"Splendid little pictures": Leibnizian Terminology in the Works of Samuel Beckett and Carlo Emilio Gadda

Wehling-Giorgi, Katrin

Abstract

Monadic spaces inhabit a significant number of both Beckett's and Gadda's narrative spaces. The refashioning and distortion of the Leibnizian concept of the monad in their oeuvres brings to light some essential features of both authors' critique of the traditional, unitary notion of the self. Indeed, the divergences which transpire in the reinterpretation of the rationalist concept of individual substance reveal a fascinating parallel relating to the fragmentation of subjectivity in both authors' writings. In this context, particular attention will be given to Gadda's early theoretical and fictional writings and Beckett's fiction up to the French Trilogy.

Citation

Wehling-Giorgi, K. (2010). "Splendid little pictures": Leibnizian Terminology in the Works of Samuel Beckett and Carlo Emilio Gadda. Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd'hui, 22, 341-354

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2010
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2014
• Journal: Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui
• Print ISSN: 0927-3131
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Volume: 22
• Pages: 341-354
• Publisher URL: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rodopi/sbta/2010/00000022/00000001/art00024