The Facts of Resonance: Sonic Warfare, Haptic Literature, and the Vibrant Body in Finnegans Wake II.3

Abstract

This article reads Finnegans Wake as a response to technological innovations in the field of acoustics in the early twentieth century. Drawing on the work of sound-theorists such as Steve Goodman, Jacques Attali, and Paul Virilio, it shows how Joyce's familiarity with electronic components and musicological theories of 'fundamental frequency' allowed him to articulate a vision of the 'vibrant body'. Finnegans Wake is thus an example of 'haptic literature' that uses the interface between the body and technology to generate an anti-fascist biopolitics.