“O tell me all about Anna Livia! I want to hear all about Anna Livia. Well, you know Anna Livia? Yes, of course, we all know Anna Livia. Tell me all. Tell me now...”
Excerpt from Finnegans Wake, 1939
Annalivia was Joyce’s name for the river Liffey which flows through Dublin city. It comes from his book Finnegans Wake, also known as his “night book”, as in it he invents the language of dreams. This dream-like language, not fully conscious or formed, layered with multiple meanings, represents the sleeping mind at work. Although the language is “English”, Joyce universalises the “dream” by incorporating dozens of other languages and newly-coined words, puns and phrases, some completely crazy (!), some weirdly witty and some of outstanding poetic elegance.
Of course, this is an overly simplified version of Finnegans Wake, but please doClick herefor a link directly to an online encyclopedia reference to James Joyce.
So, why "Annalivia" for an English school? Well, we believe that “Annalivia School” is perfectly appropriate for an English school situated in Dun Laoghaire , in “James Joyce country”, where English is taught to international students with languages from all over the world.
