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Limiting Interpretive Possibilities in Beckett and Calvina

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Date Issued:
2008
Summary:
Advances in literary studies have expanded the multitude of interpretations possible of a single work, perhaps too far. Positive progress from here requires constructing a way to avoid the chaos of an interpretive free- for-all without reverting to the debunked, totali zing systems of old. Limiting Interpretive Possibilities finds in Italo Calvina's If on a winter's night a traveler and Samuel Beckett's Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable the model for a combinatorial literature that respects the key, inalienable elements of author, reader, work, and universe. Any reading that fits into this framework is a "possible" interpretation of the work, while readings that deny one or more of these elements are " impossible." Ultimately, a literary work has room for all its possible interpretations, which co-exist in a combinatorial manner that accounts for even interpretations that have yet to emerge, ensuring that no new way of reading will fundamentally alter the original work.
Title: Limiting Interpretive Possibilities in Beckett and Calvina.
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Name(s): Ardoin, Paul
Berlatsky, Eric L., Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2008
Date Issued: 2008
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 86 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Advances in literary studies have expanded the multitude of interpretations possible of a single work, perhaps too far. Positive progress from here requires constructing a way to avoid the chaos of an interpretive free- for-all without reverting to the debunked, totali zing systems of old. Limiting Interpretive Possibilities finds in Italo Calvina's If on a winter's night a traveler and Samuel Beckett's Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable the model for a combinatorial literature that respects the key, inalienable elements of author, reader, work, and universe. Any reading that fits into this framework is a "possible" interpretation of the work, while readings that deny one or more of these elements are " impossible." Ultimately, a literary work has room for all its possible interpretations, which co-exist in a combinatorial manner that accounts for even interpretations that have yet to emerge, ensuring that no new way of reading will fundamentally alter the original work.
Identifier: FA00000888 (IID)
Degree granted: Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000888
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.