Flann O’Brien and the European Avant-Garde, 1934-1945: Dublin’s Dadaist

Crossing the boundaries of a single-author study, this book uncovers Flann O’Brien’s attempt to forge a commercially successful Irish literary project from international avant-garde influences.

Situating O’Brien’s early work within a global context, the book uses new evidence of his collaborations to reimagine him as a networked writer. O’Brien drew upon experimental techniques to generate new categories of writing, rethink Irish culture and reach a wide audience. This study illuminates a network of cultural production around O’Brien, linking his work to English comic magazines, Dadaist photomontage, Expressionism, Central European theatre, and renowned writers like Jorge Luis Borges and Franz Kafka.

By re-examining Flann O’Brien within the context of the momentous global political and cultural crises that spurred avant-garde experimentation, the book also rewrites the cultural history of Ireland in the 1930s and 1940s.

Tobias W. Harris is Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.