Katherine Murphy
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Samuel Beckett's Peristaltic Modernism, 1932-1958 Adam
‘FIRST DIRTY, THEN MAKE CLEAN’: SAMUEL BECKETT’S PERISTALTIC MODERNISM, 1932-1958 ADAM MICHAEL WINSTANLEY PhD THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND RELATED LITERATURE MARCH 2013 1 ABSTRACT Drawing together a number of different recent approaches to Samuel Beckett’s studies, this thesis examines the convulsive narrative trajectories of Beckett’s prose works from Dream of Fair to Middling Women (1931-2) to The Unnamable (1958) in relation to the disorganised muscular contractions of peristalsis. Peristalsis is understood here, however, not merely as a digestive process, as the ‘propulsive movement of the gastrointestinal tract and other tubular organs’, but as the ‘coordinated waves of contraction and relaxation of the circular muscle’ (OED). Accordingly, this thesis reconciles a number of recent approaches to Beckett studies by combining textual, phenomenological and cultural concerns with a detailed account of Beckett’s own familiarity with early twentieth-century medical and psychoanalytical discourses. It examines the extent to which these discourses find a parallel in his work’s corporeal conception of the linguistic and narrative process, where the convolutions, disavowals and disjunctions that function at the level of narrative and syntax are persistently equated with medical ailments, autonomous reflexes and bodily emissions. Tracing this interest to his early work, the first chapter focuses upon the masturbatory trope of ‘dehiscence’ in Dream of Fair to Middling Women, while the second examines cardiovascular complaints in Murphy (1935-6). The third chapter considers the role that linguistic constipation plays in Watt (1941-5), while the fourth chapter focuses upon peristalsis and rumination in Molloy (1947). The penultimate chapter examines the significance of epilepsy, dilation and parturition in the ‘throes’ that dominate Malone Dies (1954-5), whereas the final chapter evaluates the significance of contamination and respiration in The Unnamable (1957-8). -
Travels with Samuel Beckett, 1928-1946
Beyond the Cartesian Pale: Travels with Samuel Beckett, 1928-1946 Charles Travis [I]t is the act and not the object of perception that matters. Samuel Beckett, “Recent Irish Poetry,” e Bookman (1934).1 Introduction he Irish Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett’s (1902-1989) early writings of the 1930s and 1940s depict the cities of Dublin, London and Saint-Lô Tin post-war France, with affective, comedic and existential flourishes, respectively. These early works, besides reflecting the experience of Beckett’s travels through interwar Europe, illustrate a shift in his literary perspective from a latent Cartesian verisimilitude to a more phenomenological, frag- mented and dissolute impression of place. This evolution in Beckett’s writing style exemplifies a wider transformation in perception and thought rooted in epistemological, cultural and philosophical trends associated with the Conti- nental avant garde emerging in the wake of the fin de siècle. As Henri Lefeb- vre has noted: Around 1910, the main reference systems of social practice in Eu- rope disintegrated and even collapsed. What had seemed estab- lished for good during the belle époque of the bourgeoisie came to an end: in particular, space and time, their representation and real- ity indissociably linked. In scientific knowledge, the old Euclidian and Newtonian space gave way to Einsteinian relativity. But at the same time, as is evident from the painting of the period—Cézanne first of all, then analytical Cubism—perceptible space and per- spective disintegrated. The line of horizon, optical meeting-point of parallel lines, disappeared from paintings.2 At the age of fourteen, Beckett, a son of the Protestant Anglo Irish bourgeoisie, witnessed in the largely Catholic nationalist uprising in Ireland, something Charles Travis is at Trinity College Dublin, Long Room Hub. -
"Almost Lifeless, Like the Teller": the Instructive Performances of Samuel Beckett's Self-Aware Novels
“ALMOST LIFELESS, LIKE THE TELLER”: THE INSTRUCTIVE PERFORMANCES OF SAMUEL BECKETT’S SELF-AWARE NOVELS A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Garth Jerome Sabo May, 2011 Thesis written by Garth Jerome Sabo B.A., John Carroll University, 2009 M.A., Kent State University, 2011 Approved by _________Claire Culleton_________, Advisor _________Ronald Corthell________, Chair, Department of English _________Timothy Moerland______, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………..iv Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 “That which lurks behind, be it something or nothing” Chapter One………………………………………………………………………...……11 Transparency – Beckett and the Text as Art Chapter Two……………………………………………………………………………...41 Physicality – Beckett and the Text as Object Chapter Three…………………………………………………...............………………..70 Scatology – Beckett and the Text as Fart Chapter Four……………………………………………………………………..