2666

Benno von Archimboldi is the pen name of Hans Reiter, a reclusive German author. Through his commitment to anonymity, the world only knows Hans Reiter through his pseudonym. As such, the name Archimboldi functions as a mystery and a symbol in 2666. This is particularly evident in Part 1 of the novel, in which a group of literary critics is brought together by their shared interest in the mysterious author. These four literary critics, as well as the academic circles in which they operate, are separated by age, gender, nationality, and constitution. They are very different people, brought together by a shared fascination with an unknown and seemingly unknowable author. To them, Archimboldi means more than just the name on the dust jacket of their favorite novels. The mystery of the author’s identity and the debate surrounding his novels gives the critics’ lives purpose. Archimboldi is a great mystery that brings people together, a symbol of their shared desire to understand the world better in some small but meaningful way. They have a Hunger for Meaning in Life that is caused by failed romantic endeavors and various mistakes, yet the search to understand Archimboldi adds essential contours of meaning to their existence.

In this sense, the idea of Archimboldi functions as a metaphor for Literary Criticism as a Mode of Understanding Interpersonal Relationships. At their various conferences and lectures, the critics gather to swap their ideas about Archimboldi. Since they have very few snippets of actual history about the author, they must discern their meaning from the texts. They study the novels in Archimboldi’s bibliography and try to come to some understanding of Archimboldi the man. They use their skills as literary critics to try to construct an identity for Archimboldi in reverse, using the prose to inform their understanding of the person, rather than the traditional, and reverse, way of understanding an author’s work through their life events. The critics’ attempts to reverse engineer a biography for Archimboldi are a symbolic indictment of the nature of literary criticism: They come no closer to contacting him but, they develop better understandings of themselves. Their criticism, for all the effort and money spent, is futile. They cannot use their talents as critics to turn into detectives, no matter how much they assure themselves that can. Literary criticism in the text has its purpose and its limits. The critics, in trying to bring life to the blankness of Archimboldi, only succeed in showing the limits of their talents. The paucity of information that they uncover about Archimboldi represents the extent of their failures and the misdirection of their talent.

The desire to know Archimboldi ends in failure for the critics. Lotte, however, reads one Archimboldi novel and immediately recognizes her life. She knows that her brother wrote the book and, when she writes to Mrs. Bubis, she discovers a meaningful, personal connection. The casual way in which Lotte cuts through the mystery surrounding Archimboldi represents the futility of the critics’ quest. Their academic bluster, their money spent traveling across the world, and their shared efforts to uncover anything about the life of their favorite author ends in failure, yet the book read by an elderly German woman in an airport succeeds in deconstructing the pseudonym of Archimboldi. Lotte recognizes her brother, and she recognizes her own childhood in his words. This personal connection is far stronger and more meaningful than a lifetime spent studying Archimboldi’s works. Lotte’s story, therefore, symbolizes the power of lived, organic experience rather than a formal process of seeking meaning through forced experiences of exaggerated significance.