Beckett Re-Membered: After the Centenary
Editor: James Carney, Leonard Madden, Michael O’Sullivan, and Karl White
Date Of Publication: Jan 2012
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-3500-8
Isbn: 1-4438-3500-5
Beckett Re-Membered showcases some of the most recent scholarship on the Irish novelist, poet, and playwright, Samuel Beckett. As well as essays on Beckett’s literary output, it contains a section on the philosophical dimension of his work – an important addition, given the profound impact Beckett has had on European philosophy. Rather than attempting to circumscribe Beckett scholarship by advocating a theoretical position or thematic focus, Beckett Re-Membered reflects the exciting and diverse range of critical interventions that Beckett studies continues to generate. In the nineteen essays that comprise this volume, every major articulation of Beckett’s work is addressed, with the result that that it offers an unusually comprehensive survey of its target author. Beckett Re-Membered will appeal to any reader who is interested in provocative responses to one of the twentieth century’s most important European writers.

James Carney will be taking up a Marie Curie Fellowship in the University of Oxford in October 2012. Currently, he works as an Assistant Lecturer in Modern English at University College Cork. He has published on literary linguistics in a wide range of scholarly journals.

Leonard Madden has recently completed a PhD on Beckett’s poetry in the School of English, University College Cork, where he currently teaches. His research focuses on the intersections between theology and literary modernism, as well as Beckett’s engagement with medieval romance forms.

Michael O’Sullivan is Assistant Professor of English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published Michel Henry: Incarnation, Barbarism and Belief, The Incarnation of Language: Joyce, Proust and a Philosophy of the Flesh, and Weakness: A Literary and Philosophical History.

Karl White is a freelance writer based in London. He holds graduate degrees in Ancient History and Philosophy. The publications he has written for include The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Business Post, The Literary Encyclopedia and Philosophy Now. He has also written textbooks on Shakespearean drama for a secondary-school audience.

“This fresh and exciting collection of essays on Samuel Beckett amounts to a vital intervention within the field of Beckett Studies. By bringing several threads of scholarly investigation together, Beckett Re-membered examines not only the philosophical, theoretical, and aesthetic influences that informed the Irish writer’s work, but it also considers the author’s legacy within a new and original framework. Coherently arranged and offering sharp insight from an international field of well-known and energetic young scholars alike, the collection attends to a stunning array of critical questions and brings new intellectual depth to Beckett scholarship. Collectively, the nineteen essays outline Beckett’s engagement with European philosophy, modernism, and literary theory, and map the influence of each onto his fiction and plays. Skillfully ordered and intellectually challenging throughout, this book brings further light to Samuel Beckett’s life and work.”

– Padraig Kirwan, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London

“Now that the publication of the four-volume Letters of Samuel Beckett is well underway, we are all the more in need of volumes like Beckett Re-Membered, which maps Beckett’s complex literary project in terms of his intellectual commitments. The surprising unity of this multi-authored study is primarily an effect of Beckett’s own powers of concentration – although a certain faithfulness of the authors to the spirit of Beckett is crucial. The editors divide the essays into four sections, Philosophy, Poetry, Drama, and Fiction, placing philosophy where it belongs in studies of Beckett – at the foundation of his work. Beckett’s letters have shown how his lifelong dedication to reading, study, and thinking, his pursuit of the difficult questions of human existence, supports and permeates his imaginative writing. Beckett Re-Membered acknowledges and demonstrates the full range of Beckett’s talents and interests – his imaginative achievements and his engagement with fundamental questions of art and life. The knowledgeable, concise introductions and the insightful, highly readable essays comprise an ideal resource for university faculty and students. But the book is also for lovers of literature who crave the kind of open and questioning conversations that Beckett’s writing has always provoked.”

– Joseph R. Chaney, Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program, Associate Professor of English, Indiana University South Bend

Price Uk Gbp: 39.99
Price Us Usd: 59.99

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