! of! these! under! a! bright! blue! sky! […].! The! thin! balcony! grids,! the! squint1eyed! geraniums,! the! parrot! gods! all! together! on! an! August! pile,! in! burning! heat1 wave,!among!cracking!sails!and!clinking!stomach!armors!—!all!of! this! is! something! like! a! big! Olympian! rascality,! an! Empire! and! a! steak1house! at! the! same! time.”50! In! this! sensual! image! of! atmosphere!we!can!find!several!tendencies!that!definitely!make! Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years!similar!to!Fellini’s!work.!And!we!don’t! only! have! to! mention! here! the! similar! visual! techniques! and! mosaic1like! style,! but! rather! the! clear! influence! of! photos,! pictures,! and! probably! also! comic! strips! and! other! elements! of! pop!culture.!Szentkuthy!loved!magazines!and!photos;!he!collected! them,!and!they!often!served!to!inspire!him.!A!photo!of!the!actress! Marion!Douglas,!e.g.,!inspired!him!to!create!Leatrice,!one!of!the! protagonists!of!his!debut!novel,!Prae.!His!interest!in!pop!culture,! and! the! fusion! of! modern! visual! elements! with! classical! references,! is! a! very! postmodern! characteristic! of! his! oeuvre! In! the!just!cited!passage,!we!feel!the!presence!of!a!complex!rhetoric! style! but! we! can! also! see! how! the! author! mingles! powerful! pictures!with!a!sensitive!linguistic!power.!Like!Fellini,!he!wants!us! not!to!understand!but!to!breathe!and!watch!his!world;!he!wants! us!to!touch!his!Rome.!And!of!course,!because!of!this,!Szentkuthy’s! prose!is!erotic;!erotic!in!the!same!way!as!Fellini’s!film.!!!! For! Szentkuthy,! too,! Rome! exists! through! images,! the! energy! of! images! and! the! sense! of! touch.! Contours! and! vivid! colors! are! important;! in! Fellini’s! case! too! the! sky! is! also! often! highly!colorful:!for!example,!in!the!suicide!scene!it!is!pinky1purple! 50 Ibid., 95–96. 233! ! ! while!at!Trimalchio’s!dinner!it!is!a!bright,!hellish!red.!The!figures!of! Fellini’s!Satyricon!are!infernal!and!strange:!we!would!many!times! call! them! impolite! and! aggressive.! Szentkuthy! also! enumerates! deformed!and!fantastic!figures!(Agragas!mentions!chanting!priests! and!charlatan!doctors),!which!he!describes!with!cinematic!vision.! Speaking! about! one! of! the! priests! of! the! Eos! Psychas! temple,! Szentkuthy!mentions!“arms!that!are!short!but!have!the!shape!of! headcheese”!and!“big,!ruddy!faces!with!short,!red!hair.”! Furthermore,!the!contrast!between!the!“Empire”!and!the! “steak1house”! is! also! reminiscent! of! Fellini’s! double! eye:! we! see! the!play1acting!Trimalchio!giving!a!carnival1like!dinner!on!the!one! hand! and! the! ever1present! Roman! soldiers! and! the! threat! of! power!on!the!other!hand.!Agragas!mentions!loan1East!Rome!and! superstitions,! too.! The! importance! of! “East”! in! the! novel! is! pointed! out! by! Fekete:! “It! was! in! the! Breviary) series! that! Szentkuthy’s! attitude! became! really! anti1European,! that! is,! at! a! time!when!the!era!raised!one!lying!slogan!after!another,!followed! by!lying!acts!and!finally!culminating!in!the!collective!psychosis!of! the!second!world!war![…].!However,!instead!of!directly!putting!the! young! Cicero! in! the! center! of! the! novel,! Szentkuthy! chose! his! teacher,! the! Greek! philosopher! Agragas,! as! the! focus.! This! way,! through!the!Greek’s!perspective,!Rome!becomes!your)Rome!and! the! state! becomes! your) state.”51! Although! whether! Szentkuthy! made!anyone!the!focus!of!his!work!is!contentious,!it!is!certainly! true! that! the! Eastern! Greek’s! cynical! and! outsider! eye! is! very! significant!throughout!the!novel,!and!this!motif!can!be!compared! to! Fellini’s! outsider! or! “neutral”! point! of! view.! Therefore,! the! Roman! world! appears! in! both! works! through! scrutinizing! eyes! whose!owners!are!to!a!certain!extent!free!and!rootless!examiners! of! an! unfamiliar! world.! While! in! Szentkuthy’s! work! the! East! is! 51 Fekete, P.O.S.T., ibid. 234! ! ! represented!by!the!Greek!figure!and!the!Persians,!in!Fellini’s!case,! it! is! the! noise! and! the! musical! insertions! that! signify! the! East.! While! Fellini’s! Eastern! elements! are! tools! for! alienation! and! the! arousal! of! fear,! Szentkuthy’s! East! creates! the! outsider’s! point! of! view!(in!the!person!of!Agragas).! !Fekete!emphasizes!the!theatricality!and!vision!of!the!novel! as!well!as!the!heroes!appearing!in!“stylized!masks.”!This!alienating! theatricality!always!bears!the!‘Daman!fear,’!as!in!the!depth!of!cold! ceremonies!we!always!feel!the!presence!of!death.!At!the!end!of! his! analysis! of! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years,! Fekete! makes! a! surprising!statement:!“Some!parts!of!the!novel,!in!spite!of!being! monologues! in! terms! of! their! form,! seem! as! if! they! had! been! written!for!viewers!and!not!readers.”52!Let!us!have!a!look!at!the! barber!scene!at!the!beginning!of!the!novel.!The!barber,!the!most! characteristic!figure!of!the!scene,!is!giving!a!lecture!to!his!guests! about!tribune!Emilianus.!He!acts!out!what!he!is!saying!so!he!draws! on! the! readers’! vision,! too.! The! figure! reminds! us! of! Trimalchio,! not! only! because! of! his! loudness! and! pronounced! lack! of! education,!but!also!because!of!his!dramatic!inclinations!and!desire! for! attraction.! At! the! beginning! of! the! scene! he! says! (as! an! appraisal!of!Emilianus):!“Sir!!As!he!said!that!one!word!then…”!—! then!we!get!to!know!that,!while!speaking!the!barber,!he!“hurled! some!foam!from!one!hand!to!the!other!in!quite!fantastic!circles! and!then!over!the!head!of!guests,!apprentices,!and!stray!cats!right! into!a!dirty!wash1bowl…”53!The!theatrical!speech!and!description,! the!“staging”!of!the!everyday!life!of!the!barber’s!shop,!very!much! remind! us! of! Fellini’s! dinner! scene,! where! it! is! Trimalchio’s! company! who! receive,! in! a! certain! sense,! a! dramatic! representation! by! the! party! of! guests! acting! and! gesturing! 52 Ibid. 53 Szentkuthy, Cicero vándorévei, ibid., 11. 235! ! ! theatrically.! Just! as! we! can! witness! in! both! Fellini’s! film! and! Petronius’!novel!that!Trimalchio!creates!spectacle!from!everyday! gestures,! in! Szentkuthy’s! case,! we! can! also! observe! that! the! barber!is!handling!his!tools!theatrically,!thereby!turning!everyday! things!into!a!performance.! Frightening!theatricality!is!one!of!the!central!elements!of! Szentkuthy’s!works,!and!he!draws!attention!to!the!importance!of! theatricality! in! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years,! too.! Very! similarly! to! the!first!section!of!Marginalia)on)Casanova,)here!we!can!read:)“Is! there!any!instinct!more!human!than!acting?”54!It!seems!as!if!this! scene!was!looking!for!the!answer!to!this!question!too,!i.e.,!for!the! motives! and! nature! of! acting! and! how! they! relate! to! life! itself.! Theatricality! is! intensified! by! the! distortion! of! characters! and! objects! and! the! enumeration! of! strange! figures! and! instruments! typical! of! Fellini! too:! “And! the! horse1dealer! who! was! having! his! head! shaved!! He! sank! more! deeply! in! his! huge! armchair! than! a! bucket!in!a!well,!his!head!could!hardly!be!seen!at!the!bottom!of! the!enormous!mirror,!among!the!stork1necked!and!pigeon1shaped! perfume!flasks;!he!threw!his!legs!apart,!he!could!do!stunts!with! his!toes…”55!Szentkuthy’s!description!is!reminiscent!of!the!beefy,! drumming,! and! cymbal1beating! figures! of! Fellini’s! Satyricon.! The! common! point! of! Fellini’s! and! Szentkuthy’s! representation! technique! is! the! grotesqueness! and! alienating! nature! of! the! characters;!they!do!not!only!resemble!the!inhabitants!of!another! planet,!but!they!also!recall!our!own!distress.!The!atmosphere,!the! visage!of!these!characters,!is!so!to!say,!‘uncomfortable’;!we!feel! exactly! like! the! young! Cicero:! we! do! not! understand! where! we! are,!what!we!are!doing.!But!there!is!another!common!point:!even! if! it! is! uncomfortable,! what! we! see! is! still! somehow! beautiful,! 54 Ibid., 49. 55 Ibid., 13–14. 236! ! ! perhaps!because!of!the!fullness,!because!of!the!hidden!poetry!in! everything!(even!in!food,!as!we!saw!before).!The!watching!eye!of! Cicero!(often!fused!with!the!narrator’s!eye)!sees!the!melancholic! beauty! in! every! person,! every! object,! sees! the! loneliness! in! everything.!Just!like!the!somehow!incomprehensible!vagabonds!of! Fellini,! Cicero! is! also! lonely;! he! is! sitting! in! the! corner! of! the! barbershop,!metaphorically!at!the!corner!of!the!world!itself,!but! even! if! he! is! embittered,! he! is! gazing! and! he! is! projecting! his! imaginings!and!desires!into!everything.!!! Just!as!Encolpius!treats!Trimalchio’s!dinner!as!an!outsider! and!many!times!with!intense!irony,!Cicero!is!also!an!educated!and! embittered! viewer! in! the! world! of! the! barbershop.! However,! while! in! Petronius’! case,! cheerful! and! lenient! humor! is! present! throughout!the!work!in!spite!of!the!infernal!character!and!hidden! fear,!Szentkuthy’s!Cicero!is!angry!and!anxious!and!acts!as!if!he!was! nobody!although!he!regards!himself!to!be!cleverer!than!the!other! men! in! the! barbershop,! who! are,! unlike! him,! loud! and! self1 important.! Just! as! the! discussion! between! Trimalchio! and! his! guests!appears!in!Fellini’s!and!Petronius’!dinner,!the!tirade!of!the! barber!and!his!horse1dealer!guest!also!gets!a!role,!which!imitates! everyday! speech! in! Szentkuthy’s! case! too.! The! barber! and! his! customer! provide! proof! of! a! similar! illiberality! and! desire! for! showing! off! education! as! Trimalchio’s! guests,! and! they! are! continuously! boasting.! In! spite! of! Cicero’s! anxiety! and! feeling! of! alienation,! Szentkuthy’s! “dinner”! is! less! fearful! and! is! more! comical!than!Fellini’s!dark1toned!and!alienating! Cena,!but!at!the! same!time!it!is!quite!far!from!the!Petronian!smile,!too.! In!the!final!complete!scene!of!the!Cicero1novel!we!are!in!a! bath,! just! like! in! the! denouement! to! Trimalchio’s! dinner! as! described! by! Petronius,! and! here! the! events! also! turn! chaotic.! While! Trimalchio! only! imagines! his! death,! in! Szentkuthy’s! case,! 237! ! ! death! is! real:! the! characters! are! washing! the! corpse! of! Pluvius! Acer!in!the!pool.!We!should!not!forget!that!real!death!is!present!in! Petronius’! dinner! as! well:! Habinnas! arrives! from! a! funeral! feast! from!Seleucus’!funeral.!In!Szentkuthy’s!scene,!the!servants!act!like! drunken!people!due!to!the!effect!of!terror,!and!then!they!begin!to! actually! drink! wine,! too.! Chaos! springs! up! and! the! “policemen”! arrive!(like!the!vigils!in!Petronius’!Cena).!The!pool!motif!could!in! itself!connect!the!episode!with!the!first!beach!scene!of!the!novel,! but! the! author! goes! further! than! this.! The! water! carrying! girls,! who! fill! up! the! pool,! could! only! get! water! from! the! public! bath! because! the! big! well! was! closed! down! by! the! soldiers! and! the! water!pipes!are!contaminated!with!sewage.!Therefore,!the!air!of! bathing!and!mourning!is!mixed!on!the!level!of!the!concrete!plot,! too.! We! can! perceive! a! similar! effect! in! Fellini’s! film! when,! following! the! scene! of! the! suiciders,! Encolpius! and! Ascyltos! are! having!a!bath!with!the!slave!girl!in!the!house!of!the!dead!couple.! Just! like! in! the! scene! of! the! suiciders! and! in! Fellini’s! whole! Satyricon,!surreal!spaces!created!by!strong!colors!are!important!in! Szentkuthy’s!case,!too:!“The!sunken,!built1in!pool!was!inlaid!with! faint!yet!bright!blue!tiles,!with!Pluvius!lying!in!it!like!a!white!fleecy! cloud!in!the!blue!sky.”56!It!is!the!Damaian!fear,!the!Damaian!“lazy1 tongue”!speech!that!appears!in!Agragas’!words!when!he!starts!to! speak!to!Cicero!in!a!state!of!drunkenness!and!describes!death!as! Persephone,!i.e.,!as!a!female!figure:!“Here!comes!this!girl,!with!a! skin! as! black! as! coal! or! moss…! she’s! black! like! a! Nubian! killer,! killer,! you! understand! that! death! is! murder,! killing,! attempt!”57! The!web!of!cross1references!becomes!even!more!complete!when! Agragas!continues!his!drunken!speech!as!follows:!“Death!is!not!a! finicky!hairdresser!lady;!the!hair!that!she!needs!is!not!a!curled!and! 56 Ibid., 360–361. 57 Ibid., 363. 238! ! ! greased! Antoine! model,! death! is! a! killer! and! stinking! bitch! that! bites!off!your!pubic!hair!with!her!teeth.”58!The!hairdresser!ladies! have!an!important!role!in!the!adventure!at!the!barbershop:!they! are!the!ones!who!rescue!Cicero!when!the!buckle!of!his!sandal!gets! caught!in!the!pearl!curtain.!The!“bitch”!as!a!metaphor!for!death! also!reminds!us!of!the!actress’!greyhound!on!the!beach!(“death1 greyhound”).! The! drunken! mask! maker! beginning! to! create! a! death!mask!of!Cicero’s!face!also!adds!a!shade!of!ominousness!to! the!events.! !!!!! Fellini’s! interpretation! of! the! Damaian! motif! is! also! very! complex:!Trimalchio,!just!as!in!Petronius’!work,!leaves!the!feasters! for!a!short!time,!and!then!the!guests!begin!to!“talk,”!although!this! word! is! even! less! valid! in! Fellini’s! case! than! in! case! of! the! Latin! work.! The! face1painted! guests,! who! are! basically! wearing! masks! without! actual! masks,! do! not! reflect! on! each! other’s! words! but! speak!to!themselves,!gazing!into!the!air!as!if!they!were!puppets! and! someone! would! have! just! charged! them! with! the! role! to! speak.!The!one!who!acts!most!like!a!puppet!is!Dama!himself:!his! blue! face! paint! suggests! the! idea! that! he! is! not! a! human.! He! summarizes! almost! word! for! word! Dama’s! and! Seleucus’! most! important! statements! in! the! novel:! “In! the! blink! of! an! eye,! it’s! night![…].!There’s!nothing!better!than!rolling!out!of!bed!straight! into!dinner![…].!People!are!less!than!flies,!much!less.!They!have!a! certain!resistance,!at!least,!but!we!are!nothing!but!bubbles.”59!! !!!!!! His! speech! is! rhythmic,! poem1like;! he! is! speaking! as! if! he! was!playing!a!role,!as!if!he!was!reciting!a!learnt!text.!He!repeats! the!sentence!“People!are!less!than!flies”60!two!times,!and!at!the! end!of!his!speech!he!lowers!his!head!and!falls!quiet!as!if!he!would! 58 Ibid., 365. 59 Fellini & Zapponi, Satyricon, ibid. 60 Ibid. 239! ! ! have!accomplished!a!task!that!has!now!come!to!an!end.!Petronius’! figures! are! also! preoccupied! with! their! own! problems! and! pensiveness! and! hold! speeches! rather! than! engage! in! active! discussions,! but! they! always! refer! back! to! the! speaker! before! them!and,!even!if!to!a!minimal!degree,!they!connect!their!speech! to! the! topic! that! was! raised! by! the! previous! speaker.! In! Fellini’s! case,!this!small!linking!element!disappears!too.!! !!!! !!The!participants!of!the!dinner!of!Fellini’s!Satyricon!do!not! simply! speak! to! themselves,! but! recount! decontextualized! sentences!whose!references!the!viewers!do!not!understand!unless! they!remember!Petronius’!text.!Naturally,!since!we!must!interpret! the!film!as!a!sovereign!work!of!art!in!its!own!context!independent! of! Petronius,! the! references! in! the! novel! do! not! help! much.! Perhaps! the! key! to! the! interpretation! is! remembering:! while! Petronius’! figures! recall! people! and! events,! Fellini! recalls! Petronius!and!his!figures!and,!instead!of!memories,!he!evokes!the! sentences!of!these!figures,!but,!incompletely,!so!as!to!make!the! archeologist!metaphor!work:!putting!out!a!world!from!pieces!of! shards.!! !!!!However,! this! act! of! construction! is! not! pleasant! in! Fellini’s! film! since! the! sentences! taken! from! Petronius’! text! in! a! sense!recreate!the!Petronian!context:!they!build!a!web!of!fears,! but! a! multiplied! and! enlarged! web! of! fears,! which! moves! away! from!the!humor!of!the!novel’s!context!and!thus!reinforces!our!bad! feelings!and!our!“fear”!due!to!its!absurdity!and!incoherence.!This! is!served!by!the!pictorial!elements!too:!Fellini!actually!portrays!a! sci1fi1like!dinner!where!we!do!not!feel!at!home.!! !!!!The! characters! use! strange! objects! (a! figure! holds! two! artificial!hands!in!his!hands!and!claps!with!them),!lie!on!huge!red! storied! divans,! jump! in! pools! of! water! while! the! sky! outside! is! sharp! ruby! red.! The! internal! and! external! spaces! are! both! 240! ! ! completely! surreal,! and! the! colors! remind! us! of! the! katabasis! interpretation!of!Trimalchio’s!dinner.!Fellini!interprets!his!film!as!a! journey,! as! the! neutral! retrospection! of! an! eye,! as! if! we! were! watching! a! documentary! that! offers! insight! only! through! an! outsider’s!contemplation,!even!if!not!completely!neutrally.!Tullio! Kezich!quotes!Fellini:!“we!describe!the!life!of!the!old!Romans!as!if! we!were!talking!about!the!life!of!trouts.”61!Later,!Kezich!adds:!“He! uses! every! means! to! put! the! viewers! off! so! as! to! make! them! constantly!feel!as!if!they!were!outsiders!who!were!compelled!to! watch!scenes!from!a!life!never!before!imagined.”62!! !!!!Dama’s! and! his! friends’! incoherent! remarks! and! the! images! presenting! them! are! closely! interwoven! in! the! film! and! reinforce!the!viewers’!anxiety.!The!short,!broken!sentences!of!the! guests!of!Satyricon!and!the!worry!and!fear!behind!them!probably! reminded! both! Fellini! and! Zapponi! of! absurdity! and! the! fear! of! unfamiliarity.! This! is! what! I! call! ‘Damaian! fear’:! there! is! always! something! haunting! behind! the! figures! while! they! are! scolding! and!teasing!each!other!or!are!listening!to!the!