Beckett, Derrida, and the Event of Literature (Cultural Memory in the Present)

265 Pages·2007·23.409 MB·English

by  Asja Szafraniec

BECKETT, DERRIDA, AND THE EVENT OF LITERATURE

Cultural Memory
m
the
Present
Mieke Bal and Hent de Vries, Editors

BECKETT, DERRIDA, AND
THE EVENT OF LITERATURE
Asja Szafraniec
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
2007
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Szafraniec, Asja.
Beckett, Derrida, and the event of literature I Asja Szafraniec.
p. cm.-(cultural memory in the present)
ISBN 978-o-8047-5456-9 (cloth : alk. paper)-ISBN 978-o-8047-5457-6
(pbk. : alk. paper)
I. Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989-Criticism and interpretation. 2. Derrida,
Jacques. 3· Literature-History and criticism-Theory, etc. 4· Authorship
Psychological aspects. 5· Literature-Philosophy. 6. Deconstruction.
I. Title.
PR6oo3.Ez8zz8375 2007
848' .91409-dczz
Typeset by Westchester Book Group in nlr3.5 Garamond
For my parents

Contents
Acknowledgments
XI
Introduction
I
I. The Question of Literature 27
2. A Singular Odyssey 55
3· Beckett, Derrida, and the Ordinary 71
4- Beckett's "Exhausted" Archives 92
5· Singular Points of Transaction (I): The Subject n8
6. Singular Points of Transaction (II): "What Are Poets For?"
The Authority of Literature 140
7· Singular Points of Transaction (III): "Wanting in Inanity."
Negativity, Language, and "God" in Beckett 161
Concluding Remarks 183
Notes 193
Bibliography 231
Index 241