The Haptic Aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s Drama PDF
Preview The Haptic Aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s Drama
The Happptic Aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s Drama New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century Series Editor: Jennifer M. Jeffers AAss tthhee lleeaaddiinngg lliitteerraarryy ffiigguurree ttoo eemmeerrggee ffrroomm ppoosstt––WWoorrlldd WWaarr IIII EEuurrooppee,, SSaammuueell BBeecckkeetttt’’ss texts and his literary and intellectual legacy have yet to be fully appreciated by critics and scholars. The goal of N ew Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Centuryyis to stimulate new approaches and develop fresh perspectives on Beckett, his texts, and his legacy. The series wwiillll pprroovviiddee aa ffoorruumm ffoorr oorriiggiinnaall aanndd iinntteerrddiisscciipplliinnaarryy iinntteerrpprreettaattiioonnss ccoonncceerrnniinngg aannyy aassppeecctt of Beckett’s work or his influence upon subsequent writers, artists, and thinkers. JJeennnniiffeerr MM.. JJeeffffeerrss iiss PPrrooffeessssoorr ooff EEnngglliisshh aanndd AAssssoocciiaattee DDeeaann aanndd OOmmbbuuddssppeerrssoonn ffoorr tthhee College of Graduate Studies at Cleveland State University. In addition to numerous articles, she is the author of The Irish Novel at the End of the Twentieth Century: Gender, Bodies, andd Powerrr , B ritain Colonized: Hollywood’s Appropriation of British Literature, Uncharted Space: The End of Narrativee, the editor of Samuel Beckett, and co-editor of Contextualizing Aesthetics: From Plato to Lyotarddd. AAlso in the Series: Samuel Beckett: History, Memory, Archive edited by Se á n Kennedy and Katherine Weiss Beckett’s Masculinity by Jennifer M. Jeffers Sex and Aesthetics in Samuel Beckett’s Work by Paul Stewart Late Modernist Style in Samuel Beckett and Emmanuel Levinas by Peter Fifield The Haptic Aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s Drama by Trish McTighe The Haptic Aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s Drama Trish McTighe THEHAPTICAESTHETICINSAMUELBECKETT’SDRAMA Copyright © Trish McTighe, 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-27698-8 All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-44692-6 ISBN 978-1-137-27533-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137275332 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McTighe, Trish. The haptic aesthetic in Samuel Beckett’s drama / Trish McTighe. pages cm.—(New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Beckett, Samuel, 1906–1989—Dramatic works. 2. Touch in literature. 3. Self in literature. I. Title. PR6003.E282Z778 2013 842(cid:2).914—dc23 2012051315 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: June 2013 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Series Editor’s Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction Haptics, Aesthetics, Philosophy 1 Chapter 1 Eye: Failing, Myopic, Grainy 13 Chapter 2 Ear: Full of Relentless Echoes 35 Chapter 3 Mouth: Trying to Tell It All, Failing 61 Chapter 4 Skin, Space, Place 87 Chapter 5 On the One Hand . . . (The One That Writes the Body) 113 Chapter 6 On the Other Hand . . . (The One That Refuses to Touch) 133 Conclusion Departing Bodies: Between Doubting Thomas and Noli me Tangeree 151 Notess 155 Bibliographyy 179 Indexx 191 This page intentionally left blank Series Edditor’s Prefface A As the leading literary figure to emerge from post–World War II Europe, Samuel Beckett’s texts and his literary and intellectual l egacyy have yet to be fully explored by critics and scholars. The purpose off “New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century” is to stimu- late new approaches and fresh perspectives on Beckett’s texts and legacy. The series will provide a forum for original and interdisciplinary interpretations concerning Beckett’s work and/or his influence upon subsequent writers, artists, and thinkers. Much has been made of James Joyce’s influence on Beckett (which is limited to the early years of his career), but there has yet to be a thorough analysis of Beckett’s influence not only on writers (Vaclavv Havel, Edna O’Brien, Harold Pinter, J. M. Coetzee, and James Kelman) but also on artists (Jasper Johns, Bruce Nauman, and Avigdor Arikha), musi- cians (Philip Glass, Heinz Holliger, and Mascual Dusapin), philosophers (Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, and Michel Foucault), and cultural and theoretical critics (Felix Guattari, Theodor Adorno, and Maurice Blanchot). Because Beckett’s influence traverses disciplinary boundaries, scholarly pos- sibilities are virtually without limit. This series will be a forum for new criti- cal discourses on Beckett and his ongoing interdisciplinary legacy. “New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century” invites wwork that reconnects Beckett with his own cultural and historical situa- tion. The importance of archival access to unpublished Beckett material, the impact of the publication of The Letters of Samuel Beckett, and a ges- tational period since the official biography appeared, all lead to the next phase of Beckett Studies brimming with exciting possibilities for interpre- tation and evaluation. Along with recovering from its ahistorical phase, Beckett criticism is also beginning to open up new avenues of critique across the four genres in which Beckett wrote (fiction, drama, poetry, and criti- cal essay). “New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century” invites scholarly proposals that feature Beckett’s work and/or his influence or cross-ddiscouurse with other creative artists,, thinkers,, or movements. This page intentionally left blank Ackknowlleddgments In course of researching and writing this book, I have been privileged to have had guidance and inspiration from several scholars. I would like to thank, first and foremost, Professor Anna McMullan (University off Reading, UK) for her support, guidance, and inspiration throughout all stages of the preparation of this book. I am grateful also for the insight- ful commentaries on the text from Dr. Paul Murphy (Queen’s University, Northern Ireland) and Professor Mary Bryden (University of Reading, UK), and to Professor Everett Frost for all his advice. I would also like to thank series editor Professor Jennifer Jeffers for her help and encouragement with the early draft of this manuscript, and Brigitte Schull and Naomi Tarlow at Palgrave for their advice and patience. A large portion of my thanks must go too to my parents, Maura and Michael McTighe and to Evelyn McLoughlin for all their support, and to my daughter Moya for being a light in my life. I wish to thank especiallyy Dr. Kurt Taroff for his discerning eye in reading portions of the manuscript, his optimism, and his willingness to argue an academic point late into the night. This book is dedicated both to him and to my family. Parts of chapters 2 and 5 have been previously published as ““ N oli mee Tangeree : Haptic Certitude in Beckett’s Eh Joee and Nacht und Trrrä umee ,” in MModern Dramaa 55.2 (2012), 215–229. This material has been reprinted with permission from University of Toronto Press (((www.utpjournals.com), © 2012 University of Toronto.
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