Belacqua and the “I” in the Novellas – the Narration of Two Worlds in the Prose of Samuel Beckett

Authors

  • Livia Bueloni Gonçalves University of São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v13i0.3630

Keywords:

Samuel Beckett, Prose, Short Stories.

Abstract

Based on the analysis of excerpts from Samuel Beckett´s first book
of short stories, More Pricks than Kicks (1934), this article investigates to
what extent the narrator in this book demonstrates certain  characteristics that appear in subsequent prose by Beckett, mainly as regards to interventions in the stories that are told. To discuss this subject, excerpts will also be used from “Premier Amour” (1970),
which, together with “L’Expulsé”, “Le Calmant” and “La Fin” (1955), make up the first fictional texts written by Beckett in French.
The importance of comparing such stories to those from More Pricks than
Kicks comes from the fact that they present the typical Beckettian first-person narrator, well-known for his peculiar story-telling style, replete with impasses and questions about the narrated story. Comparison between the narrative styles in these texts also allows us to investigate the characteristics of two distinct and unique moments in Samuel Beckett´s prose.

Author Biography

  • Livia Bueloni Gonçalves, University of São Paulo
    Lívia Bueloni GONÇALVES is a PhD student of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature at the University of São Paulo. She has got a CNPQ (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) grant. She obtained her Master’s Degree in 2009, also at USP, with a monograph entitled “A narrator in the edge: the pathway of the Beckettian first person from the nouvelles to the Textes pour rien.”

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Published

17-11-2011

Issue

Vol. 13 (2011): ABEI Journal 13

Section

Fiction

How to Cite

Gonçalves, L. B. (2011). Belacqua and the “I” in the Novellas – the Narration of Two Worlds in the Prose of Samuel Beckett. ABEI Journal, 13, 93-103. https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v13i0.3630