The International Reception of Samuel Beckett

Mark Nixon, Matthew Feldman

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781441123183
• eBook ISBN: 9781441160027
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: English Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Over the last decade, Samuel Beckett's popularity has rocketed around the world and he is increasingly recognised as one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century but there has been very little scholarly work on Beckett's reception outside Europe. This comprehensive volume brings together essays from leading critics on Beckett's international critical reception. Due to Beckett's linguistic and artistic abilities, he was intimately involved in the translation and production of his writings in German, French, English and Spanish; and consequently countries using these languages have sophisticated critical traditions. However, many other countries have adopted Beckett as their own, from places where he lived for lengthy periods of his life (England, France, Ireland and Germany), to those finding directly applicable political messages in his work (such as ex-Soviet states including the Czech Republic and Romania), and those countries whose national literary traditions bear heavily upon his work (e.g. Norway and Italy). This fascinating volume reveals Beckett's evolving critical reception from contemporary reviews to the present.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: ‘Getting Known’ – Samuel Beckett’s International Reception
• 1 The Business of Being Beckett: Beckett’s Reception in the USA
• 2 Beckett among the Philosophes: The Critical Reception of Samuel Beckett in France
• 3 Beckett’s Reception in Great Britain
• 4 Samuel Beckett’s Reception in Ireland
• 5 The Reception of Beckett’s Theatre and Television Pieces in West and East Germany
• 6 Shades of Negativity and Self-Reflexivity: The Reception of Beckett in German Literary Studies
• 7 Samuel Beckett’s Reception in Australia and New Zealand
• 8 The Reception of Samuel Beckett in China
• 9 The Reception of Samuel Beckett in Japan
• 10 Samuel Beckett and Poland
• 11 Samuel Beckett in the Low Countries
• 12 Thinking of ‘a Rhyme for “Euganean”’: Beckett in Italy
• 13 Beckett’s Nordic Reception
• 14 Samuel Beckett behind the Iron Curtain: The Reception in Eastern Europe
• 15 A Long Time Coming: The Critical Response to Samuel Beckett in Spain and Portugal
• Index