Reflecting on the Thought Process: Language, the Neutrum and Memory

The book offers new readings of Samuel Beckett’s short stories and novels written between 1929 and 1938 in the context of his signature. The signature is defined through the terms language, the neutrum and memory. The study attempts to create a concise definition of signature and analyse it in the context of Beckett’s early writings.

The study offers new readings of early works, both novels and short stories, of Samuel Beckett in the context of Beckett’s signature. The author analyses the given signature through such terms as language, the neutrum and memory, simultaneously incorporating the mentioned terms in the context of Beckett’s early prose. The first part of the book is theoretical and concentrates on coining the term signature through different philosophical viewpoints (e.g., Lotman, Blanchot, Bergson), whereas the second part analyses Beckett’s early works in the context of the signature (e.g., Proust, More Pricks Than Kicks, Murphy). The book also analyses a posthumously-published short story Echo’s Bones that opens new interpretation paths for twenty-first century Beckettologists.