Can に have the same function as として?

Question

In this sentence:

君は選ばれたのだ　私の退屈を埋めるための欠片の１つに

Does the particle に work in the same way as として? Is it the same as 私の退屈を埋めるための欠片の１つとして ?

Thanks for the answer!

Answer 1

Yes, に works like English "as", a role marker. "You were chosen as one of the pieces...".

• に to indicate the role you want something to play?
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• I really can't understand the use of に + と USED TOGETHER in this clause
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Is it the same as 私の退屈を埋めるための欠片の１つとして?

Yes, at least in your case, に is interchangeable with として. (Of course this is not always true because both として and に have many other functions.)