An Imperfect Wake

Author: Slote Sam  

Publisher: Rodopi

ISSN: 0923-9855

Source: European Joyce Studies, Vol.20, Iss.1, 2011-07, pp. : 135-149

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Abstract

This essay proposes a distinction between epistemological error and ontological error in order to explore whether it is possible to talk about Finnegans Wake in terms of error at all. Epistemological error is described as deviation against some normative constitution of what is correct, whereas ontological error arises in situations where recourse to a normative (and thus regulatory) standard is ambiguous. After illustrating these concepts with examples from Ulysses, I amplify this definition by reading a passage from Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death and then apply it to chapter II.2 of Finnegans Wake.