“Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels

“Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sabo, Garth Jerome
Language:English
Published: Kent State University / OhioLINK 2011
Subjects:
Literature
Samuel Beckett
meta
scatology
physical
self-aware
commentary
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302203387
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-kent13022033872021-08-03T05:37:26Z “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels Sabo, Garth Jerome Literature Samuel Beckett meta scatology physical self-aware commentary <p> Samuel Beckett’s novels have been well noted for the level of self-reflection they contain; Watt, for example, is as much about reading Watt as it is about anything else. The traditional critical response to this reflective characteristic of Beckett’s prose has been to frame it solely as an indicator of meaninglessness and cognitive emptiness. While Beckett clearly intends for his reader to understand the universe as inherently meaningless and devoid of any metaphysical resonance, his novels instruct their audiences in a rigid and specific interpretation of that meaninglessness; that is, though Beckett’s novels endorse Nothing, he takes great care to insure that his readers arrive at the Nothing he intended. In pursuit of this, Beckett makes liberal use of what I have identified as “instructive performances” throughout his novels. Through moments of instantaneous meta-commentary, Beckett’s novels simultaneously instruct their readers in the proper response to the text and act out those intended interpretive gestures. This engenders a unique relationship between author and audience in response to the Beckettian text, as both parties become equally entangled in the ultimate production of textual meaning.</p><p> The purpose of this thesis is to trace the appearance of instructive performances throughout Beckett’s early novels Murphy, Watt, Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable. These moments typically manifest in three distinct ways. In the first, Beckett draws attention to the artistic process of creating the text, and in doing so makes the reaction intended by his efforts explicit to the reader. In the second manifestation, Beckett implicates the text as a physical object with which the reader interacts; in doing so, he models for the reader how the physical act of reading should correspond to specific mental events. Finally, Beckett compares the text to scatological processes and products, with the result being that the processes of writing and reading become expressions of some pressing physical instinct for expression, even despite the knowledge that such expression results solely in excreted waste. By establishing the importance placed upon these instructive moments in the text, a new critical understanding of the artist-art-audience relationship in Beckett can be arrived at and embraced as a new direction for the field of Beckett studies.</p> 2011-04-08 English text Kent State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302203387 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302203387 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Literature
Samuel Beckett
meta
scatology
physical
self-aware
commentary
spellingShingle Literature
Samuel Beckett
meta
scatology
physical
self-aware
commentary
Sabo, Garth Jerome
“Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
author Sabo, Garth Jerome
author_facet Sabo, Garth Jerome
author_sort Sabo, Garth Jerome
title “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
title_short “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
title_full “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
title_fullStr “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
title_full_unstemmed “Almost lifeless, like the teller”: The instructive performances of Samuel Beckett’s self-aware novels
title_sort “almost lifeless, like the teller”: the instructive performances of samuel beckett’s self-aware novels
publisher Kent State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2011
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302203387
work_keys_str_mv AT sabogarthjerome almostlifelesslikethetellertheinstructiveperformancesofsamuelbeckettsselfawarenovels
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