“witty!remarks”!of! Trimalchio.! ! V.!Summary! What!fascinated!both!Fellini!and!Szentkuthy!regarding!the!Roman! era! (on! the! basis! of! the! analysis! of! their! works)! is! the! anxiety! creeping! in! the! shadows,! the! “Damaian! fear,”! the! dreads! and! tensions!under!the!surface!that!are!hidden!both!in!the!words!of! Trimalchio’s!guests!as!well!as!in!the!whole!image!of!man!of!the! surviving! parts! of! the! Satyricon.! The! works! of! both! Fellini! and! Szentkuthy!lend!a!large!role!to!the!fearful!features!of!power,!too.! Fear! and! fearfulness! appear! in! the! two! modern! works! through! 61 Tullio Kezich, Federico avagy Fellini élete és filmjei [Federico or the life and films of Fellini], tr. by Judit Gál (Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó, 2006) 331. 62 Ibid. 241! ! ! intricate!and!hidden!webs!of!motifs,!and!the!correspondences!of! the!elements!and!meanings!of!these!webs!of!motifs!many!times! reveal! a! similarity! between! the! imagined! realities! of! Fellini! and! Szentkuthy.!! The! ‘Romes’! of! the! Hungarian! author! and! the! Italian! director! are! both! fantasy1Romes! in! which! the! artists! could! visualize! their! contemporary! histories! as! well! as! their! own! projected! relations! to! antiquity.! Szentkuthy’s! work! is! strikingly! fresh,! because! it! is! somehow! a! predecessor! of! a! special! representation! of! fear,! intermingled! with! pop! culture! and! a! special,! ironical,! fragmentary! style.! His! work! is! an! early! and! extraordinary! opening! of! postmodernism.! Szentkuthy! outlines! a! type!of!disquietude,!an!impression!that!is!also!a!characteristic!of! Fellini’s! film! and,! like! Fellini,! Szentkuthy! also! constructs! atmospheres!through!the!help!of!powerful!visual!effects.!The!real! relevance!of!Szentkuthy’s!carnival1like!narrative!is!only!nowadays! being! discovered! in! Hungarian! literature.! The! intermingling! of! powerful!cartoon!images!with!more!traditional!prose!is!a!current! problem! of! young! Hungarian! writers.! The! rereading! of! Szentkuthy’s! work! can! help! us! to! not! only! understand! Fellini! better,! but! also! to! find! new! possibilities! in! prose,! new! ways! of! representing!distress,!fear,!and!terror.!Cicero’s)Journeyman)Years) is! a! fruitful! and! unexploited! legacy! of! Hungarian! prose! that! we! have!to!analyze!and!study!further.! The!representation!of!fear!in!the!two!works!illuminates!a! special! image! of! modern! fear,! mingled! with! grotesque! elements! and!sometimes!(mainly!in!Szentkuthy’s!case)!strange,!absurd1like! humor.!Neither!Szentkuthy,!nor!Fellini,!show!directly!the!cause!of! the! fear,! we! can! only! see! the! shade,! the! outlines! of! the! dictatorships.! What! remains,! is! an! alienated,! colorful! world! in! which! the! protagonists! are! strolling! alone,! surrounded! by! their! 242! ! ! own,! often! unexplainable,! distress.! And! even! if! we! see! only! the! phenomena! of! the! ruling! regimes! in! either! Cicero’s) Journeyman) Years,)or!Fellini’s)Satyricon,)there!are!still!references!to!the!nature! of!dictatorships,!we!can!get!a!closer!picture!of!how!everyday!life!is! dominated!by!terror!and!the!fear!of!death.!The!latent!‘Damaian’! fear!is!like!this:!we!don’t!know!anything!explicitly;!we!only!feel!a! cold! and! inimical! world! around! us.! That! general! atmosphere! determined! Szentkuthy’s! contemporary! time! and! that! anxiety! is! what!Fellini!refers!to.!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!Discovering!that!Szentkuthy!and!Fellini!in!different!decades! of!the!20th!century!looked!at!the!Roman!world!with!similar!optics! and! similar! concepts! and! projected! into! it! similar! fears! and! conjectures! from! their! own! time! can! help! us! better! understand! not!only!the!peculiar!range!of!emotions,!general!feelings,!and!the! culture!of!the!20th!century,!but!also!the!features!and!problems!of! Roman! culture! and! its! lifestyle,! which! remind! us! most! of! contemporary!history.!The!two!continents!have!thus!established! contact! with! each! other:! hereafter! we! only! have! to! strengthen! and!research!this!connection.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Balázs Kerber, “Ancient Rome as Postmodern Metaphor: Miklós Szentkuthy & Federico Fellini’s Rome Interpretations,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 206– 243. 243! ! ! ! ! Literature!deals!essentially!and!continually!with!the!image!of!man,!with! the! shape! and! motive! of! human! conduct.! We! cannot! act! now,! be! it! as! critics! or! merely! as! rational! beings,! as! if! nothing! of! vital! relevance! had! happened!to!our!sense!of!the!human!possibility,!as!if!the!extermination! by!hunger!or!violence!of!some!seventy!million!men,!women,!and!children! in! Europe! and! Russia! between! 1914! and! 1945! had! not! altered,! profoundly,!the!quality!of!our!awareness.!We!cannot!pretend!that!Belsen! is! irrelevant! to! the! responsible! life! of! the! imagination.! What! man! has! inflicted! on! man,! in! very! recent! time,! has! affected! the! writer’s! primary! material!–!the!sum!and!potential!of!human!behavior!–!and!it!presses!on! the!brain!with!a!new!darkness.! !!!!!!Moreover,! it! puts! in! question! the! primary! concepts! of! a! literary,! humanistic! culture.! The! ultimate! of! political! barbarism! grew! from! the! core! of! Europe.! Two! centuries! after! Voltaire! had! proclaimed! its! end,! torture!again!became!a!normal!process!of!political!action.!Not!only!did! the!general!dissemination!of!literary,!cultural!values!prove!no!barrier!to! totalitarianism;! but! in! notable! instances! the! high! places! of! humanistic! learning!and!art!actually!welcomed!and!aided!the!new!terror.!Barbarism! prevailed! on! the! very! ground! of! Christian! humanism,! of! Renaissance! culture! and! classic! rationalism.! We! know! that! some! of! the! men! who! devised! and! administered! Auschwitz! had! been! taught! to! read! Shakespeare!or!Goethe,!and!continued!to!do!so.! !!!!!!This!is!of!obvious!and!appalling!relevance!to!the!study!or!teaching!of! literature.!It!compels!us!to!ask!whether!knowledge!of!the!best!that!has! been!thought!and!said!does,!as!Matthew!Arnold!asserted,!broaden!and! refine!the!resources!of!the!human!spirit.!It!forces!us!to!wonder!whether! what!Dr.!Leavis!has!called!“the!central!humanity”!does,!in!fact,!educate! toward! humane! action,! or! whether! there! is! not! between! the! tenor! of! moral!intelligence!developed!in!the!study!of!literature!and!that!required! in! social! and! political! choice! a! wide! gap! or! contrariety.! The! latter! possibility! is! particularly! disturbing.! There! is! some! evidence! that! a! trained,!persistent!commitment!to!the!life!of!the!printed!word,!a!capacity! to!identify!deeply!and!critically!with!imaginary!personages!or!sentiments,! diminishes! the! immediacy,! the! hard! edge! of! actual! circumstance.! We! come!to!respond!more!acutely!to!the!literary!sorrow!than!to!the!misery! next! door.! Here! also! recent! times! give! harsh! evidence.! Men! who! wept! at!Werther!or!Chopin!moved,!unrealizing,!through!literal!hell.! ! ! !!!!!!!!!George!Steiner,!Language+&+Silence! ! ! Robert Musil, Small Prose Translated by Genese Grill ! ! ! ! "#$!%&&!'&!(#$!)*(+,-.(+/!! ! ! "#!#$%&'%!()*+),-#.!+/!("##%0!$-"#!+),-#.!#-%!-%"'1!$//*%+! ,"#%!/2!#-%!%+#0"+3%!$"4!4-5#.!"+*!#$/!"0(6#-)37!)0/+!0/*4! 89:9! ;<=>9=! ?@! A;BC9! D: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 This story appears in Musil’s Nachlass in a shorter altered version under the title “The Redeemer”(an early title for the novel; c. 1924–25) and prefaced with the subtitle “A Dreadful Chapter: The Dream” (translated by Burton Pike in the Nachlass section of The Man without Qualities, (Knopf, 1995) 1703–1706. It is followed by the notation: “It is probably necessary to say that this is not a true experience but a dream, for no decent person would think such a thing in a waking state” (1706). There are traces in this “dream” of Musil’s sex murderer, Moosbrugger, and of Bonadea, the married nymphomaniac. —Trans. wide!tour.!Around!one!AM,!from!out!of!the!mist,!the!crescendo!of!the! patrol’s!tread!came!from!the!nearby!holding!barracks,!echoed!past!and! died! down! again.! Then! for! a! long! time! there! was! nothing! but! the! cold! damp! silence! of! these! November! nights.! Finally! at! three! AM! the! first! wagons! from! the! country! arrived.! They! crashed! over! the! cobblestones,! making!a!heavy!racket;!wrapped!in!their!blankets,!numb!from!the!rattling! and! the! morning! cold,! the! corpses! of! the! drivers! swayed! behind! the! horses.!! On! a! night! like! this,! shortly! after! the! midnight! hour,! a! couple! arrived! and! demanded! a! room.! The! maid! seemed! to! recognize! the! gentleman;!first,!without!rushing!at!all,!she!locked!the!high!gate,!laid!the! heavy! crossbars! in! place! and! led! the! way,! without! asking! any! more! questions.!A!stone!staircase!came!first,!then!a!long!windowless!hallway,! two!corners,!quickly!and!unexpectedly,!a!stairwell!with!five!stone!steps,! worn6down!by!many!feet,!and!again!a!hallway,!whose!loose!tiles!teetered! under!their!soles.!!At!its!end,!without!the!guests!being!at!all!astonished! by!it,!a!ladder!of!a!few!steps!led!up!to!a!small!floor!area,!opening!onto! three!doors;!they!stood!low!and!brown!around!the!hole!in!the!floor.!! “Are! these! here! taken,”! asked! the! gentleman,! pointing! at! the! doors.!The!old!woman!shook!her!head!no,!while!she,!giving!herself!light! with!the!candle,!unlocked!one!of!the!rooms;!then!she!stood!there!with! the!light!held!high!and!let!the!guests!enter.!It!did!not!often!happen!that! she!heard!silk!undergarments!rustle!and!the!scuttling!of!high!heels,!which! shrank! in! terror! from! every! shadow! on! the! tiles.! “Oh,! how! eerie!! eek,! how!romantic!”!the!lady!exclaimed!more!than!once,!and!the!old!woman,! suspicious!of!the!silken!one,!had!taken!this!to!be!a!criticism.!Fractious!and! obtuse,!she!looked!at!the!lady,!who!now!had!to!walk!past!her,!right!in!the! face.!The!lady!nodded!at!her!condescendingly!in!her!embarrassment,!and! ! 245! must! have! been! at! least! forty! years! old! or! a! little! over.! “Everyone! was! young! once,”! —! thought! the! maid,! —! “or! perhaps! still! with! her! own! husband,!in!God’s!name,!if!it!comes!to!that;!but!one!like!this!going!off!on! an!adventure!”!Then!she!took!the!money!for!the!room,!extinguished!the! last!light!in!the!hallway,!and!lay!down!in!her!chamber.!! Shortly! thereafter! there! was! no! sound! in! the! whole! house.! The! light! of! the! candle! had! not! yet! found! the! time! to! creep! into! all! of! the! recesses!of!the!miserable!room.!The!strange!gentleman!stood!like!a!flat! shadow!at!the!window,!and!the!lady,!in!anticipation!of!the!unknown,!had! sat!herself!down!on!the!edge!of!the!bed.!She!had!to!wait!a!torturously! long! time;! the! stranger! did! not! move! from! his! position.! If! things! had! moved! quickly! up! to! that! point,! advancing! onward! like! a! dream,! now! every!movement!stuck!in!brittle!resistance,!not!allowing!a!single!limb!to! loosen.!He!felt,!this!woman!expects!something!from!him.!How!dare!she?!! She!expected!to!see!him!“at!her!feet.”!He!knew,!you!should!now!“cover! her!with!kisses.”!He!became!nauseous.!Her!dress!was!high6buttoned!at! the!top,!her!hair!artificial:!to!unbutton!it!was!to!unlock!the!unimaginable! vault!of!a!life’s!innards,!the!door!of!a!prison.!In!the!middle!there!stood!a! table;! on! top,! the! objects! of! her! life;! in! their! slippers,! with! faces.! He! looked!at!them!with!hostility!and!fear.!She!wanted!to!catch!him;!her!hand! pressed!his!unceasingly!towards!the!latch.!In!the!end!all!that!would!be! left!would!be!to!spring!in!like!a!grenade!and!to!tear!the!wallpaper!from! the!walls!in!shreds!!!With!the!greatest!strain!he!was!finally!able!to!wrest! at! least! one! sentence! over! these! obstacles:! “Did! you! notice! me! right! away!then,!when!I!looked!at!you?”!Ah,!it!worked.!A!fountain!of!speech! overflowed.!“Your!eyes!were!like!two!black!thorn!apples!”!—!Or!had!she! said!“stars”?!—!“Your!wild!mouth—”! “And!you!were!immediately!gripped!by!passion?”! ! 246! “But!beloved!!Would!I!be!here!otherwise?!”!—!Stress!was!laid!on! her! counter! question.! What! if! she! had! fallen! victim! to! some! ruthless! adventurer?! She! didn’t! know! the! man;! clothing,! gait,! and! face! were! elegant,!and!love!is!a!passion!!That!was!everything.! “I!followed!you;!for!days…!”!said!the!stranger!softly.!! At!this!moment!he!felt!that!it!was!utterly!impossible!to!take!a!bird! in! the! hand.! This! naked! skin! was! supposed! to! press! itself! on! his! naked! and!unprotected!skin?!His!breast!was!to!fill!itself!from!hers!with!warmth?! He!tried!to!delay!it!with!witticisms.!They!were!tortured!and!nervous.!He! said:!“Isn’t!it!true,!big!women!tie!up!their!feet!too?!With!their!shoes.!And! there! where! the! lace! is,! the! flesh! oozes! over! a! bit,! and! a! faint! unreproducible! aroma! accumulates! there.! A! small,! wax6yellow! aroma,! that!exists!nowhere!else!in!the!world?!Undress!”! The!unhappy!woman,!who,!transported!by!a!miracle,!had!kept!her! name!secret,!was!outraged.!“You!are!mistaken,”!she!cried,!“do!not!speak! to!me!so!familiarly,!let!me!go;!I!am!a!respectable!woman,!a!lady!”! “Forgive!me!”!said!the!stranger.!He!looked!elegant!and!miserable! again.! Only! a! person! capable! of! deep! feeling! could! look! like! that.! ! A! person!tortured!by!a!great!sinful!passion.!Leopold!won’t!be!home!for!two! days.! He! can’t! understand! me! either! —! she! thought! —! I! should! have! called! home! in! any! case,! to! say! I! will! be! spending! the! night! away.! The! blood!that!had!risen!to!her!throat!in!resistance,!plunged!headlong!back!to! her!hips.!The!stranger!held!his!hand!over!his!eyes.!She!felt!that!she!had! been!unfair!to!him.!She!rejoiced:!jealousy?!Sweet!!Bitter!!Must!it!not!be! difficult!for!him,!without!knowing!her,!to!orient!himself!!She!wanted!to! tell!him!that!Leopold!was!really!a!good!person!——! ! 247! But!the!one!who!did!not!understand!answered:!“I!envy!you!him.”! And!with!that!statement!movement!came!into!his!expression!for!the!first! time.!His!eyes!burned!like!torches,!and!it!seemed!to!her!that!he!wanted! to! extinguish! her! with! his! words,! so! strangely! did! the! look! begin! to! smolder.!He!continued:!“I!was!never!jealous.!I!love!rooms!like!this.!Such!a! wretched! chair.! These! sheets;! perhaps! an! hour! ago! a! fellow! with! smallpox!lay!in!them!”! She!smiled:!“You!are!joking,!wild!one!!You!mischief!!You!just!want! me!to!feel!the!magnitude!of!the!offering!I!am!bringing!to!your!beauty.”! “No,”!said!the!man,!“if!you!look!at!these!two!wax!stumps,!aren’t! they! like! two! burnt6down! limbs?! They! have! been! waiting! here! for! you.! Perhaps! there! are! vermin! waiting! for! you! in! bed,! they! will! hook! themselves! into! the! soft! sweet! dough! of! your! skin! and! partake! of! you,! while!you!forget!yourself.!I!thank!you!that!you!have!come.!I!only!dare!go! out!with!such!flaky,!toothless,!warty!things.!Rolling!senselessly!—!I!assure! you,! sometimes! quite! senselessly! rolling.! And! if! you! do! it! quickly! there! will!be!a!crack!in!me,!yes,!a!crack,!a!terrible,!wholly!inhuman!sound!like!a! wagon!wheel.”! “He!is!a!poet,”!she!answered!herself,!“or!a!philosopher,!they!are! like!this!nowadays;!one!must!just!leave!it!for!now,!later!I!will!exert!the! power! of! the! distinguished! woman! over! him.”! She! started! to! undress! deliberately;!she!owed!it!to!her!honor.! Now! he! was! frightened.! The! thought! tormented! him:! wind! up!! Like!a!child’s!toy,!until!all!the!gears!engage.! And! the! second! torment! was:! She! is! pursuing! me.! She! is! rolling! herself!out.!Always!right!in!front!of!me.!What!does!she!keep!saying?!!I! have!to!throw!myself!like!a!dog!upon!the!round,!rolling!ball!of!her!life.!! ! 248! Now! she! sat! in! just! shoes! and! stockings! before! him.! She! undressed!entirely,!because!he!had!spoken!of!the!vermin.!That!seemed! safer!to!her.!Her!hips!rolled!in!bulging!folds.!She!began!to!tremble.!! His!eyes!pulled!like!a!dog!on!its!chain!back!and!forth.!“Won’t!you! undress?”!she!asked.!! “Don’t!you!want!to!dance!first?”!asked!the!stranger.!! Tears! of! fury! came! from! somewhere.! The! lady! regretted! the! adventure!and!would!have!sped!away!had!she!been!able.!But!what!was! left!her!now!but!to!find!him!interesting!and!unconventional?!Ach,!love!is! really! a! lathering! pony! springing! away,! even! when! it! stands! still! and! trembles.!! “You!must!dance!wonderfully,”!he!said!again,!stalling.!“Sometimes! music!sits!just!on!the!precipice!of!being!and!blows!over.!But!movement! —!!”!! “No,!I!don’t!dance,”!she!answered.!“Be!good,!stop!babbling!such! nonsense.!I!love!you!anyway,!you!naughty!boy.!Why!don’t!you!kiss!me?!”! A!silence!followed.!Then,!carefully,!he!asked:!“Have!the!little!girls! gone! out,! the! ones! who! lived! in! your! body?”! But! at! the! same! time! he! heard!himself!say!the!meaningless!sentence:!“whoever!loves!is!young,”! and! in! the! same! moment! arms! hung! around! his! neck.! His! eyes! darted! back!and!forth!like!fish!in!the!dark.! “Let!your!eyes!be,!beloved,!beloved,!you!look!so!elegant!and!so! miserable!”! Then!he!lifted!her!up!with!the!power!of!despair!and!kissed!her.! “How! is! your! K’ung! Fu! Tse?”! he! asked! softly.! She! took! this! to! be! a! technical! term! from! the! world! of! men;! she! didn’t! want! to! lose! her! ! 