BECKETT’S INQUESTS: Malone Dies and the Mysteries of the State

Beckett's interest in the detective novel and its plot devices has been frequently evoked in critical studies of his early fiction; however, less attention has been dedicated to the ways in which the trilogy can be situated in relation to the historical remit of detective fiction. Drawing on Luc Boltanski's analysis of the detective novel as a social and historical genre, I analyse the role played by institutions and organised bodies in Malone Dies, and I discuss the historicity of Beckett's critique of the Nation-State.