………98 Implications – Beckett and the Reader Notes………………………………………………………..…………………………..109 References……………………………………………………..….……….……………123 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Claire Culleton for her assistance in the composition and revision of this thesis. Her words of encouragement and attentiveness were invaluable in the process of this project’s completion. I would also like to thank Dr. Tammy Clewell and Dr. Robert Trogdon for serving on my committee and offering their tacit support through the course of my efforts. Thanks are also due to Dr. Jeanne Colleran, without whom I never would have been introduced to the works of Samuel Beckett. Were it not for the studies of Krapp’s Last Tape and Waiting for Godot she prompted, this thesis would have been impossible. On a personal note, I would like to thank Michelle Rigsby for the support and solidarity she offered. -
Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape
Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape: Remembering Kant, Forgetting Proust I wrote recently, in English, a short stage monologue (20 minutes) of which Time is the indubitable villain. — Samuel Beckett (Letters 3: 155)1 I The first volume of Samuel Beckett’s letters from the period 1929–40 provides new insights into Beckett’s intricate relationship with the writings of Marcel Proust, a relationship that has commonly been mediated through Beckett’s early academic study Proust, written in 1930 and published in 1931.2 Beckett’s letters to Thomas McGreevy during the preparation of Proust lament both the duration of reading necessitated by Proust’s monumental work – “And to think that I have to contemplate him at stool for 16 volumes!” (Letters 1: 12) – and a subsequent race against time to write the monograph. In July 1930, Beckett reported, “I can’t start the Proust. Curse this hurry any how. [. .] At least I have finished reading the bastard” (1: 26). By September, time is again of the essence: “I am working all day & most of the night to get this fucking Proust finished” (1: 46; emphasis in original). In preference to working on Proust in July 1930, Beckett was “reading Schopenhauer. Everyone laughs at that,” although his motivation was contemplation of an “intellectual justification of unhappiness – the greatest that has ever been attempted” (1: 32–33). Beckett insisted that “I am not reading philosophy, nor caring whether he is right or wrong or a good or worthless metaphysician” (1: 33). Whether they are right or wrong or even qualify as philosophy at all, the prefaces to the first and second editions of Arthur Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation (1818 and 1844, respectively) were certainly read by Beckett. -
Beckett As Marsyas
Beckett as Marsyas The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Albright, Daniel. 1999. Beckett as Marsyas. In Samuel Beckett and the arts: Music, visual arts, and non-print media, ed. Lois Oppenheim, 25-49. New York: Routledge. Published Version http://www.routledge-ny.com/books/Samuel-Beckett-and-the-Arts- isbn9780815325277 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3356141 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Daniel Albright University of Rochester Beckett as Marsyas Let me begin with a story about the origin of wind music. There was a satyr named Marsyas, so pleased with his skill at playing the aulos, a reed instrument recently invented by Minerva, that he challenged Apollo to a music contest, to be judged by the muses. Apollo won, and was so enraged by Marsyas' temerity that he roped him to a tree and flayed him alive--his whole body was one wound, his raw nerves and lungs and quivering organs exposed to the air (as Ovid tells the story in the sixth book of the Metamorphoses). This suggests that a stringed instrument, such as a harp, has a character different from that of a wind instrument, such as an oboe. And it suggests that expression is a dangerous goal in the arts: the expresser may find himself most horribly exhibited, ex-pressed, pressed out. -
Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett Murphy
Collected Shorter Plays Works by Samuel Beckett published by Grove Press Cas cando Mercier and Camier Collected Poems in Molloy English and French More Pricks Than Kicks The Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett Murphy Company Nohow On (Company, Seen Disjecta Said, Worstward Ho) Endgame Ill Ohio Impromptu Ends and Odds Ill Proust First Love and Other Stories Rockaby Happy Days Stories and Texts How It Is for Nothing I Can't Go On, I'll Go On Three Novels Krapp Last Tape Waiting for Godot The Lost Ones Watt s Malone Dies Worstward Ho Happy Days: Samuel Beckett's Production Notebooks, edited by James Knowlson Samuel Beckett: The Complete Short Prose, 1929-/989, edited and with an introduction and notes by S. E. Gontarski The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Endgame, edited by S. E. Gontarski The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Krapp's Last Tape, edited by James