Narrational method against narrative material: Samuel Becketi's Murphy

Abstract

This cssay is a study of the enunciative process of Samuel Beckeu's "first and only novel" (11. P. Abbot), Murphy (1938). ln contrast to the criticai view that explains this novel (away) by describing it as a text in wbicb "style is at odds with tbe matter," this paper analyzes the rift between narrative voice anda oarrative material io Murphy botb as a fur1her elaboration of the theoretical problems raised by More Pricks Than Kicks (1934) and as an early prefiguration of the displacemcnt of fiction by oarration characteristic of Watt (1944) aod of Beckeu·s later work.