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10
Introduction
toBeckett,althoughheisHwell-knownasadramatist,hiscelebrationas
aprosewriterissomewhatmuted.[ł]Indeedthisisespeciallythecase
whenBecketthimselfwasnothesitantaboutidentifyinghimselfasbeing
primarilyanovelwriter[ł]”[Carneyetal.,eds.2012:200].AsRabino-
vitzpointsout,HSamuelBeckett’sfictionhasoftenbeenadmired-but
admiredfromafar.Ifheiswidelythoughtofasanauthorwhorevolu-
tionizedthemoderndrama,hisroleasafictionalinnovatorislesswell
known”[1992:207].
Frommyperspectiveasaliteraryscholarandnarratologist,Ifavour
anddevelopanapproachthatfocusesontwoaspectsofprosefiction:
literarinessandform.IthusconcurwithAbbott,whoinanessayaptly
entitledHIamnotaphilosopher,”criticisestheHappropriationofBeck-
ett’stext,”oranyliterarytextforthatmatter,bynon-literarydisciplines
suchas,mainly,philosophyor,morerecently,cognitivepsychology.As
acriticalparadigm,thephilosophicalpracticesessentiallycomedown
toHahappymatchingoffictionalcontenttophilosophicalidea,withits
implicitrelegationoffictiontoasecond-orderdisciplineinwhichphi-
losophyisthemasterandfictionthehandmaiden”[2008:81].Elsewhere,
AbbottunderlinestheadvantagesofformalanalysiswithwhichIagree:
Hthecriticofpureform[ł]wouldhavemostarguments[inliterarydis-
cussions-B.L.].Hewouldbeemphasising[ł]thatBeckettafterallisnot
aphilosopherbutanartist”[1973:2].
Torecapitulate,thisstudycontributestoGombrowiczandBeckett
studiesforthreereasons.Firstofall,itexaminesandcomparesnovelsby
bothauthors,aprojectneverundertakenbefore.Secondly,underexami-
nationisthenarrativeformofspecificnovels:threebyGombrowiczand
threebyBeckett.Withalltherichnessandcomplexityofthefields,there
isnobook-lengthanalysisofhowbothwritersuseliteraryform,or,to
beprecise,novelisticform.Finally,mytheoreticalframeworktranscends
theconfinesofnarratologyanddrawsfromaliterarymodeotherthan
narrative:drama.ThisissobecausewhatGombrowiczandBeckettdo
withthenarrativeformintheirnovelsclearlygravitatestowardsdrama
anditssemantics(seebelow).Theythuscontribute,inamoreorless
destructivemanner,tonewnovelisticparadigmsthat,ontheonehand,
usedtobemarginalizedbythethendominantparadigms(onecouldcall
them,afterunnaturalnarratologists,Hrealist”)but,ontheother,increas-
inglygainedpopularityinthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcenturywith
writerssuchasJamesJoyce,RomanJaworskiorMarcelProust.
