This is a new account of the prose fiction of Samuel Beckett from Murphy (1938) to Worstward Ho (1983). Drawing on contemporary literary theory, the book rejects the idea that Beckett is an author committed to expressing a particular view of the world. Instead, Beckett’s fiction writing is examined in terms of its struggle with the perplexities and uncertainties of difference and identity. Beckett’s literary bilingualism, his experiments with literary form, his treatment of sexuality and the body are seen as part of an exploration of the process by which the differences and distinctions which sustain the meaning of words are liable at any moment to collapse into indifference and indeterminacy. Dealing with questions of modernism, translation, fiction, genealogy, names, experimentation and fragmentation in relation to Beckett’s writing, Beckett’s Fiction: In Different Words undertakes a major reassessment of the aims and methods of Beckett’s novels and prose fiction.
Contents
Preface; 1. Murphy's law; 2. The loss of species; 3. The trilogy translated; 4. Duality, repetition, aporia; 5. Fables of genealogy; 6. Naming the body; 7. Experiment and failure; 8. Writing remainders: Indifferent words.
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