Unamuno´s mirrow-games: on the seeming omnipotence and meaningfulness of writing in the grammatical void

Abstract

Miguel de Unamuno wanted the readers of some of his novels and plays to seriously doubt whether they are fictitious characters, for such a doubt should lead them to fervently crave for immortality. In this article, I argue that, even though the doubt raised by Unamuno is unintelligible from a grammatical standpoint, it may at least be vaguely imagined, which is just what he needs in order to maintain a vicious circle generating faith that allows us to understand the purpose of his work and, by extension, to try to fill the reader’s life with meaning.