The Affects, Cognition, and Politics of Samuel Beckett's Postwar Drama and Fiction

Revolutionary and Evolutionary Paradoxes
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-3-030-34904-2
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 286 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 391 g

Reihe: New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century

The Affects, Cognition, and Politics of Samuel Beckett’s Postwar Drama and Fiction: Revolutionary and Evolutionary Paradoxes theorizes the revolutionary and evolutionary import of Beckett’s works in a global context defined by increasingly ubiquitous and insidious mechanisms of capture, exploitation, and repression, alongside unprecedented demands for high-volume information-processing and connectivity. Part I shows that, in generating consistent flows of solidarity-based angry laughter, Beckett’s works sabotage coercive couplings of the subject to social machines by translating subordination and repression into processes rather than data of experience. Through an examination of Beckett’s attack on gender/ class-related normative injunctions, the book shows that Beckett’s works can generate solidarity and action-oriented affects in readers/ spectators regardless of their training in textual analysis. Part II proposes that Beckett’s works can weaken the cognitivedominance of constrictive “frames” in readers/ audiences, so that toxic ideological formations such as the association of safety and comfort with simplicity and “sameness” are rejected and more complex cognitive operations are welcomed instead—a process that bolsters the mind’s ability to operate at ease with increasingly complex, malleable, extensible, and inclusive frames, as well as with increasing volumes of information.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ionica, Cristina

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Dramen und Dramatiker
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Theaterwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Einzelne Autoren: Monographien & Biographien
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Prosa, Erzählung, Roman, Prosaautoren
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur Irische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction to Beckett’s “Absurdist” Excess.- Part I Contagion and Accessibility: Revolutionary Beckett.- 2. Repetition, Deliberation, and an Other Power: The Paradox as Practice.- 3. The Liberating Laughter of “Nearly There”: Beckett’s Solidarity-Building Dramas.- 4. Under-the-Radar Derision and Anger: Becoming Revolutionary in/ through Beckett’s Fiction.- Part II Script Evaluation and Enrichment: Evolutionary Beckett.- 5. Beckett’s “Script Multiplication and Enrichment”: Rejecting Toxic Disjunctions and Seeking Inclusivity.- 6. Evaluation, Expulsion, Expansion, and Reframing: Building Processing Speed and Tolerance to Cognitive Strain.- 7. Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Cristina Ionica teaches English, Film, Writing, and Professional Communication courses at Fanshawe College in London, Canada. Her research has been published in ESC: English Studies in Canada, Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, MLS: Modern Language Studies, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, and Horror Studies.