@article{pr 3118, author = {Paul Fagan}, title = {‘Expert diagnosis has averted still another tragedy’: Misreading and the Paranoia of Expertise in The Third Policeman}, volume = {3}, year = {2015}, url = {https://parishreview.openlibhums.org/article/id/3118/}, issue = {1}, doi = {10.16995/pr.3118}, abstract = {The essay explores the significance of Brian O’Nolan’s recurrent return to the misreader as character, trope, and process throughout his writing, with a particular focus on <i>The Third Policeman</i>. It is argued that O’Nolan’s hoax aesthetic – shot through with authorial and generic misdirection and populated everywhere by spurious critical authorities and comic paranoiacs – handles misreading not only as a comedic device but also as a central thematic concern. By tracing O’Nolan's theme of the anti-archive througout his oeuvre, from the <i>Irish Times </i>letters through to <i>The Dalkey Archive</i>, it is shown that O'Nolan deploys the misreader strategically, as a figure who sabotages the self-proclaimed cultural authority of writers, readers, critics, and social engineers alike – including his own claims to authority in each of these roles – by implicitly disclosing the paranoid logic upon which their self-authenticated expertise is based.<p><b>To read the article, click Download or View PDF.</b><br></p>}, month = {5}, pages = {12-41}, keywords = {Paul De Man,Expertise,Paranoid Modernism,Misreading,Literary hoaxes}, issn = {2634-145X}, publisher={Open Library of Humanities}, journal = {The Parish Review: Journal of Flann O'Brien Studies} }