Abstract

This article discusses the interlingual and cross-cultural resonances of the Irish language in the English and French intertextuality of O’Nolan’s short fiction and column writing through the coordinate of 'interfusionality.' The argument follows two interrelated strands: the first addresses the language theories expressed in O'Nolan's short story ‘Díoghaltais ar Ghallaibh ’sa Bhliain 2032!,’ published in The Irish Press in 1932, and the second traces this hybridity in the first Cruiskeen Lawn column through a compartive reading of Myles and 'An Broc' with Alphonse Allais, Edward Lear, and Stephen Leacock. The aim is to show that these works share a common theme wherein O’Nolan satirises Ireland’s language debate by employing hybridised language and projecting either the growth or destruction of Irish within the comic arc of satire.

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Keywords: Stephen Leacock, Edward Lear, Alphonse Allais, Intertextuality, Irish language, Hybridity, Interfusionality

How to Cite:

LaBine, J., (2016) “‘the words I taught to him’: Interfusional Language Play and Brian O’Nolan’s ‘Revenge on the English’”, The Parish Review: Journal of Flann O'Brien Studies 3(2), 35-52. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/pr.3209