The origins of Flann O'Brien's "At Swim-Two-Birds"

Abstract

Flann O’Brien’s first novel, At Swim-Two-Birds, published in 1939, has generally been considered as O’Brien’s masterpiece due to its spontaneous narration and experimental technique. However, its origins and process of composition have not undergone sufficient examination. This paper explores the origins of At Swim-Two-Birds by means of the analysis of O’Brien’s literary production pre-At Swim-Two-Birds, searching for connections between the novel and O’Brien’s earlier work. It aims to demonstrate that the ideas and contents of At Swim-Two-Birds had been present in O’Brien’s mind long before he started writing the novel.

At Swim-Two-Birds, la primera novela de Flann O'Brien publicada en 1939, ha sido generalmente considerada como la obra maestra de Flann O'Brien debido a su narración espontánea y su estilo experimental. Sin embargo, sus orígenes y proceso de composición no han sido analizados en profundidad. Este artículo examina los orígenes de Al Swim-Two-Birds mediante un análisis de la producción literaria de O'Brien anterior a su primera novela, buscando conexiones entre la novela y los primeros escritos de O'Brien. El objetivo de este artículo es demostrar que las ideas y contenidos de At Swim-Two-Birds habían estado ya presentes en la mente de O'Brien mucho antes de que comenzase a escribir su primera novela.