The Irreducible Qfwfq: Rethinking the All-Seeing I

Abstract

This essay proposes a framework to consider Calvino’s Qfwfq by means of a cosmic ‘unit’ model. Instead of arguing for Qfwfq as an ever-changing, metamorphosing creature, my argument is that Qfwfq is an unchanging constant and physical ‘unit’ which passes through all the different organisms into which he appears to transform, during which time he see through new eyes, and experiences the world through new bodies, but always as the same basic unit. I then discuss how this leads to a reconsideration of Qfwfq in terms of postmodernism, and its focus on unstable labels, and in terms of postmodern fantastic literature, where the discussion is based upon slipping signifiers and signifieds. Moreover, I analyse how a unit model reframes the importance of the Roman poet Lucretius to the cosmicomic universe.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 0 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.