在早期創作中,貝克特深受喬伊斯"文字革命"的影響,傾心素材的鋪陳和機巧的展示。其小說處女作《春夢》對中國文化的大肆挪用就體現了他對業師的膜拜和炫耀自身學識的沖動。隨著自我意識的覺醒,在第二部小說《莫菲》的創作中,他竭力擺脫喬伊斯的影響,從"擴展"性藝術走向"收縮"性藝術,用典日趨簡潔,中國文化的印記隨之銳減。在其后續作品中,中國文化幾乎銷聲匿跡,這一驟變取決于貝克特對喬伊斯創作手法的揚棄。中國文化從濫用到棄用,是貝克特自我意識迅速崛起的結果,與揚西貶東的"東方學"無關,體現了他創作方向的重大轉變。

Early in his career, S. Beckett was so greatly influenced by J. Joyce’s "Revolution of the Word" that he succeeded to the latter’s habit of grafting. The excessive allusions to Chinese culture in his virgin novel Dream is an illustration of his worship of Joyce and impulse to show off his knowledge. While writing his second novel Murphy, Beckett tried to escape Joyce’s shadow and preferred art of "contraction" to art of "expansion." Here his allusions are so economical that Chinese culture is much less hinted at. In his later works, he hardly mentioned Chinese culture. This instant change results from Beckett’s sublimation of J. Joyce rather than his Europe-Centered "orientalism," and illustrates the quick awakening of his selfconsciousness as a creative writer.