“Both Text and Gloss”: Hermeneutic Translatory Structures in Molloy and Waiting for Godot Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

This thesis reads Samuel Beckett’s novel Molloy and play Waiting for Godot in tandem with Walter Benjamin’s theory of translation. I argue that translation manifests in both texts, and that it is this manifestation which explains the texts’ resistance to interpretation. This thesis begins by setting forth a theory of Samuel Beckett’s self-translation, which it argues is both de-familiarizing in the style of Benjamin and “hermeneutic” in the way that Lawrence Venuti uses the term. I then examine the ways in which this Beckettian translation manifest in the bifurcated works mentioned above, before examining the figure of the messenger, a character who appears in both works and reifies the complex relationship between translation and interpretation.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments..................6

Introduction..................1

Chapter 1: Molloy..................10

Chapter 2: Waiting for Godot..................30

Coda..................49

Bibliography..................53

 

 

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Literature, Comparative Literature, English
Keyword	Molloy Walter Benjamin Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot Hermeneutics Translation
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Elizabeth Goodstein, Emory University
Committee Members	Daniel Bosch, Emory University Dr. Elena Glazov-Corrigan, Emory University

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