Research Catalog

Title

A taste for the negative : Beckett and nihilism / Shane Weller.

Author

Weller, Shane

Publication

London : Legenda, 2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 212; 22 cm.

Summary

"Since the mid-1950s, when the works of Samuel Beckett began to attract sustained critical attention, commentators have tended either to dismiss his oeuvre as nihilist or defend it as anti-nihilist. On the one side are figures such as Georg Lukacs; on the other, some of the most influential philosophers and literary theorists of the post-war era, from Theodor Adorno to Alain Badiou. Taking as his point of departure Nietzsche's description of nihilism as the 'uncanniest of all guests', Weller calls this critical tradition into question, arguing that the relationship between Beckett's texts and nihilism is one that will always be missed by those who are simply for or against Beckett."--Jacket.

Subject

• Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989 > Criticism and interpretation
• Nihilism (Philosophy)
• Nihilism (Philosophy) in literature

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-207) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. The naive calculations of a theorist -- 2. Ubi Nihil Vales : body, mind and utterance -- 3. Habitable spaces, havens of hope -- 4. Exacerbations and the question of remains.

ISBN

1904713084 (pbk.)

OCLC

• 56457380
• SCSB-11424778

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library