Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot': Between Modernism and Postmodernism

Résumé du document

Samuel Beckett's most famous play Waiting for Godot was first written in French in 1948 and translated in English in 1952, that is to say shortly after the end of World War II. At that time, the threat of the Cold War, the recent horror of the concentration camps and the invention of the atomic bomb started to cast doubts upon the usual idea that civilisation could move mankind forwards only in a positive way. Society was progressively losing faith in civilisation and progress and this disillusionment was notably expressed through the existentialist movement that emerged then and called into question the real meaning of human condition in the world. Beckett's work was highly influenced by the historical and philosophical context of his time and, according to Andrew Kennedy, his position regarding the concept of art became more radical: his 'fairly typical modernist'(14) concerns turned during the post-war period into a 'total skepticism about the value, and even the possibility, of artistic expression'(14).

Extraits

[...] Abbott manages to distinguish between the two movements by asserting that Beckett is ''postmodern' in his deconstruction of plot . and modern in his reconstruction of characters'(34). Indeed, it seems that the whole work of Beckett reflects the postmodernist deconstruction, but the implied author is manifestly a modernism one as he keeps on expressing his spirit of opposition as such. In Waiting for Godot, this association of the two movements is shown through the situation of Vladimir and Estragon: J. [...]

[...] Because, in the end, as Estragon said: 'nothing is certain' (47). Works cited Abbott, H. Porter. Beckett writing Beckett: the author in the autograph. Ithaca, N.Y.; London: Cornell University Press Barker, Stephen. "Conspicuous Absence: trace and power in Beckett's drama." Rethinking Beckett: a Collection of critical essays. ed. Lance St John Butler and Robin J. Davis London: Macmillan Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. [...]

[...] In these conditions, it seems obvious that the writing of Waiting for Godot was inevitably influenced by reality. The debate whether this play belongs to the modernist or the postmodernist movement has already been led several times, thus the aim of this essay will not be to take sides with either of them, but rather to understand how and analyse why this work can be considered as belonging to both movements and to what extent it might be considered as pivotal in the move from modernism to postmodernism. [...]

[...] Once more, this meets the idea of human beings' need of recognition by the society and even more importantly the recognition by God, which would somehow ensure them a victory against death. After these analyses, it seems obvious that Waiting for Godot is composed of modernist as well as postmodernist features. But this simple assertion is not sufficient enough to explain how pivotal this work is in the move from one movement to the other. J. Fletcher suggested that Beckett was a 'postmodern modernist'(216); modernist because of his 'fidelity to the modernist spirit of opposition' (Abbott 25) but also postmodernist because of the deconstructive art he develops in his work. H.P. [...]

[...] London: Faber and Faber Calder, John. The philosophy of Samuel Beckett. London: Calder Cronin, Anthony. Samuel Beckett: the Last Modernist. London : HarperCollins Driver, Tom F . "Beckett by the Madeleine." Columbia University Forum (summer 1961): 23. Fletcher, John. Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp's last tape. London : Faber and Faber Fletcher, John. "Modernism and Samuel Beckett." Facets of European Modernism. [...]