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4.PerformanceandNarrative
25
velopsanideathatBeckett’slatefictionisHsurprisinglyaccessiblewhen
recitedaloud”andthathisproseoeuvreisaHfictionalexplorationofthe
questionofvoice,soundand,aboveall,tonality”[Brater1994:ix].As
aresult,GontarskiandBraterseemtoagreethatBeckett’sfictionfeatures
anumberofelementsthatmightbecalledHanti-narrative,”whosegoalis
thenarrativesubject’sHidentity,”Hvoice,soundand,aboveall,tonality;”
inshort,presence.Mystudy,investigatingBeckett’searlyfiction,might
beseenasacontinuationofthemoreesteemedscholars’workandalso
realisationofargumentsofBeckett’sHpreoccupation”withtheatrebefore
writingdramas[Brater1994:60;Gontarski2004:194].
40PerformanceandNarrative
Anewsemanticsrequires,asarule,anewhermeneutics.WithGombro-
wicz’sHdramatic”novelsandBeckett’sHtheatrical”novels,traditional
receptiondoesnotsufficeandneedstoberecalibrated.(Presumably,
anegative,or,shouldIrathersaynegativist,approachtothenovelsin
questionhasbredalargenumberofstudiesonthenegativeaspectofthe
novels.)Becauseofitsassociationsandconnotationswiththesemantic
terms,IcallthehermeneuticsHperformative”[seeDavisandPostlewait,
eds.2013:31].Overall,theperformativehintsatbutfundamentallydif-
fersfromKutnik’snotionofHperformativenovel”whichconceptualizes
anyartthatHnotsomuchsayssomethingaboutrealitybut,byitsoccur-
renceandpresence,doessomethingasarealityinitsownright”[1986:
xxiv].Itthusbasicallyreferstonon-mimeticandnon-representational,
self-consciousandself-reflexiveaesthetics[Kutnik1986:20-23,41,re-
spectively].Inthefollowingstudy,theperformativepertainsstrictlyto
interpretation,thatis,areceptionpracticethataccommodatesspecific
Hevaluativesignals,”toborrowPfister’stermforthesignalsthatinflu-
encethewayatextisreceived[1988:254;seeKutnik1986:2].Inthe
novelsbyGombrowiczandBeckettthesignalspointouttoanti-nar-
rativeoranti-epicsemantics;yetIadvocatehereamoresyntheticap-
proachthatiscapableofaccountingfortheextraordinarydifficultiesin
readingandprocessingthetexts.Asnarratologistsunanimouslypoint
out,concurrency,monologicityandoralityfrustratethereadingprocess
andforcethereaderintomoreactiveandalertreception.Agoodcasein
pointisconcurrencythat,bynature,violatesthecoherenceofnarrative
