This dissertation offers both a theoretical investigation into the relationships between narrative, knowledge and personhood and a literary critical analysis of a group of Samuel Beckett's works in which narrative, knowledge and personhood are the central themes. / I present an account of the notion of narrative and explore the nature of justified narrative assertions. I then turn to skeptical and anti-realist arguments about the ability of narratives to represent truthfully the world. Such arguments are widespread in postmodernist and poststructuralist circles, and in order to evaluate them, I consider particular arguments of Jean-Francois Lyotard, Christopher Norris and Hayden White, all of whom question the ability of narratives to be true. The positions of these theorists rely upon deep conceptual confusion, and, after sorting out their claims, I conclude that they offer no compelling reasons to doubt that narratives can accurately and truthfully represent the world. / Next, I offer an analysis of the relationship between the notion of personhood and narrative. I argue against postmodernist and poststructuralist critiques of subjectivity, and, drawing on the work of various contemporary philosophers, I defend notions of subjectivity and selfhood while acknowledging and examining the essentially narrative nature of such phenomena. The concept of a "personal history" receives detailed analysis, as does the notion of a "situated self." While agreeing with particular criticisms of what is often called the "modern self," I argue that there are specific normative projects of modernity, namely autonomy and self-realization, that are worth preserving. / Finally, I explore the themes of narrative, knowledge and personhood in the nouvelles of Samuel Beckett. These works represent crises of narrative and personhood, and they depict the epistemic and ethical difficulties encountered by persons under conditions of modernity, conditions in which individual lives often lack narrative unity and meaning. I read Beckett as a critic of culture whose work, while deeply critical of certain trends in modern culture, points to the need for individual subjects to find true and meaningful narratives in which they can participate as co-authors.

This thesis analyses the Jungian archetypes employed in Beckett&#039 / s trilogy. It begins with an overview of Jungian archetypes and the relation of these archetypes to the fundamental themes dealt with in Beckett&#039 / s work. The thesis then asserts that some archetypal features occur almost obsessively and are further clearly implicated in the main themes of the trilogy. The central archetypal patterns that frequently appear in the novel are the hero&#039 / s quest, return to paradise and rebirth. This dissertation is therefore primarily organised around these archetypes, and Beckett&#039 / s use of these archetypal motifs to reinforce his black philosophy will be illustrated and exemplified in the study.

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met index, lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington. / Bibliography: l. 150-153.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 1974.

Frankfurt (Main), Univ., Diss., 2009

Issued also as theisis, Bonn. / Bibliography: p. 280-291.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-66).

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2007

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Comparative Literature, December 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-218). Also available on the Internet.