Self Re-writing and Self Un-writing Reconsidering Gertrude Stein's Marginalisation in Discussions of Samuel Beckett's Autographic Writing

Nugent-Folan, Georgina (2022): Self Re-writing and Self Un-writing Reconsidering Gertrude Stein's Marginalisation in Discussions of Samuel Beckett's Autographic Writing. In: Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd'Hui, Vol. 34, No. 1: pp. 163-176

Abstract

This essay analyses the imbalance identifiable in critical approaches to the gendering of Beckett's influences with respect to his autographic writing. Contrasting Beckett's Company with Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, I unravel the particulars that have led to Stein's marginalisation as a figure against which we can situate Beckett's autographic writings, with a view to further understanding why the remarkable correspondence between Beckett and Stein's autographic praxes has continually evaded cri tical attention. Building on Porter Abbott's description of autography as self-writing, I propose that Stein's autography be considered an example of self-rewriting, and Beckett's of self-unwriting.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Languages and Literatures > Department 3
• Subjects: 400 Language > 400 Language
• ISSN: 0927-3131
• Language: English