Beckett and Modernism

This book of collected essays approaches Beckett's work through the context of modernism, while situating it in the literary tradition at large. It builds on current debates aiming to redefine ‘modernism' in connection to concepts such as ‘late modernism' or ‘postmodernism'. Instead of definitively re-categorizing Beckett under any of these labels, the essays use his diverse oeuvre – encompassing poetry, criticism, prose, theatre, radio and film – as a case study to investigate and reassess the concept of ‘modernism after postmodernism' in all its complexity, covering a broad range of topics spanning Beckett's entire career. In addition to more thematic essays about art, history, politics, psychology and philosophy, the collection places his work in relation to that of other modernists such as T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf, as well as to the literary canon in general. It represents an important contribution to both Beckett studies and modernism studies.

Olga Beloborodova is a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp’s Centre for Manuscript Genetics. Her work examines the evocations of fictional minds in Samuel Beckett’s prose and drama according to the paradigm of extended cognition. She is also one of the editors of the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.

Dirk Van Hulle is Professor of English Literature at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, Director of the Centre for Manuscript Genetics and Co-Director of the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project. His publications include Modern Manuscripts (2014), Samuel Beckett’s Library (with Mark Nixon, 2013) and the New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Beckett (2015).

Pim Verhulst is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp’s Centre for Manuscript Genetics. His recent publications include The Making of Samuel Beckett’s Molloy and Malone meurt / Malone Dies (with Magessa O’Reilly and Dirk Van Hulle, 2017). He is Assistant Editor of the Journal of Beckett Studies.