Becoming-Wolf: The Nonhuman Life of Shem the Penman

This chapter interprets the volume’s theme of Finnegans Wake’s human and nonhuman histories by focusing on Shem as a hybrid figure who displays traits of both wolf and human yet does not truly belong to either category. To understand the unique bond that Shem forms with nonhuman animals and the increasing presence of lupine characteristics in both his physical and mental realms, I frst briefly explore the significance of the ‘psychological animal’ in Finnegans Wake, with a focus on the role of wolves and werewolves, using a theoretical framework drawn from Alan Bleakley’s study The Animalizing Imagination. Secondly, I interpret Shem’s animalesque behaviour and exiled status as a ‘beast’ or ‘outlaw’ through Giorgio Agamben’s concept of the wargus (wolf) in Homo Sacer, with an emphasis on Finnegans Wake I.7.