Making sense of N/nonsense in Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman, a Wittgensteinian perspective

Abstract

This paper examines the question of nonsense through a series of examples taken from Flann O’Brien’s satirical novels. Starting from Wittgenstein’s claim in the Tractatus that any reflexive discourse on language is itself nonsensical and that nonsense lies outside the realm of what can be talked about, this paper establishes a gradual typology of nonsensical discourse. Its aim is to try and delineate the linguistic and pragmatic parameters separating sense from nonsense in language, and thus propose a redefinition of nonsense.

Keywords

• nonsense
• language games
• meta-linguistic discourse
• Flann O’Brien
• Wittgenstein