'Slavic Irishness' and the Fluidity of National Identity in Finnegans Wake.

This article focuses on a sociolinguistic analysis of multilingualism in James Joyce's *Finnegans Wake* (1939), specifically examining how two Irish soldiers, Butt and Taff, extensively code-switch into Slavonic languages—primarily Bulgarian—in Book 2, Chapter 3. It argues that their use of code-switching serves both humorous bonding and the expression of complex, hybrid national identities as "Slavic Irishmen," reflecting a fluid intersection of Irish and Bulgarian patriotism shaped by shared histories of colonial subjugation. The study employs sociolinguistic theory to interpret the characters’ dialogue as if it were real conversational data, revealing how Joyce’s extreme multilingualism in the text (with over 70 languages present) can be read to humanize these otherwise cryptic figures. The article also situates this approach within broader interpretive traditions of *Finnegans Wake*, proposing an "un-intentionalist" methodology that balances rigorous academic analysis with openness to the text’s experimental nature.