A Poetics of Miscommunication

Abstract

An analysis of the concept of miscommunication in and through literature. Primary sources include the novels of Samuel Beckett and Reader-response theory, particularly in the writings of Wolfgang Iser. This thesis problematizes the concept of ambiguity within the literary field and argues instead for the rehabilitation of miscommunication as a productive lens through which literature should be viewed. It provides a brief history of the ways in which the concept of miscommunication has been used and is presently used before settling on Samuel Beckett's trilogy of novels as the grounds for exploring alternative understandings of the way in which miscommunication can instantiate and improve the overall communicative endeavor. The thesis ends with some of the author's own creative and conceptual writing so as to explore the problem from both a critic's and a writer's perspective.