FROM PSEUDO-QUOTATION TO STYLISTIC PROXY: INTERTEXTUALITY IN THE HUNGARIAN TRANSLATIONS OF ULYSSES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2026.3.01Keywords:
intertextuality, literary translation, James Joyce, Shakespearean references, UlyssesAbstract
From Pseudo-Quotation to Stylistic Proxy: Intertextuality in the Hungarian Translations of Ulysses. This study examines how selected Shakespearean references are rendered across the three Hungarian translations of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Using a systematically compiled corpus of Shakespearean quotations, paraphrases, and allusions identified in the source text, the article offers a qualitative comparative analysis of translational strategies shaped by different historical contexts and literary traditions. Focusing on close readings of representative examples, the study explores how Hungarian translators negotiate Joyce’s Shakespearean intertextuality through reference translations, stylistic imitation, semantic approximation, and creative rewriting, often engaging with the Hungarian Shakespeare canon itself. The analysis highlights notable differences in how Shakespearean material is made visible, foregrounded, or absorbed into the target text, revealing divergent approaches to fidelity, recognizability, and stylistic innovation. The article demonstrates that examining pseudo-quotations and stylistic proxies offers a productive framework for understanding how Shakespearean intertextuality is reconstructed in Hungarian translations of Ulysses, highlighting the translators’ active role in recreating literary allusion beyond direct quotation.
Article history: Received 18 November 2025; Revised 16 December 2025; Accepted 20 February 2026; Available online 30 September 2026;
Available print 30 September 2026.
References
Budgen, Frank. 1972. James Joyce and the Making of ‘Ulysses.’ Bloomington – London: Indiana University Press.
Beck, Harald, and John Simpson (eds.). James Joyce Online Notes. https://www.jjon.org/
Crystal, Ben. 2017. Ben Crystal talks about Original Pronunciation. Division of Humanities, University of Otago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmgeth4tFY&ab_channel=DivisionofHumanities%2CUniversityofOtago.
Fazekas, Sándor. 2023. William Shakespeare szonettjei. Budapest: Magyar Művészeti Akadémia Kiadó.
Gifford, Don, and Robert J. Seidman. 1974. Ulysses Annotated. Notes for James Joyce’s Ulysses. 2nd revised edition. University of California Press.
Gula, Marianna. 1999. Review of ‘Inductive Scrutinies: Focus on Joyce’ by Senn, Fritz – O’Neill, Christine. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS). Volume 5: 262–265. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41274048.
Gula, Marianna. 2016. A fordítás mint parallaxis, a parallaxis fordítása: Szentkuthy Miklós Ulysses-fordítása (1974) és átdolgozott változata (2012). Alföld 67, no. 8: 78–89.
Joyce, James. 1947. Ulysses I–II. Translated by Endre Gáspár. Budapest: Nova Irodalmi Intézet.
Joyce, James. 1974. Ulysses. Translated by Miklós Szentkuthy. Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó.
Joyce, James. 1986. Ulysses. Edited by Hans Walter Gabler, Wolfhard Steppe, and Melchior Claus. New York: Vintage Books.
Joyce, James. 2012. Ulysses: Based on the 1939 Odyssey Press Edition. Annotated by Sam Slote. London: Alma Classics.
Joyce, James. 2021. Ulysses. Translated by Marianna Gula, András Kappanyos, Gábor Zoltán Kiss, Dávid Szolláth. Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó.
Kappanyos, András. 2015. Bajuszbögre, lefordítatlan. Műfordítás, adaptáció, kulturális transzfer. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó.
Mihálycsa, Erika, Jolanta Wawrzycka, and Fritz Senn. 2012. “I am a far-fetcher by constitution:” Conversation with Fritz Senn. Scientia Traductionis, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). https://doi.org/10.5007/1980-4237.2012N12P205
Senn, Fritz. 1987. ’In Classical Idiom: Anthologia Intertextualis.’ James Joyce Quarterly. Volume 25, no. 1: 31–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25484843
Senn, Fritz. 1995. Inductive Scrutinies: Focus on Joyce. Ed. Christine O’Neill. Dublin: Lilliput.
Senn, Fritz, Jolanta Wawrzycka, and Veronika Kovács. 2016. “Spectral Shakespeare in Ulysses Translation.” In John McCourt (ed.) 2016. Shakespearian Joyce, Joycean Shakespeare. Rome: Editoriale Anicia, 131–152.
Shakespeare, William. 1938. Ahogy tetszik. Translated by Lőrinc Szabó. Budapest: Singer és Wolfner Kiadó.
Shakespeare, William. 1999. Öt Shakespeare dráma. Translated by István Eörsi. Budapest: Palatinus.
Shakespeare, William. 2008. Shakespeare drámák. II. kötet. Translated by Ádám Nádasdy. Budapest: Magvető Kiadó.
Shakespeare, William. 2012. Shakespeare három dráma. Translated by Ádám Nádasdy. Budapest: Magvető Kiadó.
Shakespeare, William. 2017. Hamlet, dán királyfi. Translated by János Arany. Budapest: Akkord Kiadó.
Slote, Sam, Marc A. Mamigonian, and John Turner. 2022. Annotations to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Solomon, Susan L. 2014. “Inverted Commas, Unreality, and Chiasmus in ‘Aeolus.’” James Joyce Quarterly. Volume 51, no. 4: 613–630. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44162851
Szolláth, Dávid. 2019. Bábelt kövenként: Irodalomtörténeti tanulmányok és esszék. Budapest: Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont.
Thornton, Weldon. 1968. Allusions in Ulysses: An Annotated List. 2nd edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Wawrzycka, Jolanta. 2023. ’Taking Arms against a Sea of Troubles’: Intertextual Reverberations of Shakespeare in Translations of Ulysses. Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis Special Issue. Volume 18: 5–16. https://doi.org/10.4467/20843933ST.23.007.17839
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philologia

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
