Flann O’Brien’s Creative Loophole

Flann O'Brien (1911-1966) comenzó su carrera como novelista en 1939 con la publicación de At Swim-Two-Birds. Desde entonces, su primera novela ha sido generalmente considerada como su mejor obra. En 1940, su segunda novela, The Third Policeman, fue rechazada por varias editoriales y, en consecuencia, O'Brien dejó de escribir novelas temporalmente. Dedicó veintiún años a escribir su prolongada columna titulada Cruiskeen Lawn, además de varias obras de teatro y televisión. En 1961, comenzó a escribir novelas de nuevo con la publicación de The Hard Life, y tres años después, en 1964, publicó The Dalkey Archive. Aunque sus dos últimas novelas gozaron de una recepción positiva, durante muchos años tanto la crítica como su audiencia han pensado que estas dos novelas no podían compararse con At Swim-Two-Birds. Se ha mantenido que O'Brien comenzó a perder creatividad como escritor desde los años 40 en adelante debido a diversas razones. El propósito de este artículo es analizar la cuestión de la creatividad en Flann O'Brien e intentar ofrecer algunas respuestas a través del estudio de varias circunstancias externas y personales en su carrera como escritor. Palabras Clave. Flann O'Brien, Irlanda en los años 40 y 50, Irlanda tras la independencia, James Joyce, Sean O'Faolain, Patrick Kavanagh. Flann O'Brien (1911-1966) began his career as a novelist in 1939 with the publication of At Swim-Two-Birds. Since then, his first novel has generally been considered by far his finest work. In 1940, O'Brien's second novel, The Third Policeman, was rejected by several publishers and O'Brien temporally ceased to write novels. He devoted twenty-one years to writing his long-running newspaper column Cruiskeen Lawn, apart from several theatre and TV plays. In 1961 he began to write novels again with the publication of The Hard Life and three years later, in 1964, he published The Dalkey Archive. Although his last two novels enjoyed positive reception, for many years critics and audience alike have thought that they could not be compared to At Swim-Two-Birds. It has been argued that O'Brien started to lose his creativity as a writer from the 1940s onwards due to a number of reasons. This article aims at assessing the question of creativity in Flann O'Brien and at trying to provide some answers by looking at several external and personal circumstances in his career as a writer. Key Words. Flann O'Brien, Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, Politics, Post-independence Ireland, James Joyce,