2025.07.15TUE
NEW New content added
Members-only content has been added!
Register as a member for exclusive articles and events.

Relay Column: Finnegans Rubber (Yuta Imazeki)

Copied to Clipboard
*The text-to-speech feature is generated by AI,
so there may be errors in the reading.
PROFILE
Yuta Imazeki

Full-time lecturer at the Edogawa University Center for Liberal Arts and Basic Education. His specialty is 20th-century Irish literature and media studies. His major papers include "『フィネガンズ・ウェイク』のABCD" ("Eureka," July 2023 issue), "攻殻走行圏" ("Medium," Issue 3), and "ラカンとジョイスのR. S. I." ("I. R. S. ――ジャック・ラカン研究," Issue 21).

The clothing worn by characters in a novel provides various insights into the historical context of the setting. This holds true for reading "Finnegans Wake" (1939) by James Joyce, often considered the world's most difficult novel. The protagonist, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE), takes on various forms, including that of a pub owner and a giant lying in Dublin. In a particular passage from Volume I, Chapter 2, he appears as the Governor of Ireland in the early 20th century, becoming embroiled in various incidents on this island, which was effectively colonized and annexed by the British Empire.
At one point, dressed in "インドゴム製仏軍帽、 大ベルト、 獣火袋、 青狐光のビロード、 鉄騎隊の長靴、 ヒンズー仕立ての太ゲートル、 ゴム引きインヴァネス" (in his caoutchouc kepi and great belt and hideinsacks and his blaufunx fustian and ironsides jackboots and Bhagafat gaiters and his rubberised inverness) (FW 035.08–10; Naoki Yanase translation, "Finnegans Wake" Volume I, Kawade Shobo, 2004, p. 76), he strolls through Phoenix Park on the outskirts of Dublin, only to encounter a "cad" with a pipe. This man greets HCE in what seems to be Irish and asks him for the current time. Suddenly, HCE feels a sense of danger to his life, realizing "基本的自由原理に基づいて、 黙殺甲斐にしろ夜女害にしろ、 肉体生命の志高の重要性を悟り" (realising on fundamental liberal principles the supreme importance, nexally and noxally, of physical life) (FW 035.21–23; Naoki Yanase translation, p. 77). As he nervously retrieves his watch from his pocket, the church bells chime at noon. After exchanging small talk, they shake hands and part amicably. But why did HCE feel threatened simply by being asked the time? Moreover, why does the author describe his clothing with such particularity?
Share Article
Copied to Clipboard
CONTACT
If you have any questions or enquiries, please enter your details in the form below.
Enquiry item必須