Wastes and wilds of the Third Text, a roving topos between Samuel Beckett’s self-translations of L’Innommable and The Unnamable

Authors

  • Lily Robert Foley  University of Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/eutopias.0.18619

Keywords:

Self-translation, deconstruction, Beckett, L’innommable, The Unnamable

Abstract

Using the theoretical tools of reflections on self-translation and the heritage of Deconstruction and Postcolonial thinking, this article strives to deform discourse surrounding a canonical author. It constructs a third text in-between the self-translation of Samuel Beckett’s The Unnamable and L’Innommable. The third text is a performative space, where reading takes immediate form in its rewriting, its transformation. It creates new syntagms, figures, stories and themes in the transport routes shared by translation and metaphor. After a brief look at work on self-translation, specifically in Beckett, the article attempts to deconstruct theory with practice, reading (and thus rewriting) translations of the same, instances of self-allegory, and figures of displacement in time and space.

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Published

2017-06-29

How to Cite

Foley, L. R. (2017). Wastes and wilds of the Third Text, a roving topos between Samuel Beckett’s self-translations of L’Innommable and The Unnamable. EU-topías. A Journal on Interculturality, Communication, and European Studies, 13, 101–112. https://doi.org/10.7203/eutopias.0.18619
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