The voice phenomenon in Beckett's French-language short stories

The article deals with the specific features of the voice phenomenon representation and the peculiarities of its functioning in French-language short stories written by Beckett, namely in Premier amour (First Love), Le calmant (The Calmative) and Au loin un oiseau. The abovementioned texts allow us, on the one hand, to demonstrate the genesis of the writer's artistic and aesthetic principles of representing the studied phenomenon, which were later reflected in theatrical, radio and television plays, and, on the other hand, - to shed light on the specificity of the literary world of these texts. The research conducted allows us to conclude that in all the analyzed texts the voice is captured in different forms of representation and has a varying (from text to text) functionality. In Premier amour, there is a feminine voice asking to restore the corporeality and individuality of its origin. However, the stamp of convulsiveness in the heroine's voice paradoxically has its source not in the corporeal but in the ideal. In Le calmant, the protagonist's feebleness, expressed by the signs of his corporeal conditions, is doubled by his aphony, which thus transcends one of the most important motifs for Beckett's writing - that of human weakness. This motif also reveals here another shade of meaning - weakness as a 'respite' from the suffering which human existence bears. Finally, in Au loin un oiseau we see a ventriloquist character. Due to the 'I' living inside, the 'He' is becoming similar to ventriloquists. Unlike them, however, his speaking capacity is under control of the narrator.