As Authorised Transgression. Metalepsis as a Fantastic Spring Mechanism in Flann O’Brienn’s At Swim-Two-Birds

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Alicia Francisco Rodó

This paper analyses how the transgression of boundaries, the characteristic of the fantastic, in Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds comesfrom the metalepsis, a rhetorical figure that activates the mechanism of the fantastic by destabilizing the boundary between reality and fiction and by creating a feeling of uncertainty in the reader since he/she is forced to ask himself/herself about the boundaries of reality and the ontological status of the author and the characters, as well as his/her own status. The paper also emphasizes the metafictional and parodic dimension of the novel as they, being constitutive elements of At Swim-Two-Birds, share the transgression of boundaries.

Keywords
Flann O’Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds, metalepsis, parody, metafiction.

Article Details

How to Cite
Francisco Rodó, Alicia. “As Authorised Transgression. Metalepsis as a Fantastic Spring Mechanism in Flann O’Brienn’s At Swim-Two-Birds”. Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 2018, vol.VOL 6, no. 1, pp. 105-24, http://raco.cat/index.php/Brumal/article/view/340607.