249! advantage;!he!was!cozying!up!to!her.!A!prophecy!also!told!her:!it!will!be! better!when!we!are!further!along.!The!tip!of!the!man’s!tongue!touched! her!lips.!This!ancient!means!of!human!communication,!where!foreheads! always!sit!above!such!lips,!was!familiar!to!her.!She!spread!out!her!tongue! slowly!and!pushed!it!forward.!Then!she!pulled!it!quickly!back!and!smiled! roguishly.!Her!roguish!smile!was!—!she!was!well!aware!—!already!famous! when! she! was! but! a! child.! And! she! said,! on! the! off! chance,! perhaps! inspired!by!a!subconscious!connection!of!sounds:!K’ung!Fu!Tse!is!enjoying! it! —! not! even! the! softest! thought! betrayed! to! her! that! she! had! ever! heard!this!word!in!any!other!context.!! Then!the!unknown!man!sighed.!The!round!ball!of!the!world!rolled! over!him.!“Once!more,”!he!begged,!with!shaky!knees.!And!then!it!took!a! long!time!until!his!teeth!came!all!the!way!through!her!tongue.!But!finally! he!felt!it!thick!in!his!mouth.!The!storm!of!a!great!deed!eddied!up!within! him.! In! his! circling! he! swept! the! white! bloody! mass! of! the! wretched! woman! along! with! him,! flailing! about! herself! in! a! corner! of! the! room,! screeching!in!a!high!hoarse!tone,!in!the!tumbling!torso!of!a!sound.! ! Small!Trip!Around!the!World! ! Life!is!full!of!miracles.! They!just!happen!to!be!paid!for!and!belong!to!someone!or!other.! But!in!Simmering!there!stood!a!Styrian!wagon!on!the!street,!with!a!pony! in!front,!and!also!a!small!wagon!with!an!even!smaller!pony.!Whenever!I! see! a! pony,! even! I! believe! it! belongs! to! me:! the! eyes! look! out! so! fiendishly6friendly! behind! its! shaggy! bangs;! the! whole! thing! is! so! small! that! one! could! slip! it! in! one’s! hand;! and! the! tail! is! so! splendid.! ! Why! ! 250! would!the!sultan!have!seven!horsetails!if!there!were!not!something!in!it?! And!here!I!am,!a!thoroughly!grown6up!man.!But!the!boys!who!suddenly! saw!the!Styrian!wagon!with!its!little!horse!in!Simmering!were!only!nine!or! ten! years! old! and! were,! on! top! of! that,! just! on! their! way! home! from! school.!This!is!how!the!miracle!started;!to!wit,!there!was!no!one!near!the! wagon!to!whom!it!could!belong.!! The! boys! climbed! up,! lifted! the! reins,! and! the! pony! began! to! move,! in! earnest;! even! to! run,! when! they! cracked! the! whip—! as! splendidly!as!in!a!fairy!tale.!Dogs!had!to!get!out!of!the!way,!people!had!to! spring!to!the!sides,!even!the!guard!at!the!street!crossing!had!to!give!them! a! signal! like! he! would! to! a! real! wagon! owner.! ! They! headed! for! the! Laaerberg!section,!then!to!the!East!Railway,!across!the!racetrack!into!the! noble! city,! and! when! they! finally! arrived! back! on! the! grass! behind! the! Simmering!wagon,!they!unhitched!the!horse,!and!let!it!graze.!How!!Even! if!we!knew!nothing!more!about!them!than!that!they!let!the!horse!graze,! we!would!already!know!that!these!little!thieving!fellows!were!fairy!tale! boys!from!out!of!an!Indian’s!wig6wam.!! Did!they!get!bored!of!it?!They!rode!on,!and,!in!the!street!called— Brehmgasse,!the!inevitable!fight!broke!out.!One!of!them!wanted!to!drive! to!the!left,!the!other!one!to!the!right.!Then!one!of!them!wanted!to!sell! the! horse,! and! the! other! one! wanted! to! take! it! home.! With! that! the! miracle!was!over.!Naturally!all!evil!enters!the!world!because!of!left!and! right.!!Either!everyone!wants!the!same!thing,!and!not!everyone!can!have! it,!or!one!person!wants!to!go!left!and!the!other!right,!and!then!only!one! of!them!is!the!stronger!one.!!And!a!policeman!was!already!there,!who,!as! is!his!duty,!saw!through!everything,!and!today!the!miracle,!along!with!the! pony,! is! back! with! the! person! who! paid! for! it,! and! the! two! boys! were! ! 251! dispatched!to!their!parents!and!to!the!oversight!of!the!juvenile!welfare! service.! It!wasn’t!easy;!what!could!they!say!to!them?!These!two!boys!had! driven!from!one!end!of!life!to!the!other.!Should!they!tell!them:!fortune! favors!the!brave?!The!world!belongs!to!the!courageous?!Man!must!act! from!out!of!his!whole!soul?!Or!should!they!tell!them:!if!tomorrow!you! take!something!up!with!your!whole!soul,!by!midday!you!no!longer!know! what! to! do! with! it;! but! if! you! need! that! thing! in! the! morning,! without! soul,!for!business,!like!the!person!from!whom!you!stole!it,!you!will!still!be! in!a!condition!to!need!it!in!the!afternoon?!—!They!probably!will!just!give! the!stupidest!answer!that!one!can!give,!they!will!smile!benevolently!and! say:!!you!did!something!stupid.! ! ! The!Storm!Tide!on!Sylt2!! ! On!the!30th!of!August!the!famous!bathing!island!Sylt!was!surprised!by!a! storm! tide! of! great! force.! Nothing! of! its! ilk! had! been! remembered! for! decades!and!it!was,!therefore,!quite!unexpected.! Unusual! weather! came! first.! Aside! from! short! gusts! of! wind,! storms!are!supposedly!not!known!on!this!island,!because,!due!to!certain! atmospheric! conditions,! they! usually! are! concentrated! on! its! southern! tip,!and!usually!sweep!past!both!sides!of!the!island!over!the!Northern!and! the!Wadden!Seas,!and!then!move!on.!But!this!time!a!steadfast!southwest! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Sylt is a famous resort island in Northern Germany which, since its breaking off into an island in 1362 as part of the Grote Mandrenke (Low Saxon for “Great Drowning of Men,” wherein supposedly a minimum of 25,000 people were drowned) has increasingly lost large pieces of its land mass due to storm tides. The event Robert Musil records here happened in 1923 when he was vacationing there with his wife Martha. —Trans. ! 252! wind!raged!over!the!island!in!many!nights!of!heavy!storms;!late!mornings! all! continuously! rained6upon,! clearing! afternoons,! eerily! clear! evenings! and!mornings.!Some!guests!had!left!unusually!early!this!year!because!of! the! weather,! others! because! of! the! increase! in! transportation! prices! in! Germany;!in!the!last!few!days!the!island!seemed!to!have!been!returned! to!itself!and!to!its!lonely,!fantastical!peculiarity.!In!the!night!preceding!the! storm! tide,! lightning! struck! the! island! and! burned! a! farm! house! down,! and,! cut! off! from! the! life! of! the! bathing! season! and! the! holiday! and! dollar6enthusiasm! of! the! departed! city! people,! this! insignificant! occurrence!took!on!all!the!weight!that!it!has!for!lonely!inhabitants!who! tell! themselves! with! horror! that! such! an! accident! had! not! occurred! for! twenty!seven!years.!It!hit!a!small!Frisian!house!from!the!18th!century!that! had!been!renovated!into!a!summer!residence,!which!stood,!as!they!do! here,!brick6red!with!white!window!frames!on!green!lawns,!hidden!behind! earth! and! stone! walls,! with! old! glazed! tiles! and! old! furniture,! the! high! thatched!roof!receding!deeply!into!its!sloping!forehead.!I!understood!why! the!people!didn’t!go!to!bed!on!this!night!of!storms,!and!lights!haunted! behind!the!windows!of!all!the!houses,!none!of!which—with!the!exception! of! those! in! the! southern! parts—! had! protection! against! lightning:! we! stood! about,! hands! in! our! pockets,! and! watched! the! fire! that! even! the! strong! rain! could! not! extinguish,! we! few! summer! guests! from! the! neighboring!houses!and!the!firemen,!who!poked!with!their!hoes!here!and! there!in!the!glowing!rafters!or!sprayed!a!little!water!as!if!out!of!a!garden! hose.! Beneath! the! gigantic! cloud6filled! sky! everything! looked! almost! sweet!and!miniature;!but!the!way!the!fire!hissed!out!under!pressure!from! the!wind!from!under!the!house’s!door!like!out!of!a!smith’s!hearth!made! an!uncanny!impression.!! The! wind! swelled! as! the! night! advanced! and! the! next! day! it! unfurled!thickly!across!the!island.!Storms!up!in!the!mountains!crash!and! ! 253! churn,! but! this! one! was! like! a! vast,! almost! peaceful! stream,! trembling! from!internal!shocks!alone.!!Up!upon!the!dunes!one!could!hardly!keep! one’s!eyes!open,!and!on!the!heath!behind!the!dunes!the!people!tumbled! in! their! colorful! wool! jackets! hither! and! thither! like! a! vibrating! field! of! flowers.! At! three! PM! the! storm! tide! came;! we! fought! our! way! to! the! shore!and!watched!as!the!water!rose!ever!higher!from!hour!to!hour.!!First! it!devoured!the!sand!castles!and!the!wide!bathing!beach,!then!it!took!the! beach! baskets,! which! we! had! thought! to! bring! to! safety! on! the! partial! elevation!of!the!vertically!inclining!island!wall;!one!after!the!other!they! flopped,!taken!by!the!waves,!like!gigantic!seals,!into!the!water.!This!all! was!just!a!game,!but!it!gave!some!preliminary!notion!of!the!elementary! forces!and!perpetrated!considerable!damages.!But!at!three!PM,!when!the! storm! tide! should! have! begun! to! recede,! it! did! not;! instead! it! strengthened,! agitated! further! and! further! by! the! powerful! wind.! ! The! “sea! cliff”! reaching! for! a! long! distance! along! the! shore,! a! wall! with! a! Homeric!silhouette,!ten!to!30!meters!high,!made!of!layers!of!sand,!earth,! and!clay,!rising!from!out!of!the!sand!of!the!island,!was!dashed!up!to!half! its!height!with!masses!of!water;!and!gigantic!masses!of!earth,!softened!by! rain,!besieged!by!the!waves!as!if!by!battering!rams,!were!broken!off!from! Sylt!in!pieces!many!kilometers!long.!! The! catastrophe! did! not,! however,! occur! here,! or! on! the! coast! that! was! exposed! to! the! pressure! of! the! storm! tide,! but,! surprisingly! enough,!on!Wadden.!In!the!southern!direction!behind!Westerland,!Sylt!is! shaped!like!a!pair!of!large!opened!pincers;!between!its!two!arms!lies!the! Wadden!Sea,!practically!enclosed!by!the!High!Sea.!At!low!tide!it!retreats! far! from! the! shore! and! resembles! a! large! swamp.! It! seems! that! this! relatively!small!mass!of!water,!which!received!the!massive!force!of!the! North!Sea’s!shocks,!responded!with!an!especially!vehement!vibration;!the! island! flattens! completely! out! here! from! a! height! of! a! few! meters! and! ! 254! ends! in! the! so6called! marshes,! an! area! that! serves! as! grazing! land! and! that! lies! almost! directly! at! sea! level;! the! storm! tide! forced! its! way,! apparently!following!the!hollow!of!some!streams,!into!this!piece!of!land! with!a!terrific!violence,!and!covered!it!for!many!kilometers!with!the!surge! of! the! sea.! ! This! breach! continued! for! many! hours;! the! farmsteads! mounted!a!resistance!and!finally!an!embankment!held!it!back,!but!it!was! so!unexpected!that,!along!with!vast!stretches!of!crops,!much!livestock!fell! victim!to!it,!and!a!few!people!drowned.! The! next! day! these! excesses! of! bad! weather! subsided,! and! everything!looked!merely!a!little!rained6upon;!ponds!stayed!where!they! were;! the! remains! of! the! harvest! cleaved! to! the! ground;! farmers! gathered!their!wheat!and!hay;!the!enclosure!of!Westerland!were!slightly! damaged;! in! other! places,! clods! of! earth! lay! on! the! beach;! a! few! enthusiasts!already!built!new!sand!castles.!In!the!south,!two!kilometers! from! the! shore,! I! found! a! little! drowned! field! mouse! cast! up! by! the! waves,!with!drenched!fur:!this!was!all!that!the!storm!tide!had!left!behind! on!the!site!of!the!catastrophe!for!the!curious!observer;!its!more!precious! victims! had! already! been! dragged! away! by! the! sea’s! current! in! its! receding!tide.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 255! Bibliographical Info: All translated texts are taken from The Klagenfurter Ausgabe: Annotated Digital Edition of the Collected Works, Letters, and Literary and Biographical Remains, with Transcriptions and Facsimiles of All Manuscripts. Ed. Walter Fanta, Klaus Amann, and Karl Corino (Klagenfurt, Austria: Robert Musil-Institut, Alpen-Adria Universitat,̈ 2009). Lesetexte. Kleine Prosa. 1. “Der Vorstadtgasthof” (The Inn on the Outskirts). Original printings: Vers und Prosa (3.15.1924); Prager Presse (9.12.1926); Pandora Drucke (1931). Posthumous Printings: Frisé (1957) S. 577–580; Frisé (1978) S. 630–634. 2. “Kleine Lebensreise” (Small Trip Around the World). Original printings: Vossische Zeitung (6.27.1925); Magdeburgische Zeitung (6.15.1926); Prager Presse (8.10.1926). Posthumous printings: Frisé (1957) S. 539–540; Frisé (1978) S. 640–642. KA: Lesetexte, Kleine Prosa. 3. “Der Sturmflut auf Sylt” (The Storm Tide on Silt). Original printing: Der Tag (9.20.1923). Posthumous printing: Frisé (1978) S. 625–627. KA: Lesetexte. Kleine Prosa. Robert Musil, “Small Prose,” tr. by Genese Grill, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 244–256. ! 256! ! ! THE ENGLISH FOR AN ANTI-ELEGY: TRANSLATING TSVETAEVA ON RILKE Christopher Whyte ! ! ! ! ! ! "#!$%&'%(")*! ! %)!+,-.!/-("(!$-)!0,-''1!)2+!12-34!/2!('%52)!%6!-(!-)!-)."7282*19! ):;<=>>?@! :AB! C:D>E! BFGBHI! =A! B>BJ?! I:! :GBA! CKIL! ILB! =AA:DAHB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 The letter, pieced together from her notebooks by Tsvetaeva's daughter, first appeared in Novyi Mir in 1969, and is reprinted in Rainer Maria Rilke, Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva, Pis'ma 1926 goda, ed. K. M. Azadovski, Ye. B. Pasternak, Ye. V. Pasternak (Moscow, 1990) 207–209. 258! ! ! shaken.!“I!never!met!with!him,”!she!said,!“and!now!I!never!will.”2!Tsvetaeva! was!not!alone!but!with!her!husband,!Sergey!Yakovlevitch!Efron,!the!man!she! would!follow!back!to!the!Soviet!Union!twelve!years!later.!He!disappeared!in! the!wake!of!a!murder!organized!by!the!Stalinist!secret!services,!with!whom!he! had! been! collaborating,! apparently! without! her! knowledge,! for! some! time.! But! all! of! this! lay! in! the! future.! As! usual,! according! to! Slonim,! he! left! it! to! Tsvetaeva!to!decide!whether!or!not!they!would!join!the!editorial!board!of!the! Russian!language!émigré!magazine!Volya!Rossii!to!bring!the!New!Year!in!at!a! “café!chantant.”!She!completed!her!poem!to!Rilke!within!six!weeks,!placing! the!date!of!February!7th,!1927,!forty!days!after!his!death,!at!the!close.!It!was! published!in!another!émigré!magazine,!Vërsty,!the!following!year.3! ! What!is!it!that!makes!“Happy!New!Year”!such!a!crucial!event!in!Euro7 pean!poetry!between!the!wars?!English!language!readers!may!well!be!more! familiar!with!the!celebrated!essay!Nobel!prizewinner!Joseph!Brodsky!dedicat7 ed!to!it!than!with!the!poem!itself.4!At!the!start!of!“Footnote!to!a!Poem”!Brod7 sky!asserts!that!“Happy!New!Year”!is!“in!many!respects!a!landmark!not!only!in! [Tsvetaeva’s]! own! work! but! in! Russian! poetry! as! a! whole.”! His! writings! on! Tsvetaeva!have!been!published!as!a!volume!of!their!own,!in!Russian!only,!and! his!essay!can!be!viewed!as!part!of!a!concerted!effort!to!gain!the!recognition! she!merits!for!a!woman!he!elsewhere!described!as!the!most!significant!phe7 nomenon!in!Russian!poetry!since!Pushkin.!What!about!readers!in!the!West?! Why!should!their!attention!be!drawn!to!a!monologue!addressed!by!one!exiled! poet!to!another?!Especially!when!the!addressee!was!already!dead!at!the!time! of!writing?! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Slonim’s essay is reprinted in Marina Tsvetaeva, Stikhotvoreniya i Poemy v pati tomakh III (New York, 1983) 341–389. 3 See Vërsty, 1928 (3) 14–19. Details from Rainer Maria Rilke, Marina Zwetajewa, Boris Pasternak, Briefwechsel. Herausgegeben von Jewgenij Pasternak, Jelena Pasternak und Konstantin M. Asadowskij, aus dem Russischen übertragen von Heddy Pross-Weerth (Frankfurt am Main, 1983) 259–260. The current translation is based on the text in Stikhotvoreniya i Poemy v pyati tomakh I (New York, 1980) 263–267. 4 Joseph Brodsky, “Footnote to a Poem,” in Less than One: Selected Essays (Harmondsworth, 1987) 195–267. 259! ! ! ! Rilke!visited!Russia!twice,!between!April!25th!and!June!18th,!1899,!then! again!between!May!7th!and!August!24th.!1900.5!On!both!occasions!he!was!ac7 companied!by!Lou!Andreas7Salomé,!future!pupil!of!Freud!and!one!of!the!first! female!psychoanalysts,!her!husband,!an!expert!in!Oriental!studies,!was!also! included!in! the! first! visit.! Between! the! first! and! the! second,! Rilke! mastered! Russian!sufficiently!to!attempt!a!translation!of!Chekhov's!The!Seagull.!Six!po7 ems!of!his!own!composed!in!the!language!were!not!published!during!his!life7 time,!but!survived!among!his!papers.!Writing!to!Lou!on!February!11th,!1922,! from!the!castle!of!Muzot!in!the!Swiss!Valais,!which!had!become!his!home,!Ril7 ke!was!able!to!announce!the!successful!completion!of!a!cycle!of!elegies!he! had!started!ten!years!before,!in!the!castle!of!Duino,!close!to!Trieste.!The!ex7 tended!creative!storm!that!marked!his!victory!over!the!tragic!caesura!of!the! war!was!heralded!by!the!arrival!of!twenty7five!sonnets,!one!of!which!evokes!a! white!horse!broken!loose!from!its!tether!he!and!Lou!had!watched!gallop!at! nightfall!through!a!meadow!by!the!Volga,!all!those!long!years!before.6! ! Already!suffering!from!the!acute!form!of!leukemia!that!would!lead!to! his!death!on!December!29th,!1926,!Rilke!made!a!final!visit!to!Paris!between! January!7th!and!August!18th,!1925.!There!he!was!able!to!renew!contact!with! Russian!friends!from!a!quarter!of!a!century!earlier,!such!as!Elena!Voronina,!as! well!as!making!new!acquaintances,!like!the!writer!Ivan!Bunin,!or!the!poet!and! critic!Mikhail!Zetlin.!The!painter!Leonid!Pasternak,!who!had!left!the!Soviet!Un7 ion!for!Berlin!in!1921,!sent!a!letter!marking!the!poet’s!fiftieth!birthday!the!fol7 lowing!December.!His!son!Boris,!whom!Rilke!had!met!only!once,!on!May!31st,! 