"It's stories still": Reflexiveness in Samuel Beckett's Narratives

Abstract

This paper explores the use of reflexive and metafictional narrative structures in The Unnamable and other texts by Samuel Beckett. Reflexivity is shown to be the structural basis at all textual levels, from the articulation of character and plot development, through the use of narrative voice and modality, to the implied authorial level and the aesthetic stance of the text. Narratology and deconstruction are used as analytical tools to explore the peculiar semiotic productivity of the Beckettian text and draw the aesthetic and philosophical implications of Beckett's use of narrative form.