Difference between revisions of "Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk"

From FinnegansWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m
 
(20 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 6: Line 6:
 
It depicts the word for "thunder" in various languages.
 
It depicts the word for "thunder" in various languages.
  
−
Joyce also described the book as a downwards parabola into sleep, or as a tunnel going through a mountain. as HCE moves through the dream, these "thunderwords" track his movement. Furthermore, there are 10 thunderwords, the first 9 of 100 letters each, the last of 101, for a total of 1,001--tales of a thousand and one nights, appropriate for this book of sleep.
+
* [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/JoyceColl/JoyceColl-idx?type=goto&id=JoyceColl.GlasheenFinnegans&isize=L&submit=Go+to+page&page=283 Third Census of Finnegans Wake]
  
−
Also, as each thunderword leads into another part of the book, it fits into Joyce's usage of Vico's philosophy to tell the story. Each thunderword leads to a new cycle and a deeper part of sleep, and a deeper, more muddled state in HCE's mind (where the "mudmound" of his body fades from view and even the acrostics for HCE become muddled, as hec, ech, etc.). Thunder itself was important in Vico's philosophy as a motivating force and a symbolic marker of events in history.
+
* '''Donnerwort:''' (''German'') terrifying word (literally: "thunder-word") → J. S. Bach, Cantata No. 20: ''O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort'' ("O Eternity, thou word of fear" - words by Johann Rist)[http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV20.htm]
 +
 
 +
* '''konn''' + '''bronn''' → [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Cambronne Pierre Cambronne], French officer who led the last of the hold-outs at the Battle of Waterloo. His name was used as a polite euphemism after his ''le mot de Cambronne'' ("the word of Cambronne"), "Merde!" ("Shit!"), which (according to some sources) was his reply to the call to surrender after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo Battle of Waterloo].
 +
** [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/JoyceColl/JoyceColl-idx?type=turn&id=JoyceColl.GlasheenFinnegans&entity=JoyceColl.GlasheenFinnegans.p0137&isize=L&q1=Cambronne Third Census of Finnegans Wake]
 +
 
 +
* Compare the thunderwords of FW to the [http://www.ubu.com/sound/hausmann.html sound poems] of the Dadaist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Hausmann Raoul Hausmann].
 +
 
 +
* Humorous breakdown using popular song lyrics (written many decades after FW's publication) helps students [http://zswound.blogspot.com/2009/01/james-joyce-thunderwords-pop.html memorize this thunderword]
 +
 
 +
* Serious Grad Students in the Studio  [http://vimeo.com/19858131]
 +
 
 +
[[Category:thunderwords]]

Latest revision as of 11:23, 9 April 2018

The segmentation of this monstrum probably is:

bababad algharaghta kamminar ronn konn bronn tonerron tuonn thunn trovarrhoun awnskawn toohoohoordenen thurnuk

It depicts the word for "thunder" in various languages.

  • Donnerwort: (German) terrifying word (literally: "thunder-word") → J. S. Bach, Cantata No. 20: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort ("O Eternity, thou word of fear" - words by Johann Rist)[1]
  • konn + bronn → Pierre Cambronne, French officer who led the last of the hold-outs at the Battle of Waterloo. His name was used as a polite euphemism after his le mot de Cambronne ("the word of Cambronne"), "Merde!" ("Shit!"), which (according to some sources) was his reply to the call to surrender after the Battle of Waterloo.
  • Humorous breakdown using popular song lyrics (written many decades after FW's publication) helps students memorize this thunderword
  • Serious Grad Students in the Studio [2]
Retrieved from "http://finnegansweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk&oldid=34846"