1900,!wrote!from!Moscow!on!April!12th,!1926,!concluding!with!the!unusual! request!that,!rather!than!replying!to!him,!Rilke!should!enter!into!contact!with! Marina! Tsvetaeva.! Like! Pasternak’s! father,! she! had! chosen! emigration,! and! was!living!in!the!French!capital!in!extremely!straitened!circumstances.!A!cele7 brated! exchange! of! letters! ensued,! first! published! in! Italian! translation! in! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 For an authoritative account of the part Russia played in Rilke's life and in his writing, see Rilke und Russland: Briefe Erinnerungen Gedichte. Herausgegeben von Konstantin Asadowski (Frankfurt am Main, 1986). 6 Rainer Maria Rilke Lou Andreas-Salomé, Briefwechsel. Herausgegeben von Ernst Pfeiffer (Frankfurt am Main, 1975) 444–445. 260! ! ! 1980,!the!lion’s!part!being!taken!by!those!between!Rilke!and!Tsvetaeva.!He! penned!an!extended!verse!tribute!to!her,!significantly!entitled!“Elegy,”!begin7 ning!with!an!evocation!of!stars!Tsvetaeva!returns!to!in!“Happy!New!Year.”!Her! poem!takes!the!form!of!a!verse!epistle!and!is!conceived!as!the!resumption!of! their!correspondence,!now!that!Rilke!is!successfully!ensconced!in!his!new!lo7 cation.! ! Communication!between!the!two!poets!traversed!boundaries!of!lan7 guage! and! culture,! but! also! the! political! boundary! separating! two! states! of! which!neither!was!a!citizen.!Their!positioning!could!hardly!have!been!more! marginal.!They!shared!a!detached,!even!agnostic!attitude!toward!the!nation! with! which! each! might! superficially! be! identified.! Born! into! the! German7 language!minority!in!Prague,!at!a!time!when!that!city!formed!part!of!the!Aus7 tro7Hungarian!Empire,!Rilke!found!himself,!through!no!initiative!of!his!own,!a! citizen!of!Czechoslovakia!at!the!close!of!the!First!World!War.!He!never!mas7 tered!the!Czech!language!he!heard!spoken!around!him!when!a!child.!Tsvetae7 va’s!discussion!of!Rilke’s!nationality,!in!a!letter!dated!August!2nd,!1926,!reach7 es!moments!of!high!comedy:! ! What!are!you!actually,!Rainer?!Not!German,!though!all!of!Ger7 many! is! in! you!! Not! Bohemian,! though! born! in! Bohemia! (NB!! born!in!a!country!which!didn't!exist!yet!—!that!fits),!not!Austri7 an,!since!Austria!has!been,!while!you!will!be!!Isn't!that!splendid?! You!—!without!a!country!!“Le!grand!poète!tchéco7slovaque,”!as! the!Paris!newspaper!puts!it.!Does!that!make!you!a!Slovak!in!the! end?!I!have!to!laugh.7! ! In!a!letter!written!in!French,!dated!January!23rd,!1923,!Rilke!informed!his!Mi7 lan!acquaintance!the!Duchess!Aurelia!Gallarati7Scotti!that!! ! without!degenerating!into!a!vague!and!escapist!cosmopolitanism,! I!have!to!confess!that!neither!Germany,!nor!the!confused!influ7 ences! of! Austria! and! Bohemia,! have! been! decisive! in! my! for7 mation,!but!Russia,!immense!and!ineffable,!but!France,!Italy!and! Spain,! along! with! all! that! far7off,! internalized! past! which! these! countries!I!have!lived!in!and!admired,!one!after!the!other,!evoked! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 Rilke und Russland, 417. All translations are by CW from the original language. 261! ! ! and,!so!to!speak,!authorized!in!my!blood.!One!could!claim!that! we!are!born!provisionally,!somewhere!or!other;!only!gradually!do! we!piece!together,!inside!us,!our!place!of!origin,!so!as!to!be!born! there!retrospectively,!more!definitively!every!day.8!! ! In!a!notebook!entry!dating!from!April!1923,!Tsvetaeva,!for!her!part,!declared! with!characteristic!exaggeration,!that! ! my! principal! soul! is! German...! I! would! rather! be! the! lowliest! of! German!subjects!than!be!an!emperor!in!any!place...!For!me!being! born!in!Russia!was!a!fatal!mistake.!Since!I!was!born!I!have!held! my!head!high,!my!eyes!looked!upwards!from!the!moment!they! opened,! I! have! no! time! for! these! eternal! scruples,! this! eternal! stirring!of!depths!and!worms,!this!Slavic!impotence,!this!Slavic!in7 ertia.!For!me!France!is!light!and!Russia!is!heavy,!while!in!Germany! I!have!my!feet!on!the!ground,!my!head!in!the!sky.9!! ! Though! he! insisted,! when! replying! to! Pasternak's! father,! that! he! could! still! read!Russian,!Rilke!was!not!capable!at!this!stage!of!writing!extended!prose!in! the!language.!Tsvetaeva’s!letters!to!him!are!in!a!dazzlingly!idiosyncratic!Ger7 man.!As!if!the!language!were!native!to!her,!again!and!again!she!lets!her!elbow! be!jogged!by!the!sounds!of!the!words!she!is!using!—!playing,!for!example,!on! the!similarity!in!sound!between!‘Leib’!(body)!and!‘Liebe’!(love)!and!the!prob7 lematic!relationship!between!the!two!—!allowing!this!to!guide!her!discourse! in!a!fashion!which!is!both!intoxicating!and!disorienting!for!the!reader.! ! Our!approach!to!literature,!both!poetry!and!prose,!continues!even!to7 day,!notwithstanding!the!development!of!postcolonial!studies!and! lamenta7 tions!about!the!globalization!of!culture,!to!be!conditioned!by!the!concept!of!a! national!tradition,!expressed!within!a!single!language,!and!identified!with!the! territories! where! that! language! is! spoken.! If! these! are! the! sole! coordinates! against!which!we!are!willing!to!plot!literary!texts,!then!the!correspondence! between!Tsvetaeva!and!Rilke,!along!with!the!poems!they!addressed!to!one! another,! must! remain! beyond! the! map.! Any! attempt! to! offer! an! adequate! reading!of!“Happy!New!Year”!(and!translation!is!first!and!foremost!a!means!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8 Rainer Maria Rilke, Briefe zur Politik. Herausgegeben von Joachim W. Storck (Frankfurt am Main, 1992) 406. 9 Marina Tsvetaeva, Neizdannoe: Zapisnye Knizhki, ed. E. Korkina and M. Krutikova (Moscow, 2001) II, 298. 262! ! ! reading)!demands!that!we!devise!alternative!parameters,!however!inchoate! or!inarticulate,!for!plotting!the!ways!in!which!texts!achieve!meaning,!as!well! as!the!significance!with!which!we!can!endow!relationships!between!texts!and! between!poets.!! ! Seen!at!a!distance!of!eighty7five!years,!the!exchange!between!Tsvetae7 va! and! Rilke! that! culminated! in! “Happy! New! Year”! raises! striking! issues! of! marginality!and!centrality.!Neither!poet!had!a!decisive!role,!or!exerted!signifi7 cant!influence!in!the!literary!milieux!their!gifts!would!have!entitled!them!to! dominate.!Parisian!exile!pushed!Tsvetaeva!increasingly!into!the!predicament! of!a!minority7language!writer.!Her!readiness!to!attempt!self7translation,!while! also!composing!original!prose!in!French,!is!symptomatic!in!this!respect.!Soviet! Russia,!where!she!imagined!she!could!have!found!an!audience!attuned!to!the! highly!innovative!and!experimental!turn!her!work!had!taken,!remained!inac7 cessible!for!political!reasons.!Impatience!with!cultural!discourse!in!émigré!cir7 cles,! and! with! the! publishing! opportunities! available! there,! made! her! more! and!more!of!an!outsider,!effectively!producing!a!double!exile.!! ! Rilke!had!taken!up!residence!in!French7speaking!Switzerland!after!the! war,!and!positively!rejoiced!in!the!alloglot!situation!where!he!now!found!him7 self.!Writing!to!Gräfin!Sizzo!on!March!17th,!1922,!he!recalled!telling!the!poet! Richard!Dehmel!many!years!before!how! ! when!working!I!could!not!bear!to!hear!German!around!me!(gen7 erally!spoken!in!such!a!disgustingly!poor!and!slovenly!manner!)! but! preferred! to! be! surrounded! by! a! different! language,! one! I! find!attractive!and!know!how!to!use!for!everyday!purposes:!cut! off!in!this!way...!German!in!me!acquires!a!special!concentration! and!clarity;!removed!from!day!to!day!usage,!I!perceive!it!as!the! raw! material! I! aspire! to,! supreme! (and! how! supreme!! perhaps! only!a!command!of!Russian!could!offer!a!more!extended!range,! still!greater!contrasts!of!expression!)10! ! The!choice!of!Russian!as!a!term!of!comparison!is!hardly!accidental.!From!1922! onwards,!Rilke!increasingly!turned!to!French!for!new!poems,!thence!incurring! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 Rainer Maria Rilke, Briefe an Gräfin Sizzo 1921–1926, Herausgegeben von Ingeborg Schnack (Frankfurt am Main, 1985) 30. 263! ! ! the! wrath! of! conservative7minded! commentators! in! the! German7speaking! world.!On!more!than!one!occasion!he!would!deal!with!the!same!theme!first!in! one!language,!then!the!other,!to!see!what!the!result!would!be.! ! Besides!their!marginal,!excentric!locations,!neither!Rilke!nor!Tsvetaeva! would!spring!immediately!to!mind!if!one!were!asked!to!name!two!poets!of! the!period!distinguished!for!their!political!engagement.!Once!more,!hindsight! tells!a!different!story.!Despite!a!passing!infatuation!with!Mussolini’s!rhetoric,! for! which! the! Duchess! Gallarati7Scotti,! who! declared! herself! incapable! of! sympathizing!with!fascism,!would!gently!reprove!him,11!Rilke's!political!affilia7 tion! was! instinctively! anti7authoritarian! and! non7violent.! He! reviled! the! cul7 tural! atmosphere! of! Wilhelmine! Germany! and! was! strongly! critical! of! the! postwar!German!government’s!attitude!to!reparations.!Personally!acquainted! with!Kurt!Eisner,!whom!he!admired,!and!with!Karl!Liebknecht’s!Russian!wife,! he! lived! throughout! the! turbulent! times! of! the! Bavarian! republic! and! the! short7lived,! Soviet7inspired! revolution! in! Munich.! In! the! ‘white’! repression! that!followed!the!collapse!of!the!latter,!Rilke’s!lodgings!and!his!papers!were! searched!for!evidence!of!direct!participation.!The!poems!Tsvetaeva!wrote!in! response!to!the!Nazi!annexation!of!the!Sudetenland,!with!the!subsequent!oc7 cupation!of!the!Czech!lands!in!their!entirety,!must!rank!as!among!the!most! passionate! outbursts! of! political! protest! in! the! twentieth! century.12! Irma! Kudrova's! account! of! life! in! the! NKVD! hideout! where! Tsvetaeva! joined! her! husband!and!daughter!on!arriving!in!the!Soviet!Union,!shows!her!attempting! to!inhabit!an!area!between!competing!totalitarian!ideologies,!that!had!van7 ished!in!discursive!terms!as!it!was!to!vanish!geographically!in!the!wake!of!the! Molotov7Ribbentrop!pact!(which!laid!the!basis!for!the!invasion!of!the!Baltic! republics!and!a!renewed!partition!of!Poland).13! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 See Briefe zur Politik, 643. 12 Stikhotvoreniya i Poemy v pyati tomakh, III, 197–210. 13 See Irma Kudrova, The Death of a Poet: The Last Days of Marina Tsvetaeva, tr. by Mary Ann Szporluk (Woodstock, New York, London, 2004). 264! ! ! II.!TRANSLATING! Tsvetaeva!chooses,!as!a!setting!for!all!of!the!meetings!that!never!took!place,! now!postponed,!perhaps,!to!another!world,!“spots!along!/!the!city’s!edge,!be7 yond!it...!Rain7drenched!places...!nobody!goes!to!...!city!limits!not!built!up!at! all!”!She!is!writing!from!“a!suburb’s!edge,”!while!Rilke!is!envisaged!resting!his! elbows! on! the! edge! of! a! theater! box! somewhere! in! Heaven,! and! peering! down!at!her!from!there.!So!the!participants’!marginal!positioning!is!amply!re7 flected! in! the! body! of! the! poem.! This! was! one! of! several! points! at! which! I! struggled!to!evoke!aspects!of!the!original!Russian!for!which!it!was!impossible! to!find!a!precise!equivalent!in!the!target!language,!English.!The!assonance!be7 tween!Russian!“myestá”!(places),!and!“myesyátsov,”!with!its!double!meaning! of!‘moons’!and!‘months’!(pulled!in!the!latter!direction!by!‘weeks’)!led!me!to! introduce!the!English!‘moonspots,’!a!bridge7word!that!has!no!strict!equivalent! in!the!original,!but!which!creates!a!needed!associative!chain.!Tsvetaeva!actu7 ally! prolongs! the! phonetic! excitement! with! “predmyéstyi”! (suburbs)! and! “vmyéstye”!(together)!in!the!lines!immediately!following.!! ! My!intention!was!to!alert!the!reader!that!something!was!going!on!in! the!texture!of!the!verse,!creating!a!center!of!commotion,!of!collision!even,!ra7 ther!than!simply!conveying!one,!selected!meaning!from!the!range!of!mean7 ings!present!in!the!Russian.!I!treated!the!poem’s!opening!in!analogous!fash7 ion.! Tsvetaeva’s! sequence! of! oblique! case! adjectives,! “zláchnom,”! “zhváchnom,”!“zýchnom,”!“zvúchnom”!veers!alarmingly!in!the!direction!of!a! poetry!of!pure!sound,!yet!is!underpinned,!and!stabilized,!by!an!echo!of!the! Orthodox!service!for!the!dead.!A!possible!solution!was!to!mimic!the!tone!of! the! Anglican! liturgy.! This! risked,! however,! being! no! less! alien! to! the! ear! of! contemporary!British!readers!than!Church!Slavonic!for!people!in!post7Soviet! Russia.!I!opted!for!the!attention7seeking!assonance!of!“resonance”!and!“resi7 dence,”! with! “sound7infested”! indicating! the! quality! of! the! Russian.! Rather! than!translating!a!semantic!item,!the!word!evokes!the!fabric!of!Tsvetaeva’s! verse.!As!much!as!what!the!lines!say,!this!aims!to!convey!what!is!happening!in! them.!On!the!other!hand,!at!“tear!away!and!not!get!torn,”!English!luckily!al7 265! ! ! lowed!me!to!transmit!the!play!on!words!in!the!Russian!“rvalos’”!i!ne!“razorva7 los’.”! ! Tsvetaeva! knows! that! the! place! where! she! and! Rilke! encounter! one! another!must!be!a!site!of!translation.!She!also!sees!her!poem!as!an!unequivo7 cal! prolongation! of! the! letters! the! two! poets! have! been! exchanging.! Hence! her!apology!for!switching!from!German!to!Russian,!with!a!change!not!just!of! language,! but! of! alphabet.! Her! addressee! is! in! a! supranational! setting! from! which!he!can!access!all!languages,!a!condition!to!which!she!herself!aspires:! “German’s!more!native!than!Russian!/!to!me!—!and!my!most!native!tongue’s! the! angels’!”! I! took! a! liberty! in! extrapolating,! from! the! available! commen7 taries!on!the!poem,!the!information!that!the!service!a!teenage!Tsvetaeva!at7 tended,!where!she!gained!the!crucial!insight!that!dying!involves!a!dissolution! of!all!language!barriers,!was!the!funeral!of!Nadya!Ilovayskaya,!who!died!from! tuberculosis!in!1905,!aged!23.!Omitting!the!reference!to!the!convent!at!No7 vodevichy,!like!the!one!to!the!Alcazar!café!in!Paris!at!the!close!of!the!opening! paragraph,!was!intended!to!facilitate!the!reader’s!entry!into!the!world!of!the! poem,! on! the! basis! that! these! would! be! familiar! references! for! Tsvetaeva’s! readership,!but!stumbling!blocks!for!a!reader!of!the!English!version.!I!none7 theless!took!the!precaution!of!supplying!an!alternative!version!in!a!footnote.! ! Emphasizing!the!difference!in!language!between!herself!and!Rilke,!as! well!as!a!matter!of!honesty,!paradoxically!allows! Tsvetaeva!to!highlight!the! closeness!they!had!achieved.!Rilke!had!indeed,!in!the!last!of!his!letters,!asked! her!to!refresh!his!memory!about!the!Russian!word!for!“nest.”!Publication!of! their!correspondence!was!hardly!contemplated!at!this!stage,!making!the!ref7 erence! a! particularly! intimate! one.! This! is! one! of! two! points! in! the! poem! where!emotion!threatens!to!overpower!Tsvetaeva,!rendering!her!incoherent! (a!“trembling!of!the!lip,”!the!other!being!just!before!the!poem!breaks!off!ir7 revocably,!as!her!“palm!goes!to!my!eyes!to!block!the!tears”).!Pointing!out!the! Russian! rhyme! (in! the! nominative! plural!)! with! “stars”! neatly! harks! back! to! Tsvetaeva’s!“night!I!truly!long!for...!filled!with!stars.”!Death!is!figured!as!the! acquisition!of!a!new!language:!“Attributing!the!word!‘rhyme’!its!true!sense,!/! 266! ! ! what!can!death!be,!if!not!a!whole!new!world!/!of!rhymes?!//!It’s!done.!A!new! language!is!learnt.!/!A!repertoire!of!assonances,!meanings,!/!all!of!them!new.”! Tsvetaeva!has!been!left!behind!in!the!world!of!the!living,!therefore!the!new! tongue!is!not!accessible!to!her.!Ever!pragmatic,!the!continuation!of!their!cor7 respondence! lies! close! to! her! heart,! and! she! exhorts! Rilke! to! use! “the! old! code!”!while!at!the!same!time!congratulating!him!on!“all!the!new!sounds!ask7 ing!you!to!write!them!”! ! In!an!evaluation!of!“Happy!New!Year”!published!in!Paris!in!1928,!Ari7 adna! Chernova! noted! the! harsh! and! brittle! quality! of! Tsvetaeva’s! diction,14! commenting!that!the!predominance!of!thought!over!images!was!justified!by! the! poem’s! philosophical! depth.! While! not! reproducing! Tsvetaeva’s! couplet! rhymes,!I!put!her!poem!into!strict!iambic!pentameter,!thus!(I!hoped)!arrang7 ing!for!the!everyday,!conversational!tone!of!certain!passages!to!grate!against! an!elevated!poetical!form.!This!was!the!case!towards!the!end!of!the!first!par7 agraph,!where!the!alternation!between!four!sources!(Slonim’s!words,!Tsveta7 eva’s!words,!the!words!she!does!not!say,!and!the!thoughts!lying!behind!them)! is! meant! to! disorient! the! reader! and! block! any! too! obvious! or! immediate! emotional!or!sentimental!reaction.!This!also!motivated!the!use!of!a!technical! term!such!as!“switchbacks”!in!the!third!paragraph,!or!the!down!to!earth!tone! of!“Did!we!fuss!too!much!about!arrangements?”!Tsvetaeva!persists!in!giving! these!missed!assignations!the!air!of!a!lovers’!rendezvous,!as!if!in!an!extramari7 tal!affair,!and!provocatively!adumbrates!a!kiss!when!Rilke’s!mouth!“touch7/!es! mine.”! Dividing! the! word! across! a! line! break! was! meant! to! underline! the! provocation.! I! hoped! “on! a! group! outing”! could! be! no! less! bathetic! than! Tsvetaeva's!“na!massovku.”!In!the!Russian!of!her!third!paragraph,!Tsvetaeva! pushes!distortion!of!syntax!to!the!limits!by!postponing!a!relative!“who”!right! to!the!end!of!the!sentence.!I!did!not!believe!I!could!afford!to!go!so!far,!but! twice!inserted!extended!parentheses,!as!Tsvetaeva!raises!her!glass!for!a!toast! and,!earlier,!between!“high”!and!“altitude,”!so!that!the!distance!placed!be7 tween!the!adjective!and!its!noun!could!indicate!just!how!far!above!her!she! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14 See Briefwechsel, 260. 