Knowlson The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot, edited by Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson COLLECTED SHORTER PLAYS SAMUEL BECKETT Grove Press New York Copyright© 1984 by Samuel Beckett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying,recording, or otherwise,without prior written permission of the publisher. Grove Press 841 Broadway New York, NY 10003 All That Fall © Samuel Beckett, 1957; Act Without Words I © Samuel Beckett, 1959; Act Without Words II© Samuel Beckett,1959; Krapp's Last 'Ihpe© Samuel Beckett,1958; Rough for Theatre I © Samuel Beckett, 1976; Rough for Theatre II© Samuel Beckett,1976; Embers © Samuel Beckett,1959; Rough for Radio I© Samuel Beckett,1976; Rough forRadio II© Samuel Beckett, 1976; Words and Music © Samuel Beckett,1962; Cascando© Samuel Beckett, 1963; Play © Samuel Beckett, 1963; Film © Samuel Beckett, 1967; The Old Tune, adapt. -
The Case of Jasper Johns Peter Murphy Great
Combination, Collaboration and Creation: The Case of Jasper Johns Peter Murphy Great art is marked by emphatic individual styles. From Titian to Jasper Johns, Van Gogh to Frank Stella, the individuality of major works of art and leading visual artists is unmistakable. We do not need to be told that a painting is by the hand of Rembrandt or Jackson Pollock. We can see that at a glance. The individual style of a great artist is difficult to miss. Such styles can be copied, parodied and caricatured. The irony is that what is most individual is also most generic. It translates easily into a type that can be imitated. The paradox of great art is that it is the imitable inimitable. That paradox is further underscored by the fact that such art, individualised as it is, is more often than not deeply shaped by collaboration. That which is most emphatically individual frequently bears the impress of the collective milieu, relationships and projects that populate the background experience of the working artist. Serious artists without question are self-possessed. They are driven by singular visions of what to create and how to create. Yet often they enter into relationships with partners, collaborators, aiders-and- abettors, affinity groups, milieu, and muses that are indispensable to their work. Part, but only part, of this has to do with the artistic ego. All egos, not least of all artistic egos, have vulnerabilities. That is to be human. Collabo- rations of different kinds aid, boost and enable fragile egos. Artists who are COLLOQUY text theory critique 22 (2011). -
Of Language in Samuel Beckett's Murphy and Watt Justin P
University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research Fall 8-1996 "Nothingness/ in words enclose" : supplementarity and the "veil" of language in Samuel Beckett's Murphy and Watt Justin P. Jakovac Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Jakovac, Justin P., ""Nothingness/ in words enclose" : supplementarity and the "veil" of language in Samuel Beckett's Murphy and Watt" (1996). Master's Theses. Paper 1152. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I certify that I have read this thesis and find that, in scope and quality, it satisfies the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Dr. James L. Pethica, Thesis Ad visor Dr. Alan Loxterman ~ Dr. Louis Schwartz \ .... "nothingness/ in words enclose": Supplementarity and the "Veil" of Language in Samuel Beckett's Murphy and Watt Justin Paul Jakovac M.A., English University of Richmond 1996 Thesis Director: Dr. James L. Pethica Samuel Beckett has asserted that language is a "veil" in which he must "bore one hole after another ... , until what lurks behind it- be it something or nothing- begins to seep through." This thesis employs Derrida's assertion that language involves the play of differance and the supplementarity of the sign. Since the supplement, in Derrida's words, "fills and marks a determined lack," language calls attention to the gap of nothingness already present in the play of differance. -
Staging Krapp's Last Tape Staging Beckett
Staging Krapp's Last Tape Staging Beckett (2012-15): The Impact of Productions of Beckett’s Plays on Theatre Practice and Cultures in the UK and Ireland The AHRC-funded Staging Beckett project is producing a database of all professional productions of Beckett’s plays in the UK and Ireland. At present, the project excludes radio and television productions, and adaptations, but includes visiting international productions of Beckett’s plays. We have put together a small selection of materials from the Beckett Archive at the University of Reading and other archival collections, including the Jocelyn Herbert archive, Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts, London, on productions of Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, to give you a sense of the scope of the project. Please do not touch the exhibits, except for the reference books at the end of the exhibition, and PHOTOGRAPHY OR FILMING ARE NOT ALLOWED. You will have a chance to leave comments, or your own recollections of any production of Krapp’s Last Tape you have seen, at the end of the exhibition. Beckett was using state of the art technology in 1958, when Krapp’s Last Tape opened at the Royal Court Theatre, London – what would he be using if he were around today? 1. Screen shot of the Staging Beckett website, currently in development, which will allow you to access the Beckett database, and other research resources on productions of Beckett’s plays, such as essays, featured productions, and blogs. 2. Some faces of Krapp in recent decades. Max Wall, Riverside Studios, London, dir. -
