Spatio-temporal deictics and construction of the ‘’I ‘’: mutations of literary subjectivity from Dostoyevsky to Beckett

Received: 09/09/2025 - Accepted: 09/11/2025 - Published: 30/06/2026

Abstract

In any form of oral or written communication, deictics have an irrefutable importance: they position the utterance in a spatio-temporal dimension and define the identity of the participants in the conversation. Through the analysis of contemporary and classical literary passages, this article proposes a study of deictics, in particular personal pronouns as markers of subjectivity, temporality and affective anchorage. We will try through this study to show how the use of deictics supports the construction of meaning, expresses interiority and establishes a singular relationship between the speaker, his narrative and the reader. In the field of literature, their use goes far beyond a simple reference function; it contributes significantly to the expression of lived experiences, emotions and memory. This article examines various sections where the use of personal pronouns shows: How do deictics, functioning on a personal level, create in literary work an experience of existence that is both subjective and universal? Finally, the study of deictics sheds light on the way in which literary writing puts into tension the real situation of reading and the fictional universe, by inscribing any narration in a dynamic of anchoring, displacement and polyphony.