267! ! ! considers!Rilke!to!have!soared,!like!the!incongruous!“saucer”!for!the!whole! expanse!of!the!Mediterranean.! ! In!a!poem!dated!May!3rd,!1913,!Tsvetaeva!had!characterized!herself! as!someone!who!“loved!laughing!far!too!much!/!when!it!wasn't!allowed!”15! The!jokes!scattered!through!“Happy!New!Year”!contribute!to!the!uncomfort7 able,!unsettling!mood!of!the!whole.!When!about!to!be!beheaded,!a!moment! of!erotic!fulfillment!is!what!comes!to!mind,!“those!lips,”!not!specifically!gen7 dered,!as!is!habitual!with!Tsvetaeva,!whom!David!Bethea!describes!as!“defi7 antly!bisexual.”16!She!pictures!Rilke!in!a!Heaven!not!designed!by!widows,!and! is! not! afraid! of! undercutting! her! own! stance! by! highlighting! its! incongruity:! “Till!our!next!meeting!!Till!/!our!first!one!”!I!admit!to!extending!slightly!what!is! probably!the!best!and!most!indecorous!of!all!her!jokes,!when!Tsvetaeva!as7 sures!Rilke!that,!if!she!has!substituted!German!for!Russian,!this!is!because!he! is!dead!and!cannot!protest.!The!Russian!original!states!that!anything!goes,!a! dead!person!is!a!beggar!and!will!gobble!up!anything!“without!turning!a!hair.”! The!English!“bat!an!eyelid”!is!not!exactly!the!same.!It!did,!however,!permit!me! to!reinforce!Tsvetaeva’s!joke,!the!dead!being!incapable!of!opening!their!eyes! or!blinking,!no!matter!how!astonished!or!indignant!they!may!be.! ! Brodsky!notes!that!“The!poetic!idea!of!eternal!life!on!the!whole!gravi7 tates!more!toward!a!cosmogony!than!toward!theology.”17!Tsvetaeva!has!al7 ready!asserted!the!last!place!to!seek!out!Rilke!would!be!his!grave.!After!the! four!shorter!lines!which,!in!Brodsky’s!view,!herald!the!poem’s!conclusion,!she! speculates!on!the!nature!of!Heaven,!and!of!God.!Fascinatingly,!she!conceives! of!God!as!in!a!state!of!uninterrupted!becoming,!of!duplication!and!develop7 ment.!For!the!tree!known!as!the!Ethiopian!Sour!Gourd,!believed!by!Humboldt! to!be!“the!oldest!organic!monument!of!our!planet,”!she!imports!into!Russian! the!name!“baobab.”!Any!stumbling!block!to!comprehension!in!a!translation! tends!to!be!laid!at!the!translator’s!door!rather!than!attributed!to!the!original.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 Stikhotvoreniya i Poemy v pyati tomakh I, 139. 16 David M. Bethea, Joseph Brodsky and the Creation of Exile (Princeton, 1994) 287. 17 'Footnote to a Poem', 203. 268! ! ! My!choice!of!another!possible!name,!“monkey!bread!tree”!felt!justified!be7 cause!associating!God!with!a!monkey!suited!Tsvetaeva’s!irreverent!tone.!Her! next!image!for!him!is!the!coin!known!as!a!“louis!d'or,”!and!here!again!English! leapt!to!assistance,!given!the!double!meaning!of!“sovereign.”!! ! Tsvetaeva’s!inventive!cosmogony!forms!part!of!a!wholesale!rejection! of!conventional!ways!of!dealing!with!bereavement!and!decease.!In!line!with! this,! she! refuses! to! contemplate! any! break! in! the! activity! that! makes! Rilke! who!he!is,!not!merely!a!poet,!but!the!embodiment!of!poetry.!Repeatedly!she! brings!us!back!to!the!concrete,!physical!circumstances!under!which!texts!were! made! in! her! day.! After! all,! she! dedicated! a! cycle! of! poems! to! the! table! at! which!she!wrote.18!The!hand!on!which!Rilke!looks!back!from!an!inconceivable! altitude!has!an!“ink7stain!on!it.”!Even!if!he!now!writes,!so!to!speak,!beyond! physical!realities,!Tsvetaeva!cannot!resist!evoking!in!this!connection!a!favorite! pose!of!her!own:!“a!table!for!your!elbow,!/!...a!forehead!you!can!cup!your! hand! /! as! a! support! for.”! The! piling! up! of! questions! as! the! poem! nears! its! close!produces!an!effect!of!soaring,!perhaps!because!one!tends!to!raise!one’s! voice!at!the!end!of!an!interrogative!phrase.!The!reader’s!attention,!the!po7 em’s! focus! and,! by! implication,! the! letter! itself! are! moving! upwards,! closer! and!closer!to!the!addressee,!in!whose!hands!it!will!arrive!with!the!last!line!(at! the!very!point!where!Tsvetaeva!breaks!down!and,!presumably,!lapses!into!in7 coherence).! Another! signal! that! the! end! is! coming! is! the! recurrence! of! the! term!“new.”!When,!with!typically!reckless!generosity,!Tsvetaeva!wishes!Rilke! well!in!surroundings!she!knows!nothing!of!(for!she!has!still!to!get!his!letter!of! reply!)! I! used! capitalization! to! catch! the! resonances! of! a! Russian! phrase.! Tsvetaeva!wrote!“with!all!the!sea,!Rainer,!with!all!of!me,”!playing!on!the!im7 plications!of!her!Christian!name.!I!hoped!the!pun!in!English!“Marine”!would! convey!this.! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 18 Stikhotvoreniya i Poemy v pati tomakh III, 169–174. 269! ! ! ! Earlier,! “Happy! New! Year”! was! described! as! an! “event”! in! European! lyrical!poetry.!What!I!in!fact!wanted!to!write!was!“location,”!“place.”!Not!just! books,!but!poems!too,!can!offer!us!a!refuge,!a!haven!to!escape!to.!One!reason! for!translating!this!poem!was!to!make!such!a!place!available!in!a!tradition!that! lacks!it.!Exile!is!not!a!dominant!theme!in!English7language!poetry,!reflecting! the! thankful! fact! that! it! has! not! been! a! dominant! reality! in! the! lives! of! the! men!and!women!who!produced!it.!Their!assumptions!concerning!national!be7 longing!and!linguistic!pre7eminence,!in!terms!of!numbers!and!empowerment,! tend!to!be!unquestioning,!even!superficial.!Making!“Happy!New!Year”!availa7 ble!in!a!convincingly!fluent!English!version!constituted!a!small7scale!attempt! to!alter!the!geography,!to!remodel!the!profile!of!poetry!in!English,!subtly!un7 dermining!both!the!domination!of!a!still!centripetal!culture!and!its!confident,! unreflective!monolingualism.!Rilke!in!his!sanatorium,!and!Tsvetaeva!in!her!Pa7 risian!suburb,!had!no!place!to!go!to,!nowhere!they!could!meet.!Her!poem!to! him!after!his!death!can!accommodate!those!for!whom!national!belonging!is! neither!axiomatic!nor!unproblematic,!offering!a!vantage!point!from!which!not! just!this!world,!but!the!next,!takes!on!a!subtly!different!aspect.! ! ! Budapest,!January!2012! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Christopher!Whyte,!“The!English!for!an!Anti7Elegy:!Translating!Tsvetaeva!on! Rilke,”! Hyperion:! On! the! Future! of! Aesthetics,! Vol.! VIII,! No.! 1! (spring! 2014)! 257–270.!! ! Reprinted!with!permission!from!Translation!and!Literature.!Original!publica7 tion:!!from!Translation!and!Literature,!Vol.!21!(2012)!196–207.! ! http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/tal.2012.0066! 270! ! ! Marina Tsvetaeva (1892 —1941) HAPPY NEW YEAR (1927) Translated by Christopher Whyte ! ! ! ! !"#$%&'()*+,-+".&!"#$%&'("&#"'!#)*%.&/0/1& & Happy&new&year&—&new&world&—&new&land&—&new&roof!& The&first&letter&from&me&to&you&in&your& new&—&but&how&can&they&say&everything&grows&there?&—& not&fertile,&rich&in&sap&—&in&resonance,&& your&soundCinfested&residence,&your&tower& the&four&winds&have&abandoned.&The&first&letter& to&reach&you&from&a&country&that&was&yours& till&yesterday,&the&one&where&I’m&imprisoned,& which&you’ll&henceforth&look&down&on&from&a&star…& They&operate&like&that,&leaving,&withdrawal&—& & & 10& someone&we&cared&about&becomes&just&any& woman,&a&nonCexistent&miracle.& Want&me&to&tell&you&how&I&heard&about…?& Not&from&an&earthquake&or&an&avalanche.& No&one&in&particular&called&by&& (it’s&you&who’s&special).&“Such&a&sad&event.& Can&you&do&a&piece&for&us?”&“But&where?”& “Up&in&the&mountains.”&Fir&tree&branches&seen& outside&a&window.&A&white&sheet.&“You&didn’t& & read&about&it?”&“No.”&“So?”&“Don’t&insist.”& & & & 20& Out&loud:&“Too&hard.”&Inside:&“I&wouldn’t&sell& my&savior.”&“In&a&sanatorium.”& (A&rented&heaven.)&“Which&day?”&“Yesterday,& or&else&the&day&before.&Coming&along&& tonight?”&“Not&planning&to.&Family&reasons.”1& Out&loud.&Inside:&“You&take&me&for&a&Judas?”& & Happy&new&year&that’s&starting&(born&tomorrow)!& Want&to&know&what&I&did&after&I&heard…?& & & & & Slip&of&the&tongue!&Be&careful!&I&keep&doing&it.& For&ages&I’ve&been&putting&“life”&and&“death”& & & 30& between&inverted&commas,&as&with&rumors& you&know&have&to&be&false.&Actually,&I& did¬hing,&though&something&or&other&happened& that&left&neither&a&shadow&nor&an&echo!& & And&you?&How&did&it&go?&How&did&your&heart& manage&to&tear&away&and¬&get&torn?& Like&having&unbelievably&fast&horses& pull&you&along,&the&Orlov&ones&you&said& & & & & rivaled&eagles?2&Couldn’t&catch&your&breath?& Or&was&it&gentler?&More&delightful&still?& & & & 40& Anyone&who’s&has&been&carried&through&the&air& !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Alternatively: “Will you be at / the Alcazar tonight?” “I won’t. Family reasons.” 2 Tsvetaeva here paraphrases lines from Rilke's poem “Nächtliche Fahrt. Sankt Petersburg” (“Night-time Journey. St Petersburg”) in Der Neuen Gedichte anderer Teil (1908). “Orlov” is the name of a Russian noble family, but also evokes the word for “eagle.” ! 272! by&genuine&Russian&eagles&doesn’t¬ice& heights&or&switchbacks.&For&both&of&us&that&world& is&in&our&blood.&Whoever’s&been&to&Russia& is&vouched&a&preview.&Transfer&without&hitches!& I&can’t&say&either&“life”&or&“death”&without& a&secret&twisting&of&the&mouth&—&mine&touchC& es&yours!&—&without&adding&a&footnote,&or& & & & & an&asterisk&(the&night&I&truly&long&for&—& a&hemisphere&that&doesn’t&house&the&brain&—& & & 50& is&filled&with&stars&instead!)& & & & & My&friend,&please&keep& in&mind&what&follows:&if&you&come&on&Russian& letters&here&instead&of&German,&that’s& not&because&they&say&it&makes&no&difference,& dead&people&cannot&be&too&choosy,&you&& can&serve&them&up&with&anything&you&want&—& they&never&bat&an&eyelid!&—&but&because& that&world,&our&world&—&it&was&a&funeral,3& I&was&thirteen&the&day&I&understood&—& far&from&being&languageless,&is&everyClanguaged.& & & 60& & A&trembling&of&the&lip&for&my&next&question.& Can&it&be&you&won’t&ask&me&again& how&we&say&“nest”&in&Russian?&And&the&answer& rhymes&with&“stars,”&which&cover&every&nest.& Have&I&strayed&from&the&point?&But&how&could&that& be&possible?&One&cannot&stray&from&you& when&every&thought,&dearly&belovèd,&Lieber,& when&every&syllable&leads&towards&you,& & & & & whatever&people&are&talking&about& (besides&which,&German’s&more&native&than&Russian& to&me&—&and&my&most&native&tongue’s&the&angels’!)&& & 70& The&same&way&there’s&no&place&you&can’t&be&found&—& except&your&grave.&As&if¬hing&had&happened& and&yet&it&all&did.&But&no&hint&of&me?& Tell&me&what&your&surroundings&are&like,&Rainer.& How&does&it&feel&there?&Urgently,&it&can’t& be&put&off&for&one&single&moment&longer&—&& your&first&impression&of&the&universe&—& & & & & a&poet’s,&obviously&—&vouchsafed&in&its&& entirety&to&you&once&and&for&all& & & & & 80& along&with&your&last&thoughts&about&this&planet.& Not&of&a&poet&freed&from&dust,&a&soul& freed&from&the&body&(to&separate&them& is&to&do&both&an&injustice)&—&but&you& !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 Alternatively “in Novodevichy,” a famed convent in Moscow. ! 273! issuing&from&yourself,&you&with&yourself&—& reaching&Olympus&doesn’t&make&one&better&—& the&part&of&you&that’s&Castor&with&the&part& that’s&Pollux,&both&the&marble&and&the&grass,&& & & & not&separation,¬&coming&together& but&confrontation,&face&to&face:&the&first& & & & 90& separation,&first&coming&together.& & What&was&it&like&to&see&your&hand&(the&inkC& stain&on&it)&from&an&infinitely&high& (exactly&how&high?&has&it&leached&things&of& all&meaning?)&altitude&over&the&brilliant& surface&of&the&Mediterranean& and&all&the&other&saucers?&As&if¬hing& had&happened,&as&if&everything&were&still& & & & & to&happen&with&me,&at&my&suburb’s&edge.& As&if¬hing&had&happened,&yet&in&spite& & & & 100& of&that&—&what&difference&can&a&week’s&delay& make&to&someone&writing&a&letter?&—&there’s& a&place&to&look&towards&from&the&theater&box,& elbows&upon&the&rim,&from&this&world&toward& the&other&—&where&else?&—&and&from&yours&toward& this&one,&that’s&full&of&suffering.&Bellevue’s& my&home.&Small.&Branches,&nests.&Flick&through&the&guide&—& Bellevue.&A&tower,&a&splendid&view&of&Paris,& the&Gallic&chimera’s&reception&rooms,& and&further&still…&Elbows&on&the&padded& & & & 110& velvet&edge,&they&“must”&look&laughable& to&you,&and&would&to&me&as&well,&from&those& immeasurable&altitudes,&all&of& our&various&Bellevues&and&Belvederes!4& & Enough&of&that.&Time&to&get&down&to&business.& The&New&Year’s&on&the&doorstep.&Who,&or&what& & & & should&I&clink&glasses&with&across&the&table?& What’s&the&toast?&The&drink?&In&place&of&foam,& a&tuft&of&cotton&wool.&Midnight&is&striking.& What&am&I&here&for,&what&am&I&supposed&&&& 120& to&do&amidst&the&New&Year’s&din,&with&this& rhyme&I&carry&inside&me:&Rainer&—&died&there.& If&an&eye&like&yours&grows&dim,&it&means& there’s&neither&life&nor&death,&but&something&else,& a&third,&quite&new.&Is&that,&then,&what&(I&scatter& straw&for&nineteen&twentyCseven5&—&what& & & & !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 Belvedere was the name of Rilke’s sanatorium and, like Bellevue, suggested a spot from which a splendid panorama could by enjoyed. ! 274! good&luck&for&nineteen&twentyCsix,&the&year& that’s&going&out,&to&both&end&and&begin& with&you!)&I’ll&drink&to,&clinking&glass&with&glass& across&a&table&that&cannot&be&seen,&making& & & & 130& a&sound&that&can’t&be&heard?&But¬&the&kind& you&get&in&pubs&—&me&against&you,&in&a& collision&from&which&a&new,&third&rhyme&flows.& & I&look&across&the&table&at&your&grave,& the&cross&on&it.&So&many&spots&along& the&city’s&edge,&beyond&it,&and&who&could&&&&& that&branch&be&signaling&to,&if¬&us?& Spots&designed&with&only&us&in&mind!& The&foliage,&all&of&it.&The&pineCneedles!& Spots&meant&for&you&and&me&(for&you&to&be& & & & 140& in&with&yourself&—&what&could&you&two&discuss& on&a&group&outing?)&Spots,&moonspots,&moons,&months,& weeks!&RainCdrenched&places&at&the&city’s&edge& nobody&goes&to!&Mornings!&None&of&it& so&much&as&started&on&by&nightingales!& & Really&I&can&see¬hing,&from&this&pit,& & & & & really&you&see&much&more,&from&up&on&high:& nothing&worked&out&between&the&two&of&us,& such&a&precise,&uncomplicated¬hing& enumerating&it&is&pointless,&it&& & & & & 150& could&have&been&tailorCmade.&Nothing,&except&—& you&shouldn’t&expect&anything&out&of& the&ordinary&(falling&out&of&step& is¬&allowed!)&—&but&where’s&the&ordinary& it&could&have&been&a&part&of?& & & & & Once&again& the&same&old&story&—&like&it&or¬,¬hing’s& & & & the&trace&of&something&else&that&might& have&been&—&no&matter&how&far&off&—&a&shadow’s& shadow!&Nothing,&but&—&that&hour,&that&day,& that&house&—&even&when&your&head’s&on&the&block,&& & 160& they&can’t&stop&you&remembering&—&those&lips!& Did&we&fuss&too&much&about&arrangements?& Because&we’re&just&reflections&of&ourselves,& from&everything&that&might&have&happened&here& the&share&allotted&us&was&that'whole&world!& & & & !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 A Russian custom for bringing in the New Year which Tsvetaeva maintains, even in the context of emigration. ! 275! For&city&limits¬&built&up&at&all&—& happy&new&place,&Rainer,&happy&new&world& happy&land’s&end&of&provability,& happy&new&eye,&Rainer,&happy&new&ear!& & It&all&got&in&your&way,& & & & & & & 170& being&lovers,&being&friends.& Find&each&echo&new&sounds,& new&echoes&for&each&sound!& & Time&and&again,&sitting&at&a&school&desk:& What&do&you&call&those&mountains?&And&those&rivers?& & & Are&landscapes&more&attractive&with&no&tourists?& Did&I&guess&right,&is&heaven&mountainous,& Rainer,&and&thunderCfilled?&And¬&designed& by&widows?&Is&there&more&than&one,&are&they& piled&up&in&terraces?&If&the&Tatras& & & & & 180& are&anything&to&go&by,&heaven&must& look&like&an&hitheater.&(A&curtain& just&fell&on&somebody…)&Rainer,&did&I& guess&right?&Is&God&a&monkeyCbread&tree,&but& still&growing?&Not&a&golden&sovereign&—& & & & & there’s&more&than&one&God?&Above&him&another& one?& & What’s&it&like&writing&up&there?&If&you’re& there,&poetry&has&to&be&too,&since&you& yourself&are&poetry!&Writing&at&such& a&height,&without&a&table&for&your&elbow,& & & & 190& without&a&forehead&you&can&cup&your&hand& as&a&support&for?&& &&& Send&news,&the&old&code!& Rainer,&are&you&entranced&with&the&new&rhymes?& Attributing&the&word&“rhyme”&its&true&sense,& what&can&death&be,&if¬&a&whole&new&world& of&rhymes?& & & It’s&done.&A&new&language&is&learnt.& A&repertoire&of&assonances,&meanings,& all&of&them&new.& & & & &—&Till&our&next&meeting!&Till& our&first&one!&I’ve&no&way&of&telling&if& we’ll&see&each&other&—&but&we’ll&sing&each&other.& & & 200& Happy&country&I&know¬hing&about,& with&all&its&seas,&Rainer,&all&the&Marine!6& & & !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Alternatively ‘Rainer, with all of me’. ! 276! Make&a¬e&beforehand:&No&goodbyes!& Happy&new&sounds,&all&asking&you&to&write&them!& & A&heavenly&ladder&to&climb&up&with&gifts…& & & & & Rainer,&happy&new&laying&on&of&hands!& & My&palm&goes&to&my&eyes&to&block&the&tears.& Across&the&Rhône&and&the&Rarogne,7&across& utter,&unequivocal&separation& into&Rainer&—&Maria&—&Rilke’s&hands.& & & & 210& & & Bellevue,'February'7th'1927' Marina Tsvetaeva, “Happy New Year (1927),” tr. by Christopher Whyte, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 271–277. Reprinted with permission from Translation and Literature. Original publication: Translation and Literature, Vol. 21 (2012) 207–212. ! http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/tal.2012.0066! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 The Rhône flowed near Sierre, close to Rilke's home at Muzot in Switzerland, while the Rarogne flowed close to the sanatorium in which he died. ! 277! Lou Castel, My “State of Things” (1984) Translated by Rainer J. Hanshe !"