Multilingualism of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake and problems of its translation and teaching in Georgian

Abstract

Hailed as one of the most enigmatic and puzzling books of the 20th century James Joyce’s last novel Finnegans Wake does not cease to interest scholars, translators and readers even after 80 years since its publication. The novel attracts people of various nationalities, as well as professions due to its multilingualism and multi-layered intertextuality, which is highly suggestive and open to interpretation.

Joyce’s attempt to create a new language by using and combining over 60 languages puzzles the readers and is one of the main issues that make Finnegans Wake so “incomprehensible” and difficult to read, analyze and translate. However, at the same time, it is this multilingualism of the text that makes it accessible to people of various nationalities.

The present paper studies some problems which arise from the multilingualism of the text when translating and teaching it in Georgian. It is stated that difficulties of translating (and teaching) such a text in Georgian arise from the linguistic differences between Georgian and languages belonging to West-European Family, which are the linguistic basis of the text at large.

At the same time, teaching Finnegans Wake by the method of close-reading in a group consisting of various nationalities and backgrounds proves to be an interesting experience, as multilingual group can add valuable contribution to the reading process.