Overview

Beckett's Dantes: Intertextuality in the Fiction and Criticism is the first study in English on the literary relation between Beckett and Dante. It is an innovative reading of Samuel Beckett and Dante's works and a critical engagement with contemporary theories of intertextuality. It is an informative intertextual reading of Beckett's work, detecting previously unknown quotations, allusions to, and parodies of Dante in Beckett's fiction and criticism. The volume interprets Dante in the original Italian (as it appears in Beckett), translating into English all Italian quotations. It benefits from a multilingual approach based on Beckett's published works in English and French, and on manuscripts (which use English, French, German and Italian). Through a close reading of Beckett's fiction and criticism, the book will argue that Dante is both assumed as an external source of literary and cultural authority in Beckett's work, and also participates in Beckett's texts' sceptical undermining of authority. Moreover, the book demonstrates that the many references to various 'Dantes' produce 'Mr Beckett' as the figure of the author responsible for such a remarkably interconnected oeuvre. The book is aimed at the scholarly communities interested in literatures in English, literary and critical theory, comparative literature and theory, French literature and theory and Italian studies. Its jargon-free style will also attract third-year or advanced undergraduate students, and postgraduate students, as well as those readers interested in the unusual relationship between one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and the medieval author who stands for the very idea of the Western canon. -- .

Full Product Details

Author:   Daniela Caselli ,  Rebecca Mortimer
Publisher:   Manchester University Press
Imprint:   Manchester University Press
Edition:   2nd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.30cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.349kg
ISBN:  

9780719071577

ISBN 10:   0719071577
Pages:   232
Publication Date:   01 October 2009
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Dantes in limbo Detecting Dante in Joyce Recycling Dante in Proust 2. Belacqua does not follow 'the rule of the road' There is no real Belacqua in Dream Dante and Mr Beckett Sordello is in the shade 3. Strata and mysteries: Intratextuality in 'More Pricks Than Kicks' Quick deaths Screechy flatfooted Tuscany peacocks 4. Fatigue and disgust: Murphy and Watt Dante is kept out of sight: Murphy and the manuscripts Addenda and excorporations 5. Who is the third beside you? Authority in Mercier and Camier Vague shadowy shapes No quotes at any price 6. Deja vu beyond reach: from the Novellas to the Three Novels The calmative effects of one's classics Odds and ends Bits and scraps flickering on and off 7. Staging the Inferno in 'How It Is' A voice comes to one in the dark 'E fango e il mondo': the 'Inferno' performed Geometries of passions The witness and the scribe 8. 'In the words of the poet': 'The Lost Ones' Ravening eyes Closed places The sun and others stars would still be shining Conclusion: Farewell to the Old Lutist Bibliography

Reviews

'Caselli proves her ability to summarise the established critical positions succinctly and clearly - in itself no mean feat ... Caselli's study reaches its aims to a very great extent - [she] writes lucidly throughout. Reading her results is a pleasure, and the book is destined to become a 21st-century classic of Beckett criticism.' Merle Tonnies, Archiv (refers to hardback edition)

Author Information

Daniela Caselli is Senior Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Manchester

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