#$%&'#%(!)$*#%!+%&'#%,-*&%+.,/*%.%/-0#%.1%&'#%2345%.%+!)10%/6%"!.(#% 7%'!8%.&%0.(&-&#*%/6%/!"#/#1&*%7%-(&*%0.$#(&,6%!1%&'#%./-9#:%% % 8;<=%<=>%?@;4ABC>DEF%BG%<=;4%H>I%4>H4>5%.%D>JK;L>@%<=J<%=;<=>D % 279% During%the%takes,%my%own%voice%became%for%me%“the%time”%or%the%measure%of% time.% % Sometimes%the%voice%helps%to%highlight%the%emptiness%of%the%action%—%mine,% or%that%of%the%camera%—;%sometimes,%on%the%contrary,%the%voice%determines% the%action%and%gives%its%color%to%the%action,%which%is%still%merely%mechanically% indicated%and%“silent.”% % For%example,%a%cry%in%the%background%and%at%the%end%of%a%scene%transforms%the% bland%and%mechanical%conclusion%into%its%internal%critical%expression;%through% words,%my%voice%is%freed%of%the%fiction,%and% gives%itself%up%to%me%in%its%true% dimension% by% continuing% its% action% —% without% me% feeling% that% I% have% lost% something%anymore,%or%that%any%action%is%pointless%because%predetermined.% % I% am% distant,% at% the% bottom% of% the% image,% and% I% forget% all% technical% conditioning%imposed%by%the%camera.% % The%voice%soars.%The%voice%laughs%at%any%potential%scissor%cut%of%the%editing,%at% any%camera%position.% % It%lies%at%the%breaking%point%between%the%image%and%the%sound.% % The%image%becomes%pure%fiction.%And%me,%with%my%voice,%I%am%free.% Lou Castel, “My ‘State of Things’,” tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 278–280. % 280% LOU CASTEL Before the filming of The Stoning of St. Stephen Translated by Rainer J. Hanshe Lou Castel in Pere Vilà i Barceló’s La lapidation de Saint Etienne (2012) !"#$%&!'()$%**$!"#$+(#+%(%!,'-$,.$!"#$/#%($'/$"'0$!'$%!!%&1$%$!#2!$ !"%!$.##3.$*,1#$%$.3''!"$0%**$!"%!$,$%4.'*5!#*6$"%7#$!'$&*,34$89:$ ;<=>?$>9@@=A:>$,$BC$B8>=D9:?DE$8DFGH$:=)$BGH$E?:$:=C?)$:?DI$BJBFG>:$:@BFA$B:$:$C?$?L?AE$:FC?$,$: $ 282$ because$we$know$that$they$have$done$their$job$“around the clock,”$yes,$the$ dayPtoPday$ in$ which$ we$ mentally$ move$ the$ words$ back$ &$ forth,$ no$ matter$ where$we$are,$what$we$do,$if$the$time$is$serious$or$joyful,$because$the$rest$of$ the$ keywords$in$ me$ of$ the$ actor$ in$ the$ making$ will$ complete$ &$ prepare$by$ themselves$this$huge$&$vast$&$independent$neuronal$movement,$the$“all$you$ need,”$the$written$text$is$annulled.$The$written,$dead,$static$word,$the$word,$ the$word$against$which$I$get$angry$because$I$could$not$recall$it$(the$wall)$is$ the$same$word$that$I$now$easily$recall$because,$paradoxically,$it$escapes,$is$ released.$ This$ is$ not$ just$ a$ word$ that$ plunges$ into$ the$ depths$ of$ the$ unconscious$ (the$ word$ is$ repressed,$ impossible$ to$ recall);$ it$ returns$ to$ the$ surface$with$the$same$energies$of$the$depths,$this$vast$neuronal$territory$that$ is$ spread$ across$ all$ the$ active$ areas$ of$ the$ brain.$ And$ these$ are$ the$ other$ words$ that$ have$ pushed$ it$ up$ &$ another$ word$ that$ was$ until$ then$ easy$ to$ remember$but$also$plunges$as$well$is$recalled$(two$ways)$this$time$without$ the$need$to$look$at$the$text:$—$it$returns$on$its$own$to$present$itself$on$the$ screen$of$memory.$The$neuronal$order$is$completely$different$&$makes$the$ visual$ memory$ of$ the$ pages$ disappear,$ the$ top,$ bottom,$ &$ the$ middle$ of$ a$ turning$page.$ All$this$disappears$in$neuronal$“memory”;$there$takes$place$a$transfer$ of$ a$ space$ that$ was$ seen$ from$ without$ to$ a$ space$ seen$ up$ close$ inside$ the$ brain,$ waves$ that$ come$ together$ &$ are$ suddenly$ found$ nearby,$ even$ if$ the$ words$they$carry$are$far$from$a$logic$connecting$them$but$are$nevertheless$ simultaneously$there,$I$carry$forward,$I$simultaneously$store$in$my$brain$two$ different$ texts,$ and$ these$ two$ texts$ are$ differently$ placed$ in$ the$ plot,$ one$ before,$one$after,$and$in$between$there$are$many$pages$that$separate$them,$ and$this$timePspace$will$also$be$worked$on$by$neuronal$waves,$will$approach$ or$move$away,$each$wave$surfs$on$one$of$the$two$texts$and$thus$the$unity$of$ the$two$completely$different$texts$still$takes$place$but$it’s$not$like$words,$they$ are$waves,$and$it$may$be$that$when$I$lose$the$thread,$the$two$texts$are$placed$ on$ the$ same$ wave.$ I$ do$ not$ know$ in$ which$ of$ the$ two$ texts$ I$ am,$ which$ is$ proof$that$it$is$not$words$that$determine$the$wave;$the$words$placed$on$the$ top$of$the$page,$even$if$they$belong$to$two$different$texts,$become$two$waves$ $ 283$ that$approach$each$other$alongside$each$other$and$which$I$see$in$my$brain,$a$ simultaneous$ marker$ of$ the$ memory$ of$ the$ two$ texts,$ so$ the$ words$ in$ the$ middle$of$the$page$of$the$two$texts$overlap;$I$memorize$the$words$but$I$do$ not$ know$ which$ of$ the$ texts$ I$ am$ thinking$ in,$ because$ the$ middle$ is$ not$ a$ marker,$it’s$a$smooth$surface$without$support,$without$top$&$bottom.$ This$ is$ the$ blind$ spot$ of$ neuronal$ translation;$ it$ still$ remains$ as$ if$ printed$on$a$page,$and$I$am$guessing$&$must$absolutely$have$recourse$to$the$ crutches$ of$ controlled$ memory$ that$ is$ the$ text,$ a$ memory$ that$ therefore$ controls$me,$unlike$the$neuronal$memory$which$puts$clusters$of$words$next$to$ each$other$so$that$there$is$no$beginning$or$end$but$that$they$correspond$—$ by$ memorizing$ —$ to$ a$ single$ logic$ too,$ the$ logic$ of$ the$ middle,$ of$ the$ between,$ that$ which$ would$ be$ the$ middle$ for$ the$ neuronal$ memory$ &$ continuing$this$exercise$of$the$two$texts$thought$simultaneously$where$one$is$ longer$but$in$the$thought$I$want$them$to$end$up$together$by$multiplying$the$ thought$ of$ the$ words$ in$ the$ middle$ of$ the$ page,$ these$ middles$ will$ also$ be$ translated$into$themselves$into$a$wave$marker$where$I$see$this$time,$&$for$the$ first$time,$which$of$the$two$texts$they$belong$to.$ I$also$know$where$I$am$in$the$time$&$the$space$of$a$progression$that$is$ not$the$markers$of$the$top,$bottom,$and$middle$but$that$is$me$in$the$present.$ If$I$have$the$feeling$of$having$moved$forward$it$is$also$that$I$am$very$much$in$ the$ present,$ no$ matter$ where$ I$ am,$ what$ I$ do,$ &$ what$ happens$ to$ me.$ However,$the$timePspace$between$the$two$texts$is$not$the$time$of$the$present$ but$a$delayed$time$&$kept$inside$of$me$for$the$spacePtime$of$shooting.$ These$ two$ spacePtimes$ will$ therefore$ meet$ later,$ one$ in$ me$ &$ one$ exterior$to$me,$which$I$do$not$know$yet$which$will$be$completely$different,$ but$ the$ fact$ that$ I$ do$ not$ yet$ know$ this$ exterior$ space$ will$ ensure$ that$ the$ interior$space$already$in$me$shall$become$for$me$the$energy$of$the$scene$to$ be$ shot$ itself$ &$ the$ two$ texts$ are$ identical$ in$ the$ way$ that$ they$ present$ themselves,$ the$ writing,$ will$ be$ transformed$ into$ two$ completely$ different$ scenes$ independent$ of$ any$ spacePtime$ that$ separates$ the$ spacePtime,$ the$ spacePtime$of$the$script$where$the$writing$of$the$two$texts$and$the$spacePtime$ of$the$shooting$where$the$days$of$filming$these$two$texts$ are$situated,$the$ $ 284$ neuronalPmarker$energy,$resurface$in$the$filming$location$just$like$forgotten$ words$resurface$in$my$consciousness,$and$it$is$the$very$action$of$a$neuronal$ presence$ that$ turns$ into$ “character,”$ that$ is$ to$ say,$ thanks$ to$ my$ internal$ markers,$the$fluidity$of$the$acting$will$itself$be$a$marker$becoming,$during$the$ sequence,$a$wordPstone$that$I$move$at$will$at$the$bottom$of$the$river$&$that$is$ (leaving$the$metaphor)$the$conditions$of$the$shooting$itself$&$that$I$can$now$ cross$in$a$critical$fluidity.$ ------ After the filming of The Stoning of St. Stephen The$internal$stratification$or$costume$that$I$slowly$dress$inside$of$me$in$the$ heat$of$the$sun.$ This$same$heat$that$now$conveys$the$expression,$my$body$expresses$ itself,$my$voice$expresses$itself,$this$unique$experience$of$feeling$the$heat$of$ the$sun$makes&me&act.$ I’m$on$the$balcony$and$I$was$there$awaiting$the$sunrises.$ I’m$on$the$balcony$like$this$one$morning$after$another$until$noon.$ I’m$ on$ the$ balcony$ &$ I$ feel$ like$ I’m$ on$ an$ edge$ between$ inside$ &$ outside$&$that’s$what$I$really$am.$ I$ am$ on$ the$ balcony$ suspended$ on$ high$ &$ one$ day$ it$ is$ toward$ the$ interior$of$my$lived$space$that$I$hurl$my$lines$&$another$day$it$is$toward$the$ street,$the$trees,$against$the$noise$of$the$cars,$but$this$is$not$a$description,$I$ feel$ as$ I$ turn$ my$ head$ that$ I$ can$ only$ speak$ in$ this$ direction.$ The$ colors$ impregnated$ in$ me$ as$ neuronal$ markers$ have$ activated$ themselves$ &$ fuse$ with$ the$ sun’s$ heat$ in$ direct$ expression:$ the$ sun$ makes$ me$ act.$ I$ am$ not$ taking$the$sun$in$—$it’s$I$who$is$acting$it$out.$Difficult$then$to$write$that$it$was$ only$once;$it$would$mean$nothing$if$I$write:$“This$is$a$feeling$that$came$to$me$ only$once.”$No,$what$happened$is$that$there$has$been$a$transformation.$ Suddenly$the$heat$of$the$sun$is$transformed$into$the$heat$of$my$body,$ and$ the$ heat$ of$ my$ body$ &$ its$ expression$ had$ become$ the$ same$ thing.$ Of$ course$ this$ happens$ only$ once,$ just$ as$ one$ can$ observe$ the$ transformation$ $ 285$ from$one$state$of$matter$to$another$&$say$or$write$only$once$it$is$rather$the$ limit$of$language$&$of$writing.$ In$contrast$to$the$observation$I$felt$this$transformation;$I$listen$to$it$as$ well$&$it$is$in$me.$ But$so$that$it$is$not$just$I$who$reflect$on$this$indescribable$experience$I$ am$compelled$to$write$in$the$description,$in$the$process,$the$representation$ of$the$limitations$that$lie$in$the$mere$fact$of$writing.$ So$here’s$what$I$write:$I$efface$the$text$with$colors.$As$I$read$it,$every$ morning$I$highlight,$I$cover$it$with$a$color$that$I$find$under$my$fingers$without$ looking$ at$ it,$ or$ almost;$ the$ chosen$ pencil$ used$ to$ have$ a$ meaning$ at$ the$ beginning,$ a$ formal$ logic$ with$ the$ text,$ but$ quickly,$ due$ to$ the$ fact$ that$ different$colors$are$superimposed$in$mornings$that$go$by,$always$in$the$sun,$ this$same$formal$logic$is$annulled.$Very$soon$all$that$happens$is$the$last$color$ becomes$the$color$that$decides$the$next$color$to$choose.$Covering$over$the$ words$means$that$yellow$&$red$will$be$the$first$colors$to$be$used$but$the$ritual$ of$ covering$ one$ color$ with$ another$ color$ continues$ even$ though$ these$ two$ colors$are$no$longer$there.$ The$representative$of$words,$of$phrases,$is$canceled;$it$is$transformed$ through$ colors$ into$ signs,$ into$ mnemonic$ traces.$ These$ same$ mnemonic$ traces$ make$ me$ discover$ details$ that$ are$ like$ veritable$ perceptions$ &$ that$ multiply$after$each$reading$&$after$each$annihilated$color.$It$is$as$if$I$said$to$ myself:$“Ah$hey,$I$did$not$mark$that,”$even$though$before$I$did$already$mark$it$ with$a$color.$It$is$therefore$neither$a$thought$nor$a$color$that$provokes$the$ discovery$ of$ a$ detail,$ the$ renewal$ of$ meaning,$ but$ one$ of$ two$ neuronal$ movements$of$the$brain.$The$signals$that$go$from$the$brain$to$the$fingers$of$ my$ hand,$ that$ is$ to$ say$ the$ impulse$ of$ fingers$ crushing$ the$ color$ no$ longer$ pass$through$the$optical$eye$but$through$the$brain.$To$crush$one$color$over$ the$other$that$is$the$annulation$of$the$optical$eye$&$the$affirmation$of$blind$ retinal$ points.$ The$ representative$ is$ annulled$ &$ the$ colors$ become$ memory$ traces$ at$ the$ same$ time$ I$ crush$ one$ color$ over$ the$ other.$ White$ space$ is$ increasingly$effaced$in$this$superimposition$of$colors.$The$text$made$colorful$ by$ thought$ is$ increasingly$ concentrated$ into$ a$ single$ color$ that$ replaces$ it.$ $ 286$ Thinking$in$color$is$words$become$slow$or$rapid$wavelengths.$To$rediscover$a$ new$ detail$ is$ just$ another$ wave$ that$ adds$ to$ the$ neuronal$ movement.$ I$ discover$ more$ &$ more$ details$ in$ the$ white$ of$ the$ paper,$ with$ every$ color,$ every$morning,$every$reading$in$the$sun.$Through$my$bare$skin$the$sun’s$heat$ is$transformed$into$a$wave$&$rejoins$the$neural$network$already$colored$by$ the$ layers$ of$ transmitted$ color.$ Created$ by$ my$ fingers,$ the$ aforementioned$ movement$that$leaves$the$brain$will$fuse$with$the$movement$of$heat$from$the$ sun$under$my$skin;$it$is$a$paste$that$can$produce$an$emotion$at$any$time$&$it$ has$become$my$natural$state.$ It$may$be$possible$to$dress$oneself$from$within$through$the$colors$if$ one$really$is$on$an$edge$between$the$outside$&$inside,$a$border,$a$balance$in$a$ constant$imbalance,$a$frontier$of$life,$the$fact$that$life$is$a$border$as$it$passes$ through$the$light$that$turns$into$body$heat,$reawakening$the$internal$psychic$ expression,$ because$ photons$ &$ neurons$ make$ the$ sound$ vibrate$ that$ now$ resonates$in$me.$ It$ is$ about$ nothing$ but$ that,$ my$ totally$ banal$ experience$ of$ crossing$ out$with$colors$the$text$that$I$read$numerous$times.$But$I$did$not$know$that$ the$sun$factor$would$play$such$a$decisive$role.$One$of$these$mornings$the$sun$ factor$that$took$place$inside$of$me,$it$was$not$the$heat$on$my$skin$but$the$ heat$inside$my$skin$that$made&me&act.$But$it$causes$laughter$to$say$or$write$ that$the$sun$makes$me$act$&$it’s$true,$it’s$ridiculous,$as$if$it$was$enough$to$be$ in$the$sun$to$feel$that$I$am$acting.$But$I$felt$it$only$once$&$to$feel$it$from$the$ inside$cannot$make$it$so$that$there$are$two$processes$that$have$fused,$one$ exterior$&$one$interior,$one$physical$&$the$other$psychic,$as$if$after$a$certain$ time$the$two$suddenly$make$contact.$The$colors,$they$are$waves,$aren’t$they?$ Sunlight$ also$ contains$ these$ waves,$ does$ it$ not?$ Exactly$ like$ plants$ the$ skin$ captures$photons$that$have$become$electrons,$vibrate$my$vocal$cords,$which$ are$already$vibrating$with$waves$of$color$transformed$into$neuronal$signals.$I$ can$ only$ call$ it$ a$ materialization$ of$ my$ voice$ that$ resonates$ throughout$ my$ body.$ It$ is$ as$ if$ the$ warmth$ of$ my$ body$ is$ transformed$ into$ sound$ &$ that$ I$ listen$to$it$as$I$speak$&$by$speaking$I$feel$the$warmth$of$the$sun$but$only$in$ $ 287$ speaking$—$this$is$the$proof$that$the$signifier$of$printed$words$is$identical$to$ each$crushed$color.$ I$first$perceive$the$signifier$of$words$through$a$color$&$it$is$in$the$act$of$ its$crushing$that$the$color$is$transformed$into$a$signal;$to$think$the$color$&$to$ crush$ it$ are$ the$ same$ thing.$ The$ act$ of$ choosing$ is$ already$ thinking$ its$ crushing;$ thinking$ the$ crushing$ is$ already$ the$ act$ of$ choosing;$ thinking$ the$ signifier$through$words$is$already$thinking$their$annihilation.$ The$color$arrives$by$the$fingertips,$by$the$touch;$the$choice$of$color$is$ random$ in$ the$ sense$ that$ it$ is$ part$ of$ a$ perception,$ of$ an$ act;$ it$ is$ not$ a$ separate,$isolated$thought.$This$is$why$the$way$the$colors$are$arranged$close$ to$the$body$is$not$a$coincidence.$ The$internal$stratification$or$costume$that$I$slowly$dress$inside$of$me$ in$the$heat$of$the$sun.$ This$same$heat$that$translates$my$expression$inside$me$now,$my$body$ expresses$itself,$my$voice$expresses$itself,$this$is$a$unique$experience$to$feel$ that$the$heat$of$the$sun$makes$me$act.$$ I’m$ on$ the$ balcony$ &$ I$ was$ there$ awaiting$ the$ sunrises.$ I’m$ on$ the$ balcony$like$that$one$morning$after$another$until$noon.$I’m$on$the$balcony$&$I$ feel$like$I’m$on$an$edge$between$inside$&$outside$&$I$really$am$it.$I$am$on$the$ balcony$suspended$on$high$&$one$day$it$is$toward$the$interior$of$my$dwelling$ space$ that$ I$ hurl$ my$ lines$ &$ another$ day$ it$ is$ toward$ the$ street,$ the$ trees,$ against$the$noise$of$the$cars,$but$this$is$not$a$description,$I$feel$as$I$turn$my$ head$that$I$can$only$speak$in$this$direction.$ The$ colors$ impregnated$ in$ me$ as$ neuronal$ markers$ have$ activated$ themselves$and$fuse$with$the$sun’s$heat$in$direct$expression;$the&sun&makes& me&act.$I$do$not$take$in$the$sun;$it’s$me$that$acts$it$out.$Difficult$therefore$to$ write$etc.,$etc.,$etc.,$etc.$ Lou Castel, “Before/After the filming of The Stoning of St. Stephen,” tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics (spring 2014) 281– 288. N.B. Gratitude is due to Adrian West and Frank Chouraqui for helping me refine this translation. $ 288$ ! POWYS & PURDY AN EPIPHANY OF COGNITIVE KINSHIP Michael Ballin & Charles Lock, eds, “The Correspondence of James Purdy & John Cowper Powys: 1956–1963,” The Powys Journal (2013) 13–115. Reviewed by Nicholas Birns, Eugene Lang College, New School ! ! "#$%! &'&()*+! ,-! .&$/! #.! ,#)0! '1()*1/2! )0*! 3&4*/! 561+-73#0$! 8#'5*1! 5#'-/! 8#11*/5#$+*$8*! 9:! 9;! <=>! ?@AB! 9::C>! DE! !"#$ %&'()$ *&+,-./F! 49G=H>I! ,HII9;! H;J! 8=HKI>:! "DGL! =HM>! JD;>! H! J9I9N>;J9<9;N!<=9:!EH:G9;H<9;N!QH<>K9HI2!R=9G=!:=DR:!RK9<>K:!DE! J9EE>K>;:2! N>;>KH<9D;:2! H;J2! 9;! QH;S! RHS:2! TK>J9I>G<9D;:2! EDKN9;N! H! I9<>KHKS! GDQTH;9D;:=9T! <=H:D;H<>J! EDK! PD<=F! 5CKJS! RH:! ! ostensibly! fifty! years! younger! than! Powys,! ‘ostensibly,’! because! Purdy! gave!his!birth!date!as!1924!which!was!noticeably!different!from!the!real! birthdate,! 1914,! making! 