Manuscript Genetics, Joyce's Know-How, Beckett's Nohow »

Dirk Van Hulle is associate professor of English at the University of Antwerp.

By taking the principles of manuscript genetics and using them to engage in a comparative study of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, Dirk Van Hulle has produced a provocative work that re-imagines the links between the two authors. His elegant readings reveal that the most striking similarities between these two lie not in their nationality or style but in their shared fascination with the process of revision.
 
Van Hulle's thoughtful application of genetic theory--the study of a work from manuscript to final form in its various iterations--marks a new phase in this dynamic field of inquiry. As one of only a handful of books in English dealing with this emerging area of study, Manuscript Genetics, Joyce's Know-How, Beckett's Nohow will be indispensable not only to Joyce and Beckett scholars but also to anyone interested in genetic criticism.

List of Tables     ix
Foreword   Sebastian D. G. Knowles     xi
Acknowledgments     xiii
Abbreviations     xv
Transcription Conventions     xvii
Introduction     1
Genetic Criticism     7
Genetics and Poetics     9
Methodology     24
Strategies and Typologies     47
Joyce's Know-How     53
Introduction: "Work in Progress"     55
Decomposition     77
Recombination: S, M, L     83
Beckett's Nohow     115
Introduction: "Work in Regress"     117
Recollection     128
Decomposition: L, M, S     162
Notes     195
Works Cited     207
Index     227