Essay on Something about Flann OBrien - 1787 Words

Flann OBriens At Swim-Two-Birds is a multifarious work of purpose, at once an experimental narrative that directly responds to James Joyces modernist work (acting as a forerunner of post-modernist thought), and a study on the tortuous challenges facing the dichotomies of Irish culture. At Swim is at its most understated, a text of parodies. OBrien expertly strings together the many layers of his novels world to express a slew of critical observations about modernist ideology and realism, as well as exposing a necessary dialogue on the formation and perception of Irish culture. A third major aspect of At Swim-Two-Birds lies closer to OBriens own life experience: this is a novel of Irish identity. The Irish identity that OBrien†¦show more content†¦OBrien investigates the clash of ideologies carefully, having found himself in a unique position which assisted in the observation of both sides. It is significant, McKullen writes, that â€Å"Flann OBrien who was born into that first, critical and cosmopolitan, post-independence generation was also paradoxically more familiar with Irish traditions than many of the Revivalists who embraced them or the Modernists that rejected them (McKullen, 76).† OBrien, born â€Å"Brian ONuallain,† was the son of ardent Irish nationalists; he spoke the Irish language at home, vacationed in the Gaeltacht (that is, the fringe of Western Ireland where Irish is predominantly spoken), and studied old and middle Irish in college. As for his own feelings on the subject, while At Swim-Two-Birds includes a myriad of old Irish folktale and mythology, it also points to a dissatisfaction with the Cultural Protectionism that was prevalent all around him. According to Dr. Joseph Brooker who writes on the subject, â€Å"in his own way, [OBrien] was one of the periods most penetrating critics of Irish pride (Brooker, 31).† Viewing the over-determination of Cultural Protectionism, OBrien could see the silliness of glorifying what must have essentially become caricatures of the Irish heritage. Irish scholar Eihblin Evans adds that, â€Å"for OBrien, Irish identity had been hijacked by a set of official cliches with disastrous effects (Evans, 104).† At Swim-Two-BirdsShow MoreRelatedThe Third Policeman: A Lesson in Absurdity Essay1571 Words   |  7 PagesThe Third Policeman: A Lesson in Absurdity The protagonist in Flann O’Brien’s novel The Third Policeman has spent the past several days following the bizarre characters Policeman MacCruiskeen and Sergeant Pluck in an even more bizarre world of his own creation. The narrator, who is bent on receiving his treasure, which is tucked securely inside a black box, follows these characters patiently waiting to receive his fate neatly packed away in a box. The narrator finds himself in the midst ofRead More James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Flann OBriens At Swim-Two-Birds and Modernist Writing2431 Words   |  10 PagesJames Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Flann OBriens At Swim-Two-Birds and Modernist Writing The Twentieth Century found literature with a considerably different attitude and frame-of-mind than had the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Two hundred years is, of course, a long time to allow change within genres, but after the fairly gradual progression of the novel as a form, its change in the hands of modernism happened rapidly in comparison. Explaining how texts