2014,! so! soon! after! Purdy’s! death! at! 95,! the! Purdy! centennial.! Even! though! the! age! gap! was! in! fact! forty! years,! not! fifty,! it! still! is! rather! astonishing! that! even! a! longZdistance! friendship! sprung!up.!Powys!corresponded!with!other!young!men!during!this!period,! such! as! Glyn! Davies! and! Frank! Warren,! but! his! correspondence! with! Purdy! was! different:! they! were! novelists! who! recognized! each! other’s! genius.! In! other! words,! it! is! not! unlikely! that! they! should! have! corresponded!at!all,!but!it!is!highly!fortuitous!that!they!managed!to!strike! such!a!spark!in!each!other,!both!clearly!enjoying!and!being!invigorated!by! the!correspondence!beyond!the!normal!demands!of!literary!camaraderie.! Writers! usually! will! take! friendships! and! affinities! as! they! find! them.! In! the!republic!of!letters,!if!somebody!likes!your!work,!and!you!are!not!on!a! consensus! level! of! stardom,! it! is! both! polite! and! politic! to! resolve! into! some! sort! of! friendship! with! them.! What! Purdy! and! Powys! had! is! something!much!more!extraordinary.! The! editors! reveal! that! it! was! Purdy! who! initiated! the! correspondence,!perhaps!spurred!by!Carl!Van!Vechten,!who!had!known! Powys!in!New!York!in!the!1920s;!thus,!even!though!Powys!returned!from! the! USA! to! his! native! Britain! in! 1934,! some! memory! of! his! American! presence! still! lingered! and! inspired! the! connection.! In! any! event,! both! Powys!and!Dame!Edith!Sitwell!ended!up!championing!Purdy,!and,!as!the! editors!put!it,!his!“reception!in!Britain”!(14)!was!actually!more!generous! than!that!in!his!home!country.!This!reminds!me!of!the!case!of!the!poet! Samuel!Menashe,!a!very!different!person!and!creator!to!Purdy,!but!who! similarly!found!acceptance!in!Britain,!by!figures!such!as!Donald!Davie!and! Kathleen! Raine,! that! he! lacked! in! the! US.! Given! that,! at! the! times,! any! cultural! contrasts! between! Britain! and! the! US! were! invidious! against! ! 290! ! Britain!—!the!US!was!said!to!be!the!more!democratic,!less!classZbound,! lessZinhibited! society,! replacing! a! Victorian! repressiveness! with! a! Whitmanian!yawp!—!why!did,!at!the!very!least,!these!two!extraordinary! men!find!acceptance!in!the!UK!more!than!in!the!US?!Perhaps!the!US!was! at!the!time!more!in!the!grip!of!what,!in!my!book!Theory$After$Theory,$I! term!‘the!resolved!symbolic,’!which!promoted!a!certain!modernist!idea!of! form!against!anything!else!that!was!messier,!whether!messier!in!a!more! realistic! or! more! experimental! direction.! It! could! also! be! that! British! society!just!had!greater!room!for!eccentricity,!and!allowed!eccentrics!like! the!ones!mentioned!above!(of!the!four,!only!Davie!really!was!not!one)!to! be! part! of! the! literary! world,! whereas! in! the! US,! especially! before! the! emergence!of!the!Beat!poets,!there!was!more!emphasis!on!conforming.!! ! One!cannot!describe!the!two!writers!as!formally!alike.!Although! there!are!scenes!of!violence!and!unorthodox!sex!in!Powys’!fiction,!Powys! clearly!finds!it!daring!—!even!though!he!withheld!comment!—!of!Purdy!to! model!Cabot$Wright$Begins!on!“a!wellZknown!young!rapist!who!ravished! nearly!three!hundred!young!women”!(102).!In!formal!terms,!Purdy!was! much!more!a!modernist.!Powys!had!a!Victorian!reach!and!heft,!whereas! Purdy!had!a!more!rigorous!sense!of!le$mot$juste.!Powys!wrote!a!wealth!of! nonfiction! (criticism,! mystical! philosophy,! heady! ‘selfZimprovement’! manuals),! and! it! could! well! be,! as! David! Balcom! Stimpson! has! recently! argued,!that!his!true!genius!lay!in!his!nonfiction.!Purdy,!aside!from!some! plays,!dedicated!himself!exclusively,!in!a!Jamesian!way,!to!the!house!of! fiction.! Though! Powys! at! this! time! did! not! read! much! new! fiction,! preferring!to!meditate!on!older!books!like!Hobbes’!Leviathan$(which!both! Purdy! and! Powys! loved! for! the! right! reason:! its! style),! he! wrote! appreciatively!of!Purdy’s!Malcolm,$prizing!especially!the!role!played!by!an! inanimate! object,! the! bench,! in! the! odyssey! of! the! book’s! young! protagonist;! a! fascination! with! the! inanimate! was! one! of! Powys’! ! 291! ! hallmarks.! On! a! prima$ facie! basis,! it! is! difficult! imagining! Glastonbury$ Romance!being!of!appeal!to!Purdy,!who!did!not!exactly!write!long!novels! filled!with!Celtic!mysticism!and!multiple!plots;!even!less!so!Powys’!later! strictly!historical!and!Welsh!books,!such!as!Porius!and!Owen$Glendower.$ Purdy,!though,!expresses!a!fascination!with!King!Arthur!and!an!ambition! to!read!Malory!(who!was!quite!‘in’!at!the!time!via!T.H.!White),!and!reads! Charlotte! Guest’s! version! of! the! Mabinogion! when! urged! to! do! so! by! Powys.! The! two! writers! allow! each! other! to! suggest! new! avenues! or! tangents!for!their!imagination.!This!was!not!universal:!Powys!!says!he!is! too! old! to! really! get! into! the! words,! as! opposed! to! the! significance,! of! Dylan! Thomas.! Yet,! on! the! other! hand,! Powys! shows! respect! to! the! —! muchZyounger! —! Tennessee! Williams! (though,! despite! his! decades! of! residence!in!the!US,!he!cannot!quite!bring!himself!to!spell!“Tennessee”! correctly,! a! lapse! no! doubt! reciprocated! by! Tennesseans! trying! to! spell! the!name!of!the!place!where!Powys!then!lived,!Blaenau!Ffestiniog).!Yet! he!also!understood!why!Purdy!would!not!want!to!be!classed!as!a!‘gay’! writer!in!the!way!critics!at!times!seemed!to!class!Williams.$ ! Part!of!the!honesty!of!the!correspondence!between!the!two!men! is!their!direct!ventilation!of!their!differing!sexualities.!Powys,!through!an! ingenious!series!of!reflections!on!the!difference!between!Latin!“homo—”! meaning! male! —! and! Greek! “homo—”! meaning! the! same! —! speaks! of! how,! in! his! youth,! “it! was! grander! to! be! ‘Homo’! than! ‘Hetero’”! ! (50;! referring!to!the!Aesthetic!era,!the!height!of!Oscar!Wilde,!and!so!on)!but,! though!dispositionally!sympathetic!to!the!style!of!homosexuality,!found! himself! bound! “to! submit! to! fate! and! remain! hetero.”! Yet! one! would! hardly!say!Powys!—!famed!for!once!saying!he!had!a!horror!of!the!bestZ known!form!of!heterosexual!sex!—!was!‘straight’!in!the!sense,!say,!that! General!Eisenhower!was!straight.!Nor!did!Purdy!write!as!a!member!of!the! ‘gay! community’! the! way! even! a! Williams! or! a! Frank! O’Hara! or! a! John! ! 292! ! Rechy! did.! But! nonetheless! their! sexualities! were! different,! as! Purdy! acknowledged! by! repeatedly! remembering! himself! to! Powys’! life! companion,! Phyllis! Playter,! his! “American! lady.”! On! the! other! hand,! Purdy!vehemently!rejects!the!label!“homosexual,”!which!he!indeed!uses! derogatorily!of!others,!especially!those!who!describe!the!concerns!of!his! work!as!homosexual.!In!one!eloquent!passage!of!rebuttal,!Purdy!says!to! Powys!that,!if!his!work!is!homosexual,!then!so!are!“Hamlet,!Don$Quixote,! Oedipus$Rex,!The$Iliad,$Moby$Dick,$Leaves$of$Grass,$Bouvard$et$Pécuchet,! The$Way$of$All$Flesh”!—!notably!including!works!by!straight!as!well!as!gay! writers,! though! giving! inferentially! (to! use! today’s! term,! one! no! doubt! inimical!to!Purdy)!“queer”!readings!of!the!Flaubert!and!the!Butler!that!I! think!are!quite!probative.!One!can!see!this!as!a!very!American!desire!on! the! part! of! Purdy,! to! not! want! to! be! relegated! to! an! interestZgroup! ghetto,! to! have! his! work! contend! with! the! best! to! soar! on! a! level! of! aesthetic! accomplishment! that! would,! in! an! artistic! sense,! forge! e$ pluribus$ unum;$ to! be! judged! by! the! content! of! his! character,! not! his! incidental! sexual! disposition.! Both! Powys! and! Purdy! rejected! Freudian! models!of!psychology!—!putting!them!on!a!very!outer!rung!of!a!Fifties! culture!for!which!Freud!was!gospel,!and!anything!that!was!abnormal!by! Freudian! canons! into! the! ream! of! the! aberrant.! The! two! writers! were! kindred! spirits! in! preferring! myth! and! imagination,! not! psychological! impulses,!as!the!bedrock!of!creativity.!! The!correspondence!sees!Purdy!well!on!his!way!to!his!major!work,! such!as!Malcolm,$The$Nephew,!and!Cabot$Wright$Begins.!Powys,!on!the! other!hand,!is!writing!the!work!of!his!old!age,!fantasy!novels!such!as!Up$ and$Out,!works!which!Powys’!most!recent!biographer,!Morine!Krissdottir,! saw!as!reflecting!a!notable!decline!in!quality,!but!which!other!Powysians! value!at!least!as!amusing!quirks.!Powys,!like!many!writers,!undoubtedly! remained! stronger! writing! ‘nonfiction’! —! in! this! case,! mainly! letters! —! ! 293! ! than!fiction!as!he!entered!extreme!old!age.!It!is!in!this!regard!that!Powys’! advocacy!of!Purdy!is!so!remarkable.!Though!one!of!Purdy’s!three!major! English! advocates,! Sir! Angus! Wilson,! might! well! have! been! drawn! to! Purdy! through! the! gay! affinity,! and! another,! Dame! Edith! Sitwell,! dispenses! praise! rather! liberally,! there! was! no! other! younger! writer! Powys!lauded!as!much!as!Purdy,!and!the!affinity!was!necessarily!a!literary! and! aesthetic! one.! Also,! perhaps,! territorial.! Every! American! writer! necessarily! has! British! writing! at! his! or! her! back! as! part! of! a! tradition.! Powys,!on!the!other!hand,!had!spent!so!much!of!his!life!in!the!US!as!to! become,!in!a!strange!way,!contrarily!American.!Purdy’s!work!spoke!of!an! alienation! and! a! loneliness! that! was! very! American.! Indeed,! it! was! seeking!out!this!enabling!alienation!that!partially!underlay!Powys’!leaving! Britain!and!beginning!a!long,!itinerant!life!discovering!an!alwaysZelusive! yet! perenniallyZbeckoning! America.! But,! even! aside! from! any! geographical!determinants,!there!are!just!pure!affinities:!both!Powys!and! Purdy!loved!the!stars,!and!much!of!their!small!talk!is!astronomical.!They! were! lovers! of! ‘great! literature’! (not! just! their! own)! and! supporters! of! each! other,! unusual! men! who,! though! never! meeting! each! other! in! person,!gravitated!towards!each!other’s!souls!in!an!epiphany!of!cognitive! kinship.!! ! Although! what! we! have! here! are! the! elder! Powys! and! younger! Purdy,!with!Purdy!now!dead!it!seems!natural!to!compare!the!writers!in! old! age.! Powys! spent! his! twentyZseven! years! in! two! small! North! Welsh! towns,! Corwen! and! then! Blaenau! Ffestiniog.! Though! his! surname! was! Welsh,! Powys! was! largely! English! in! background! and! orientation,! and! spent,!as!we!have!said,!decades!in!the!United!States.!Yet!North!Wales!for! him!became!an!imaginative!homeland!in!which!he!wrote!books,!such!as! the! two! Welsh! historical! novels,! that! some! might! see! at! his! best,! even! though!he!was!sixtyZthree!when!he!moved!to!Wales.!Purdy,!on!the!other! ! 294! ! hand,! had! completed,! at! the! end! of! this! correspondence,! most! of! the! work!best!known!to!the!general!reader,!the!work!that!led!critics!such!as! Irving! Malin! to! herald! Purdy! as! an! exemplar! of! “the! New! American! Gothic.”!Despite!Krissdottir’s!opinion!of!Powys’!very!late!works,!they!are! read!and!treasured!by!many,!whereas!Purdy’s!last!really!significant!work! of!fiction!is!1989’s!Garments$The$Living$Wear.!In!a!sense,!Powys!found!in! Blaenau! Ffestiniog! an! imaginative! redoubt! in! old! age! that! Purdy,! in! Brooklyn!Heights,!did!not!possess.! The!literary!establishment!neglected! both! Powys! and! Purdy.! But! Powys! chose! this! neglect! deliberately,! by! striking!out!on!his!own,!and!in!America,!and!embracing!outsiders!of!all! and!sundry!sorts,!and!if!he!minded!that!he!was!not!as!famous!as!his!work! deserves!to!be,!he!took!it!philosophically.!Purdy,!on!the!other!hand,!was! by! all! reports! —!and! by! his! own! caustic! jeremiads! in! numerous! interviews,!repeated!till!the!end!of!his!life!—!bitter!about!his!sidelining!by! the!powers!that!be.!This!became!all!the!more!difficult!for!Purdy!in!that,!in! England,!there!is!a!visible!establishment,!with!the!two!great!universities! and!a!monthly!idea!of!‘literary!London,’!which!simply!does!not!exist!in!the! same! cohesive! way! as! in! America,! where! most! imaginative! writers! feel! some!sort!of!alienation!or!neglect!by!the!larger!society,!and!where!any! concentration! of! power! is! so! impalpable! as! to! be! impotent! to! rebel! against.!! Neglect,!though,!is!odious,!especially!as!it!compels!those!who!love! writers! like! this! to! always! be! publicizing! them.! The! editors! mention! Purdy’s! recent! championship! by! the! late! Susan! Sontag,! the! late! Gore! Vidal,! and! Jonathan! Franzen;! Powys! has! also! had! a! raft! of! prominent! champions! in! the! recent! past,! such! as! the! late! Iris! Murdoch,! George! Steiner,! Margaret! Drabble.! Periodically,! banner! articles! are! written! in! generalZinterest!journals!by!such!figures,!urging!a!Powys!or!Purdy!revival,! and!commercial!houses!of!various!levels!of!prestige!and!repute!bring!out! ! 295! ! new!editions.!After!a!brief!hubbub,!though,!the!wave!eddies!out,!and!the! revival!does!not!take.!Perhaps!the!answer!is!not!to!presume!readers!will! take!orders!from!above,!but!that,!like!Powys!and!Purdy!themselves,!they! will! read! wildly! and! heedlessly,! reading! for! their! own! pleasure! and! instruction,!not!because!people!with!access! to!corporate!media!outlets! tell!them!to!do!so.!In!this!way,!Powys!and!Purdy!might!serve!as!not!just! people! for! us! to! read,! but! also! as! models! for! our! own! reading.! This! is! most!likely!more!than!our!present!age!can!bear,!which!is!why,!as!Powys! said!of!Purdy,!both!these!gifted!geniuses!remain!writers!“who!are!for!the! future! &! in! the! future! alone! will! find! their! true! appreciation”! (22).! Perhaps!that!future!is!still!far!off,!perhaps!it!has!finally!come.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Nicholas Birns, “Powys & Purdy: An Epiphany of Cognitive Kinship: A Review of the Powys–Purdy Letters,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 289–296. ! 296! ! ! Franti!ek Vlá!il’s Markéta Lazarová Beatriz Leal Riesco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the! major! figures! of! the! New! Wave! has! made! his! introduction! to! a! broader!public!rather!difficult;!at!the!same!time,!his!visual!sensitivity!and! his! mastery! of! the! use! of! historical! allegories! mark! him! as! an! artist! of! international! scale! and! render! the! widespread! ignorance! of! his! work! unjustifiable.!The!first!step!toward!recognition!came!with!the!decision!of! the!British!organization!Second!Run!to!release!his!masterpiece!Markéta' Lazarová,!following!upon!its!being!declared!the!country’s!greatest!film!by! a! consortium! of! critics! and! technicians! convened! to! celebrate! the! hundred^year! anniversary! of! the! birth! of! Czech! cinema.! Shortly! thereafter,! the! same! company! would! release! The' Valley' of' the' Bees! (Udolí' vcel,! 1967),! Adelheid! (1969),! and! in! October! of! last! year! the! director’s!first!feature!film,!the!lyrical!White'Dove'(Holubice,!1960),!which! was! a! runner^up! for! the! Golden! Lion! in! the! Venice! Film! Festival! in! the! year!of!its!release.!In!recent!times,!both!the!BFI!and!the!American!Film! Institute! have! organized! retrospectives! of! his! works! for! the! English^ speaking! public.! The! need! for! context! in! order! to! help! the! filmgoer! to! enter! into! a! group! of! films! so! strange,! dense,! and! complex! compelled! Second!Run!to!seek!the!collaboration!of!Peter!Hames,!a!noted!specialist! in!Czech!cinema,!in!editing!the!booklet!that!accompanies!the!films,!and! Criterion!has!made!a!similar!choice,!calling!on!the!critic!Tom!Gunning,!the! historian!Antonin!Liehm,!Alex!Zucker,!who!translated!the!novel!on!which! the!film!is!based,!and!Ivo!Marák,!who!restored!the!original!print.!! ! The! Criterion! edition! comes! with! numerous! bonus! features:! interviews! with! the! actors! Magda! Vášáryová,! Ivan! Palúch,! and! Vlastimil! Harapes,! with! the! costume! designer! Theodor! Pištěk,! and! with! the! director!himself,!as!well!as!a!documentary!in!which!Vláčil!speaks!about! his! films.! Thanks! to! these! supplementary! materials! and! a! rigorous! and! respectful! restoration! of! the! picture! and! soundtrack,! the! spectator! is! finally!allowed!the!full!experience!of!this!unique!artwork!of!singular!visual! ! 298! exuberance,! baroque! construction,! and! narrative! that! shifts! through! time.! Its!categorization!within!the!Nova'Vlná!notwithstanding,!Markéta' Lazarová! is! a! harbinger! of! the! renewal! that! would! take! place! in! Czech! cinema!throughout!the!1960s,!a!golden!age!that!would!culminate!in!the! series!of!films!produced!during!the!Prague!Spring!and!presented!in!1968– 9,! not! to! mention! Ján! Kadár! y! Elmar! Klos’s! The' Shop' on' Main' Street! (Obchod'na'Korze,!1965)!and!Jirí!Menzel’s!adaptation!of!Bohumil!Hrabal’s' Closely' Observed' Trains!(Ostře' sledované' vlaky,! 1966)! two! films! that! would!bring!home!Oscars!in!1965!and!1967.!The!formal!and!ideological! restrictions!of!Soviet!realism!were!being!beaten!back!by!such!directors!as! František!Vláčil,!Vojtech!Jasny,!and!Stefan!Uher,!and!Milos!Forman,!Ján! Kadár,!Jirí!Menzel,!and!many!others!would!follow!in!their!footsteps.! ! The!incursion!of!Warsaw!Pact!tanks!in!August!of!1968!would!put! an!end!to!this!brief!flare^up!of!creativity,!experimentation,!and!freedom! in!artistic!praxis.!Markéta'Lazarová!was!produced!just!before!the!“age!of! immobility”! or! of! “normalization”! instituted! after! those! terrible! events! that! would! once! again! lead! to! purges,! the! banning! of! films,! and! prohibitions! on! the! recording! of! whatever! had! not! been! sanctioned! by! the! proper! government! channels,! the! mission! of! which! was! to! confine! cinema!to!mere!entertainment!or!the!transmission!of!simplistic!ideology.! Though!quality!films!would!continue!to!appear,!the!lack!of!international! promotion!and!the!reaction!they!faced!in!their!home!country!condemned! them!to!a!brief!life!followed!by!oblivion.! ! Markéta' Lazarová! is! an! adaptation! of! the! eponymous! novel! of! Vladislav! Vančura! (1891–1942),! and! narrates! the! feuds! between! the! Kozlík! and! Lazar! clans! and! two! remarkable! and! tragic! love! affairs.! This! author,!a!favorite!of!Milan!Kundera,!who!dedicated!to!him!the!celebrated! essay! The' Art' of' the' Novel:' Vladislav' Vančura's' Path' to' the' Great' Epic,! ! 