Annotation
OBJECTIVES
Samuel Beckett?s plays are characterised by a constant experimentation with dramatic forms, together with an exploration of the limits of the medium used for a particular piece. The course focuses primarily on the ways in which meaning gets created in this context: textual analysis will always go hand-in-hand with an examination of the performative aspects of the play-text and the specific forms of dramatic communication utilised. The material consists both of stage and radio plays, a number of which will be presented on the video or in audio form. The numerous themes to discuss include suffering, old age, dissolution of the human subject, harmonious expression of emptiness, the torturing gaze of the society and, last but not least, humour.
MATERIAL
I. Happy Days
II. All That Fall
III. Krapp?s Last Tape
IV. Words and Music
V. Cascando
VI. Not I
VII. That Time
VIII. Footfalls
IX. Ohio Impromptu
X. Catastrophe
XI. What Where*
ASSESSMENT
Active participation in debates, an in-class presentation and a final essay (min. length 7 pp).