Infinity is a concept so abstract and hard to grasp that it has intrigued humanity since the dawn of time. It seems that, especially since human beings are mortal and as such not infinite but very finite indeed, the idea of something that never ends and therefore can be linked to immortality is a concept that is alluring to men and the attempt to reach infinity is the driving force for a lot of artistic activities.
The arts have striven to depict the undepictable concept of infinity, philosophers and mathematicians have tried to come up with analogies to help to grasp the idea of something that goes beyond everything that can be experienced in everyday life. In Flann O’Brien’s novel At Swim-Two-Birds the subject of infinity is broached by various techniques and linked to the role of the writer, who writes in order to transcend from a mortal human being to an omnipotent ruler of the narrative and thus to approximate himself to infinity.
It will be shown by the definitions and terms of the structuralist Gérard Genette how the transcendence of texts, transtextuality, is realized in the novel and in what way it creates the connection to infinity. Moreover, the narrative structure will be analyzed with Genette’s terminology and the role of the writer(s) and again the effect of infinity will be considered. In a last step, the metafictional character of the novel will be linked with the subject of infinity as it appears in the text and the connection of the role of the writer and the evidence of infinity in At Swim-Two-Birds will be discussed.
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- Anonymous (Autor), 2016, A Work of Reference. The Evidence and Function of Infinity in Flann O’Brien’s "At Swim-Two-Birds", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1718693