299! recounts! here! the! struggles! between! rival! clans,! and! the! king’s! lust! for! power! during! the! 13th! century! in! Central! Europe,! amid! the! historical! context!of!Paganism!against!Christianity.!This!atmosphere!of!contention! is!equally!present!in!both!the!novel!and!the!film,!in!keeping!with!the!long! and!fruitful!history!of!collaboration!among!Czech!literature,!cinema,!and! plastic!arts.!While!many!other!adaptations!of!Vančura’s!bestsellers!have! been!produced,!among!them!Jiří!Menzel’s!Capricious'Summer!(Rozmarné' léto,!1968)!and!The!End'of'the'Old'Times'(Konec'starych'casu,!1989),!none! has!captured!the!essence!of!his!literary!work!so!clearly!as!František!Vláčil.! ! It! was! precisely! in! the! 1930s,! when! Vančura! was! composing! his! best^known! works,! that! he! would! make! an! unsuccessful! foray! into! cinema,!producing!a!handful!of!dramas!and!comedies.!A!tireless!advocate! for!experimentation!both!in!fiction!and!in!the!then^new!medium!of!film,! Vančura!displayed!a!frenetic!energy!that!would!result!in!the!planning!of! the! future! nationalization! of! that! country’s! film! industry! in! 1945,! along! with! the! director! Elmar! Klos,! and! that! would! shortly! thereafter! lead! to! the! inauguration! of! the! renowned! FAMU! cinema! academy! (FILMOVÁ! A! TELEVIZNÍ! FAKULTA! AKADEMIE! MÚZICKÝCH! UMĚNÍ! V! PRAZE),! which! would! prove! to! be! the! starting^point! for! so! many! of! the! directors! who! would! later! bring! international! regard! to! Czech! cinema.! A! model! of! resistance! and! loyalty,! Vančura! would! not! live! to! see! his! dreams! bear! fruit,! but! would! be! murdered! by! the! SS! on! May! 27,! 1942,! after! fifteen! days!of!torture!during!which!he!refused!to!reveal!a!single!name,!sharing! the! fate! suffered! by! his! friend! and! colleague,! the! avant^garde! director! Karel!Čapek.! ! There! could! be! no! greater! homage! to! this! martyr! than! Vláčil’s! film,!which!is!as!innovative!as!Vančura’s!novel!had!been!in!its!time.!The! year! of! the! film’s! release! coincided! with! the! debut! of! other! films! that! reestablished! the! relations! between! surrealism! and! the! avant^garde! in! ! 300! Czech! cinema;! yet! its! character! differs! greatly! from! the! works! of! his! compeers! in! the! Czech! New! Wave,! those! comedies! and! satires! endued! with! ludic! ingenuity! and! vitalism.! The! films! of! Jiří! Menzel! and! Miloš! Forman! may! be! analyzed! fruitfully! with! reference! to! one! another,! whereas! Markéta’s! contemporary! equal! can! only! be! found! in! Andrei! Tarkovsky’s! biography! of! the! fifteenth^century! Russian! icon! painter! Andrei'Rublev!(1965).!The!date!could!even!lead!one!to!believe!Vláčil!had! been!acquainted!with!Tarkovsky’s!masterpiece,!but!it!cannot!have!been! so,! as! problems! with! the! Soviet! authorities! would! delay! the! film’s! screening!until!it!was!screened!at!Cannes!in!1969.!The!setbacks!it!faced! are!well!known:!though!projected!at!four!in!the!morning!on!the!last!day! of! the! festival,! it! garnered! the! FIPRESCI! award,! but! it! would! not! be! presented!in!its!home!country!until!1971,!in!a!heavily!edited!version.!This! human! drama! of! the! dark! middle! ages,! in! which! religious! and! feudal! powers! competed! with! one! another! in! brutality,! and! superstition! and! fear! weighed! down! upon! men! and! women! throughout! their! brief! daily! lives,!finds!a!counterpart!in!Vláčil’s!film.! The!relation!between!these!two!directors!goes!beyond!these!two! films! with! their! commonalities! of! genre,! time! period,! treatment! of! theme,!and!extended!duration.!Tarkovksy!had!treated!youth!in!his!first! film,!Ivan’s'Childhood!(1962),!a!poetic,!visually!original!examination!of!the! effects!of!war!on!a!child.!Similarly,!the!early!experiments!carried!out!by! Vláčil!at!the!behest!of!the!Czechoslovakian!Army!Film!Studio!were!deeply! lyrical!in!tone.!His!first!short!film,!Clouds'of'Glass!(Sklenena'oblaka,!1957),! a!prizewinner!in!Venice!in!1958,!as!well!as!his!first!full^length!feature!The' White'Dove,!would!impel!him!toward!a!sensibility!that!would!give!rise!to! the! Nova' Vlná' at! the! end! of! the! 1960s.! The! former,! an! homage! to! the! aeronautics! industry,! makes! use! of! rousing! stories! and! contrasting! imagery!to!speak!out!in!favor!of!peace!and!liberty!and!to!adumbrate!the! ! 301! responsibility!that!comes!with!free!will;!while!The'White'Dove!is!one!of! the!finest!examples!of!the!recovery!of!the!lyrical!strain!that!characterized! Czech!cinema!in!1934:!the!year!that!the!highest!honor!in!Venice!had!been! accorded! to! four! of! that! country’s! films! together! and! the! term! “Czech! lyricism”!was!coined.!This!strain!would!return,!albeit!in!a!less!defiant,!less! revolutionary!form,!in!the!1950s,!defined!by!the!Nova'Vlná!director!Karel! Kachyňa! as! “a! current! of! humanist! ideas! with! a! strong! lyrical! note! presiding.”! For! the! resurrection! of! this! ideal! in! The' White' Dove,! Vláčil! would! collaborate! with! the! director! of! cinematography! Jan! Čurík! on! a! story! of! great! simplicity! and! beauty! achieved! through! extraordinary! depth!of!field,!broad!planes!that!would!relegate!the!action!to!the!corner! of! the! screen,! and! with! experimental! exterior! shots! of! remarkable! esthetic!rigor.! ! Markéta' Lazarová' follows! this! visual! tendency! but! its! theme! is! distinct;! and! the! choice! of! a! historical! epic! brought! with! it! greater! challenges! and! limitations.! On! numerous! occasions,! the! director! commented! on! the! uncomfortable! sensation! he! felt! upon! seeing! costumed! actors! populating! inaccurate! settings.! Like! Bergman! in! The' Seventh' Seal! (1957)! and! The' Virgin' Spring! (1960),! Vláčil! made! extraordinary!efforts!to!represent!accurately!the!feelings!and!mentality! of!the!past.!He!remarks:!“I!wanted!to!understand!them,!see!through!the! eyes!of!their!lives,!their!failings,!their!desires.”!To!this!end,!he!employed! numerous! consultants! to! recreate! a! world! whose! daily! realities! had! hardly!been!documented.!In!addition!to!using!existing!historical!sources,! he!researched!groups!of!people!who!continued!to!live!in!circumstances! similar!to!those!his!story!was!based!on.!This!meticulous!reconstruction!of! customs,!locales,!wardrobe,!and!appurtenances!was!complemented!by!a! study! of! the! physiognomy! of! Pieter! Brueghel! the! elder! and! other! medieval!artists!of!the!Northern!Renaissance,!which!served!as!a!criterion! ! 302! in!his!choice!of!mostly!non^professional!actors.!Before!their!appearances! in! the! film,! František! Velecký! (Mikolaš)! had! worked! as! an! engineer,! Vlastimil!Harapes!(Kristián)!as!a!dancer,!and!Pavla!Polaskova!(Alexandra)! a! designer.! The! protagonist! (Markéta! Lazarová)! was! played! by! Magda! Vášáryová,!the!daughter!of!actors,!who!herself!would!go!on!to!become!a! politician.!! ! For!200!days,!Barrandov!Studios!in!Prague1!would!house!the!cast! of!40!actors!and!600!extras!employed!in!the!filming!of!Markéta'Lazarová.' With! great! dedication,! many! would! live! on! location! through! unseemly! conditions,!remaining!in!costume!in!order!to!better!understand!the!daily! realities!of!the!historical!moment!they!were!charged!with!representing.! ! The! dimensions! of! Vláčil’s! work! were! monumental! not! only! in! terms!of!its!budget,!far!larger!than!that!of!similar!productions!of!the!time! in!his!country,!but!also!in!the!scale!of!filming:!58,000!meters!of!film!were! used!to!attempt!to!capture!this!story,!which!took!as!a!source!not!only!the! eponymous!novel,!but!also!the!same!author’s!Pictures'and'History'of'the' Czech'Nation.!While!the!novel!is!imprecise!as!to!the!date!of!the!action,! alluding! only! to! a! benighted! period,! the! film! is! set! during! the! reign! of! Vaclav!I!(1230–53),!and!specifically!between!the!dates!of!15!February!and! 1!August!1250.!The!director!drew!up!a!comprehensive!calendar!of!events! with!a!precise!date!and!place!for!each!scene,!and!while!the!specificity!of! such!details!is!not!directly!evident!in!the!film,!it!is!one!sign!of!the!extreme! care!that!characterizes!the!entire!production.! ! Markéta' Lazarová' is! undoubtedly! the! most! original! of! Vláčil’s! three! historical! films.! The' Devil’s' Trap!(Dáblova' past,! 1962)! and! The' Valley'of'the'Bees!are!far!more!conservative,!with!both!having!a!classical! style!and!a!moralizing!message,!even!if!the!former!does!pose!the!theme! of!the!“struggle!against!dogmatism!and!obscurantism,”!in!the!director’s! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Barrandov Studios were built in 1932–3 by the father and uncle of the first democratically elected president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, and are still in use to this day. ! 303! own!words,!that!will!be!repeated!in!his!masterpiece.!The'Devil’s'Trap!is! an!adaptation!as!well,!this!time!of!a!novel!by!Alfréd!Technik,!taking!place! during!the!Counter^Reformation,!but!it!lacks!Markéta'Lazarová’s!skill!at! using!history!as!a!lens!through!which!to!allow!the!public!to!reflect!upon! the!present.!The!director!himself!affirmed!that!his!films!were!a!dialogue! with!the!present!and!even!from!the!opening!credits!of!Markéta'Lazarová,! where!the!two!halves!of!the!title!appear!in!two!distinct!fonts!(Markéta!in! Gothic!lettering!and'Lazarová!in!contemporary),!he!telegraphs!his!refusal! to!be!confined!to!the!merely!archaic.!Through!the!numerous!formal!and! technical!innovations!at!his!disposal,!the!director!manages!to!render!the! 13th! century! in! an! entirely! believable! light,! avoiding! theatrical! excesses! and! focusing! on! the! psychology! of! his! characters! in! order! to! make! palpable!the!extreme!duress!of!those!harsh!years.! ! As! the! critic! Peter! Hames! would! note,! the! film’s! grim! reality! suggests! the! inhospitable! nature! of! that! “era! of! darkness”! that! would! precede! the! agricultural! developments,! the! flourishing! of! cities,! the! Germanic!incursions!into!Czech!territories,!and!the!growth!of!literature! and!development!of!a!national!consciousness!that!would!lead!Bohemia! to!become!one!of!Europe’s!great!powers.! ! Like! the! novel! it! is! based! on,! Markéta' Lazarová! consists! of! two! parts,!“Straba!the!Werewolf”!and!“The!Holy!Lamb,”!each!subdivided!into! various! chapters! presented! with! intertitles,! like! the! lays! of! a! medieval! chronicle,! accompanied! by! the! commentary! of! the! monk! Bernat! and! broken!up!by!the!intrusion!of!complex!narrative!devices!including!parallel! stories,!monologues,!omniscient!narration,!and!unreliable!narrators.!The! jettisoning! of! storytelling! conventions! in! favor! of! a! single^minded! focus! on!the!creation!of!the!film’s!singular!world!offers!few!clues!to!the!viewer! wishing!to!follow!the!weave!of!the!tale,!and!therefore!demands!unusual! attention.! ! 304! ! ! ! The!greater!part!of!the!film!centers!on!the!Kozlík!family,!consisting! of!the!patriarch,!Old!Kozlík,!his!wife!Katrina,!and!their!eight!sons!and!nine! daughters:!on!the!love!story!between!Kozlík’s!son!Mikolaš!and!Markéta,! the!daughter!of!a!rival!family;!the!shifting!destiny!of!another!son,!One^ armed! Adam! (Adama^Jednoruck);! and! his! daughter! Alexandra’s! affair! with!Kristian,!the!son!of!a!Saxon!count.!The!director!altered!the!novel’s! chronology,! merging! histories! and! introducing! the! characters! according! to!his!own!order,!so!that!the!linear!structure!is!cast!off!and!the!events! compressed;!in!this!way,!Vláčil!is!able!to!delve!deeper!into!the!sensual! and! emotional! aspects! of! his! character’s! lives! without! the! need! to! accommodate!an!excessive!accumulation!of!events.!! ! The!brute!passage!of!the!seasons,!which!dictated!medieval!man’s! rhythms,!in!addition!to!the!battles,!harvest!festivals,!births,!and!deaths,!is! portrayed! with! less! violence! in! the! film! than! in! the! book,! largely! as! a! result! of! the! absence! of! the! narrator’s! ironic! voice,! which! occasionally! softens! the! novel’s! actions,! though! more! generally! it! adds! a! note! of! bitterness.!The!rhetorical!value!of!literary!humor!remains!a!difficult!effect! to!mimic!in!cinema.! ! The! portrayal! of! fights,! confrontations,! hatreds,! fears,! and! suffering! —! physical! as! well! as! mental! —! owes! a! great! deal! of! its! effectiveness! to! the! magnificent! soundtrack! of! Zdeněk! Liška.! A! collaborator!of!such!experimental!directors!as!the!Brothers!Quay,!Karel! Zeman,! and! Jan! Švankmajer,! he! had! worked! with! Vláčil! on! The' White' Dove.! For! Markéta,! he! would! invent! instruments! to! contribute! to! the! polyphonic! dissonance! of! his! compositions.! His! neo^choral! fugues! and! percussion! work! would! draw! a! contrast! to! the! images! and! actions,! thereby!complicating!the!film’s!reality.! ! 305! ! ! The!abstract!soundtrack!was!recorded!in!a!studio,!thus!enhancing! the! sense! that! these! primitive! people’s! monologues! and! conversations! come!to!the!viewer!from!a!space!different!from!that!portrayed!onscreen.! On!a!practical!level,!dubbing!in!the!sound!permitted!a!greater!freedom!of! movement!for!the!camera,!which!gets!lost!among!the!weeds,!gallops,!or! charges,!following!the!movements!of!adrenaline^filled!figures!in!flight!or! on! the! attack.! Vláčil! follows! the! dictates! of! Shklovsky! and! the! Russian! Formalists!of!“making!strange”!and!“making!difficult,”!as!can!be!observed! in!his!manner!of!combining!mutually!contradictory!qualities!and!imagery! within!the!same!frame,!while!not!sacrificing!his!baroque!sense!of!beauty.! The! resultant! space! is! a! mesh! of! zigzags! marked! out! by! the! men! and! beasts!forced!to!stand!face!to!face!with!the!violence!of!nature!and!their! own!inner!brutality.!The!all^pervading!religious!sentiment!that!proved!the! sole! consolation! for! this! condition! of! unrelenting! exposure! is! clearly! conveyed!by!the!‘background’!music.! ! Though! he! did! not! study! in! the! FAMU,! Vláčil! had! studied! aesthetics!and!art!history,!and!as!a!student!drew!out!a!frame^by^frame! storyboard! for! Eisenstein’s! Battleship' Potemkin! (1925).! His! rigor! with! regards!to!imagery!was!matched!by!that!of!his!cinematographer,!Bedřich! Batka,!and!their!mutual!effort!would!yield!visual!echoes!of!Van!Eyck!in! the!case!of!General!Beer!and!the!soldiers,!of!Memling!in!that!of!Katrina,! as! well! as! Géricault’s! Raft' of' Medusa! and! the! snowy! landscapes,! nocturnal!revelries,!and!folk!gatherings!of!the!aforementioned!Brueghel.! One! of! the! most! notable! iconographic! references! in! the! comparison! drawn! between! Markéta! and! the! penitent! Mary! Magdalene,! with! her! disheveled! hair! and! guilt^wracked! face,! which! reaches! its! zenith! in! the! film’s! finale,! when! the! camera! draws! in! close! to! her! as! she! lies! on! the! floor!of!the!convent,!moments!before!running!off!in!search!of!Mikolaš.! ! 306! This! parallelism,! not! present! in! the! novel,! marks! the! definitive! transformation!of!the!character!from!pure,!ignorant!virgin!to!a!penitent! sinner! who! finds! her! salvation! in! union! with! Mikolaš,! blessed! and! sanctioned!by!God.! ! Apart!from!references!to!the!Soviet!formalists,! the!director!also! shows! an! unquestionable! fervor! for! the! spiritual! abstraction! and! psychological! introspection! of! Bergman,! a! Buñuelian! interest! in! the! passion! and! penitence! of! Christianity! as! seen! through! the! Madonna^ whore! figure,! and! an! obsession! with! the! tactile! qualities! of! the! image! reminiscent!of!Bresson.!To!this!can!be!added!an!awareness!of!the!power! of!the!fixed!image,!an!homage!to!Chris!Marker’s!La'jetée,!that!positions! him! at! the! forefront! of! cinematic! modernity.! The! director’s! far^ranging! cinema! culture! and! his! broad! conception! of! western! art! history! make! Markéta' Lazarová' a! unique! treatise! on! the! history! of! European! aesthetics.! ! To!close,!it!is!necessary!to!turn!back!to!Tarkovsky!and!his!Andrei' Rublev! which,! along! with! Markéta' Lazarová,! represents! a! detailed! depiction! of! the! medieval! Zeitgeist! while! embodying! what! André! Bazin! spoke!of!with!his!“Myth!of!Total!Cinema.”!In!a!single!moment,!these!two! “films! of! the! earth,”! to! borrow! a! phrase! Tarkovsky! himself! used! to! describe! his! work,! renewed! the! genre! of! the! historical! epic,! escaping! inflated!notions!of!the!spiritual!and!sublime!to!anchor!themselves!in!the! physicality!of!the!incessant!struggle!for!survival;!in!a!time!when!myth!was! perhaps!the!most!fitting!means!by!which!to!approach!an!understanding! of!the!cosmos!and!conserve!a!glimmer!of!hope.! ! Beatriz Leal Riesco, “František Vláčil’s Markéta Lazarová,” Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2014) 297–307. ! 307! The theater (not its double misunderstanding) has a history of indiscipline, and therefore precludes not only the aesthetic lure of the “interdisciplinary,” but, most importantly, has amputated the subject, its automatic rejection of the interventionism of the tragic form, of poetry, of Art in general: category codes are damned, the “style” of today is “disqualified,” and, therefore, subservient to entertainment industry production formulas; decorative consolations of the reconfirmed and flirting subject with its incorrigible belief in being-there. — Carmelo Bene