Beckett Beyond the Normal
Explores Beckett’s artistic vision at the intersection of queer, disability and posthumanist studies
The first volume to address norms and normalcy as an enduring target of Beckettian skepticismShifts the emphasis from generic talk of ‘Other Becketts’ to specific accounts of the queer, the disabling, the abnormalising aspects of the mature worksAbsorbs and transcends the philosophy/history binary that has shaped the last twenty yearsBrings Beckett Studies into the twenty-first century as the first intersectional volume to address queerness, disability and biopolitics together
This book examines why Beckett’s writing is so queer, so disabled and disabling. Why did Beckett write so often about mental illness, disability, perversion? Why did he take such an interest in ‘abnormals’ and ‘degenerates' How did he reconceive ‘the human’ in the wake of Hitler and Stalin? Drawing on Beckett’s voluminous archive, as well as his primary texts, the authors use psychoanalysis, queer theory, disability theory and biopolitics to push Beckett studies beyond the normal.

1137020233
Beckett Beyond the Normal
Explores Beckett’s artistic vision at the intersection of queer, disability and posthumanist studies
The first volume to address norms and normalcy as an enduring target of Beckettian skepticismShifts the emphasis from generic talk of ‘Other Becketts’ to specific accounts of the queer, the disabling, the abnormalising aspects of the mature worksAbsorbs and transcends the philosophy/history binary that has shaped the last twenty yearsBrings Beckett Studies into the twenty-first century as the first intersectional volume to address queerness, disability and biopolitics together
This book examines why Beckett’s writing is so queer, so disabled and disabling. Why did Beckett write so often about mental illness, disability, perversion? Why did he take such an interest in ‘abnormals’ and ‘degenerates' How did he reconceive ‘the human’ in the wake of Hitler and Stalin? Drawing on Beckett’s voluminous archive, as well as his primary texts, the authors use psychoanalysis, queer theory, disability theory and biopolitics to push Beckett studies beyond the normal.

28.95 In Stock
Beckett Beyond the Normal

Beckett Beyond the Normal

Beckett Beyond the Normal

Beckett Beyond the Normal

Paperback

$28.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 3-7 days. Typically arrives in 3 weeks.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

Explores Beckett’s artistic vision at the intersection of queer, disability and posthumanist studies
The first volume to address norms and normalcy as an enduring target of Beckettian skepticismShifts the emphasis from generic talk of ‘Other Becketts’ to specific accounts of the queer, the disabling, the abnormalising aspects of the mature worksAbsorbs and transcends the philosophy/history binary that has shaped the last twenty yearsBrings Beckett Studies into the twenty-first century as the first intersectional volume to address queerness, disability and biopolitics together
This book examines why Beckett’s writing is so queer, so disabled and disabling. Why did Beckett write so often about mental illness, disability, perversion? Why did he take such an interest in ‘abnormals’ and ‘degenerates' How did he reconceive ‘the human’ in the wake of Hitler and Stalin? Drawing on Beckett’s voluminous archive, as well as his primary texts, the authors use psychoanalysis, queer theory, disability theory and biopolitics to push Beckett studies beyond the normal.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781474460477
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Publication date: 08/25/2022
Pages: 168
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Seán Kennedy is Coordinator of Irish Studies at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

‘Here all is strange’: Beckett beyond the normal, Seán Kennedy

1 Murphy and the Tao of Autism, Joseph Valente

2 Narrating Disruption: Realist Fiction and the Politics of Form in Watt, William Davies

3 ‘no human shape’: Unformed Life in The Unnamable, Byron Heffer

4 Beckett, Evangelicalism and the Biopolitics of Famine, Seán Kennedy

5 ‘He wants to know if it hurts!’: Suffering beyond Redemption in Waiting for Godot, Hannah Simpson

6 ‘as if the sex matters’: Beckett, Barthes and Endgame in Love, James Brophy

7 Beckett’s Queer Time of Défaillance: Ritual and Resistance in Happy Days, Nic Barilar

8 Beckett’s Safe Words: Normalising Torture in How It Is, Dominic Walker

Bibliography

Notes on Contributors

Index

What People are Saying About This

University of Alabama James McNaughton

These needle-sharp essays pierce the skin. They tattoo anew Beckett’s utter disdain for redemptive art and liberal humanism. Torture, starvation, disability are not metaphors. More, the essays shatter pieties in contemporary criticism: from autism studies to queer studies; from historical to psychoanalytic approaches. Once again, Seán Kennedy disorders the discipline.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews