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Voice and Pronouns in Samuel Beckett's The Unnamable

Voice and Pronouns in Samuel Beckett's The Unnamable L L E W E L LY N B R O W N The voice represents a crucial question in the approach to Beckett’s work, both in his fiction and in his theatrical productions.1 This question is important not only because the voice is omnipresent but also because of its eminently problematic nature: the voice is a theme evoked in certain novels, but it is also brought into action as a structure in the form of the monologue (The Unnamable, Company), and as a staged reality in the theatre. However, the most salient difficulty resides in its localisation and it attribution. No problem seems to arise as long as the voice remains enclosed within a reassuring corporeal identity: characters such as Vladimir and Estragon, Hamm and Clov, appear to be authors of their own somewhat stylised utterances. But what happens when voices emanate from outside, speaking in the place of the figures on the stage, or addressing them? As the voice is enigmatic by nature, it is important to approach it in a coherent manner, with adequate conceptual tools. Two facets of the question need to be taken into account. On the one hand, it is indisputable that http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Beckett Studies Edinburgh University Press

Voice and Pronouns in Samuel Beckett's The Unnamable

Journal of Beckett Studies , Volume 20 (2): 172 – Sep 1, 2011

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References (1)

Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© the Editors, Journal of Beckett Studies
Subject
Essays; Literary Studies
ISSN
0309-5207
eISSN
1759-7811
DOI
10.3366/jobs.2011.0020
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

L L E W E L LY N B R O W N The voice represents a crucial question in the approach to Beckett’s work, both in his fiction and in his theatrical productions.1 This question is important not only because the voice is omnipresent but also because of its eminently problematic nature: the voice is a theme evoked in certain novels, but it is also brought into action as a structure in the form of the monologue (The Unnamable, Company), and as a staged reality in the theatre. However, the most salient difficulty resides in its localisation and it attribution. No problem seems to arise as long as the voice remains enclosed within a reassuring corporeal identity: characters such as Vladimir and Estragon, Hamm and Clov, appear to be authors of their own somewhat stylised utterances. But what happens when voices emanate from outside, speaking in the place of the figures on the stage, or addressing them? As the voice is enigmatic by nature, it is important to approach it in a coherent manner, with adequate conceptual tools. Two facets of the question need to be taken into account. On the one hand, it is indisputable that

Journal

Journal of Beckett StudiesEdinburgh University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2011

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