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14
Introduction
Thiscaravanseraiofmoreorlessesteemedscholarsprovesthatsuch
negativecriticismisnotonlyacommonplacebutacliché.Whilstthe
negativityofGombrowicz’sandBeckett’sworksremainsunquestioned,
itmustbeindicatedthatithasonealarmingproperty.LikeNarcissusthe
negativityisinlovewithitsownreflectionandthusinvariablytreated
asgoalratherthanmeans.Suchcommentaryhasnotonlydismissedan
extensivecomicdimensionwithregardtobothwritersbutalsofixated
itselfonabstractsigns,subjects,objects,orconsciousnesses.Hencethere
isanecessityofanalternativetakeonthesemanticmechanisminthe
novels.Thesemanticsoughttoincorporatethenegativeandsimultane-
ouslymarryitwithwhatKatzinthecontextofBeckettcallsaffirmative
andneutralstrands[1999:2-3].Iherebyproposeashiftininterpretive
paradigmsofGombrowiczandBeckett:awayfromthenegative.
Arguably,thebestanalyticaltoolkitforinvestigatingnarrativephe-
nomenaisprovidedbynarratology.Categoriessuchasnarrativevoice,
time,perspective,andnarrativecommunicationwillbediscussedby
meansofterminologyelaboratedbyGerardGénette,MonikaFludernik,
DavidHerman,Chatman,andothers.Mytheoreticalstandpointruns
countertotheopinionsofnumerousscholars,suchasGłowiński,who
assertthatnarratologyprovesvirtuallyuselesswhenappliedtoworks
thatexplicitlytranscendconventionalnarrativemechanisms[2004:11].
ForGłowiński,theworksbyGombrowiczexemplifythosethatfrustrate
anynarrativeinvestigation.However,inmystudy,narratology,bothfrom
itsstructuralistandcontemporaryperiods,appearsratherindispensa-
bleinaccountingforstructuralelementsandyieldsintriguingresults.
Admittedly,thereisnostrictlynarratologicalstudyofGombrowiczand
BeckettinsofarastheirHanti-narratological”statusmusthavebeentaken
forgranted.
Tosumup,Gombrowicz–Beckett.Beckett–Gombrowicz.AComparative
Inter-modalStudyisaninnovativeprojectfortwomorereasons.Firstly,
itisthefirstextensiveformalandstructuralinvestigationofthenovels
byGombrowiczandBeckettthathaseverbeenattempted.Intheprocess
oftheinvestigationittranspiresthatallsixofthenovelsfeatureidenti-
calnarrativedevicesandusethemtosimilarends.Secondly,mywork
criticisesthecriticalstatusquo.Althoughitremainsundisputedthatthe
novelsbyGombrowiczandBeckettemployvarioustechniquesthatnega-
tivelyaffectthenarrativestructure,itseemsaglaringmisunderstanding
todismisstheiractualfunctions.NeitherGombrowicznorBeckettisani-
