Beckett and Phenomenology [Hardcover]

Existentialism and poststructuralism have provided the two main theoretical approaches to Samuel Beckett's work. These influential philosophical movements, however, owe a great debt to the phenomenological tradition.

This volume, with contributions by major international scholars, examines the phenomenal in Beckett's literary worlds, comparing and contrasting his writing with key figures including Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It advances an analysis of hitherto unexplored phenomenological themes, such as nausea, immaturity and sleep, in Beckett's work. Through an exploration of specific thinkers and Beckett's own artistic method, it offers the first sustained and comprehensive account of Beckettian phenomenology.
Existentialism and poststructuralism have provided the two main theoretical approaches to Samuel Beckett's work. These influential philosophical movements, however, owe a great debt to the phenomenological tradition.

This volume, with contributions by major international scholars, examines the phenomenal in Beckett's literary worlds, comparing and contrasting his writing with key figures including Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It advances an analysis of hitherto unexplored phenomenological themes, such as nausea, immaturity and sleep, in Beckett's work. Through an exploration of specific thinkers and Beckett's own artistic method, it offers the first sustained and comprehensive account of Beckettian phenomenology.

AcknowledgementsNotes on Contributors Introduction: Beckettian Phenomenologies? Ulrika Maude (University of Durham) and Matthew Feldman (University of Northampton) PART I: BECKETT AND PHENOMENOLOGY 1. But what was this pursuit of meaning, in this indifference to meaning?': Beckett, Husserl and Meaning Creation', Matthew Feldman (University of Northampton) 2. Phenomenologies of the Nothing: Democritus, Heidegger, Beckett, Shlƒs