This thesis examines Beckett's trilogy as a work of metafiction, approaching each novel through its primary metafictional device, the self-conscious narrator. Since the narrators are aware of their roles as story-tellers, the examination is carried out in light of Beckett's pronouncements on the nature of art and the artist. Not only are the narrators found to meet Beckett's criteria for artists and artistic development, but Beckett's aesthetic is seen virtually to require self-consciousness. In their situations, their relationship to the audience (both reader and narratee) and the nature of their tales, the self-conscious narrators follow the artistic trajectory Beckett maps out in his critical writings. As Beckett's aesthetic is fulfilled, the narrators' increasing self-consciousness intensifies the metafictional aspects of the trilogy. The trilogy is thus a demonstration of Beckett's self-conscious aesthetic--a descent into reflexivity on the part of the narrators, and through the narrators, on the part of trilogy as a whole.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-330) / vii, 330 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Resists the notion of a subversive Beckett appropriated by the cultural mainstream, by tracing the discursive limits of avante-garde writing, and by exploring how Beckett paradoxically reinforced the traditional author-function even as he appeared to challenge it. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 2001

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio University, June, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-306).

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Auteursnaam op omslag: Asja Szafraniec. Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Zugl.: Düsseldorf, Univ., Diss., 2006

Zugl.: Basel, Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität Heidelberg, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 329-344) and indexes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. S. E. Gontarski, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 141 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 400-412). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.A.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. 1975. / Typescript. Bibliography : leaves 215-223. Also available online.