Robbins-Johnson Debate Fizzles
Library named for' Dr. Delmar Oviatt By Rip Rense of tbe college from 1959 miil STAFF WRITER 1962, wben tae wms nnnedVlce^ California Slate University, President for academic affairs. Northridge's new $7.5 miUion He retired from tbat position In library has been named after the 1969 and became dlirectaraf spe late Dr. Delmar T. Oviatt, cial projects nnlil lis dnath in CSUN's principal academic offi 1971. Oviatt was also OK td cer from its inception until 1969. veral ariministraiors CSUN's Faculty Senate, beaded somed presidanUnl dnties cfev- by Mary McEdwards, Associate ing tbe amtexA tnrmoil of 1969. Prolessor of St>eef:li and tbongb be was not officaallj named Communication, a lone-time acting presifienl. friend and former pupil of Ovi Aside from ULs adivitr att, delegated an ad hoc com ai CSUN, Oviatt was a reeog- mittee to recommend a fit nized commoilj fignre, receiv- ting honor fbr tbe late adminis ing munerans awards, trator. tte FemnndD Awaird The committee unanimoasly by 28 S^FenaMloVall^rl recommended a resolution to bers ot Commerce ior name the library after Oviatt, ing civic cuntrBiyiinmt. Oviatt and University President James was a membor and lrnale<f oi Cleary forwarded tbe resolitfiatt tbe NaUaoalConferenceQCChris tians and Jews, a director of to tbe Caliiomia State imiver tbe Nortbridge Cbamber of Com sity and CoUeges Board of Tmst- merce, anda member of tbe Ame ess, where it was officially rican MatkOBal Red Cross Valleir approved. Advisorj CoanciL Chancellor Glenn S. Dumke President Clearr, commenting commented, "It is most ajipro- on tbe Delmar T. -
"All Out": Seeking Silence Within the Postmodern Paradigm of Samuel Beckett Rachel Ganong Cedarville University
Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Department of English, Literature, and Modern English Seminar Capstone Research Papers Languages 4-11-2005 "On and On" until "All Out": Seeking Silence within the Postmodern Paradigm of Samuel Beckett Rachel Ganong Cedarville University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/ english_seminar_capstone Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Ganong, Rachel, ""On and On" until "All Out": Seeking Silence within the Postmodern Paradigm of Samuel Beckett" (2005). English Seminar Capstone Research Papers. 9. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/english_seminar_capstone/9 This Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Seminar Capstone Research Papers by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ganong 1 Rachel Ganong Dr. Donald Deardorff Senior Seminar 11 April 2005 "On and On" until "All Out": Seeking Silence within the Postmodern Paradigm of Samuel Beckett His predicament [Beckett] described as that of "one on his knees, head against a wall more like a cliff-with someone saying 'go on.'" Later he said, "Well, the wall will have to move a little, that's all" (Cochran 96). In his biography of Samuel Beckett's life, James Knowlson wdtes that Beckett failed miserably as a teacher (88); had Beckett not failed, he would have spent his life as a scholar, teaching and writing brilliant essays like his award winning Proust study. The sizable amount of literature on Beckett's creative wdting, however, seems to indicate that Beckett's pedagogic failure metamorphosed into a dazzling success for the humanity, which so frequently themes his work, through literature. -
Samuel Beckett and Bilingualism: How the Return to English Influences the Later Writing Style and Gender Roles of All That Fall and Happy Days
Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 Samuel Beckett nda bilingualism: how the return to English influences the later writing style and gender roles of All that Fall and Happy Days Julien F. Carriere Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Carriere, Julien F., "Samuel Beckett nda bilingualism: how the return to English influences the later writing style and gender roles of All that Fall and Happy Days" (2005). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2657. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2657 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. SAMUEL BECKETT AND BILINGUALISM: HOW THE RETURN TO ENGLISH INFLUENCES THE LATER WRITING STYLE AND GENDER ROLES OF ALL THAT FALL AND HAPPY DAYS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of French Studies by Julien F. Carrière B.A., Louisiana State University, 1996 M.A., Louisiana State University, 2000