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Abstract

In this project I talk about Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, a work so unique that it is nearly incomprehensible even in its original language. In the first chapter I recount my struggle with the “impossibility” of reading the book (along with Ulysses, the previous novel by Joyce). I detail the reading process, during which I experienced various moments of clarity that gave me a deeper appreciation of the internal logic of the Wake and the artistic achievement that it represents. In the second chapter I analyze two Spanish translations of the chapter known as “Anna Livia Plurabelle” (the book’s most frequently translated section). I conclude that the version by Francisco García Tortosa, Ricardo Navarrete Franco, and José María Tejedor Cabrera better captures Joyce’s innovative language games than the prior translation by Ricardo Silva-Santisteban. Lastly I analyze the case of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, a play which was accused of plagiarizing Finnegans Wake by two of the most eminent critics of the book. I evaluate plot components and specific details of the work and conclude that, despite structural parallels and curious similarities, these elements do not necessarily come from Finnegans Wake.