Beckett's Words

The Promise of Happiness in a Time of Mourning

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Phenomenology, Aesthetics, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British
Cover of the book Beckett's Words by David Kleinberg-Levin, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Kleinberg-Levin ISBN: 9781474216883
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: July 30, 2015
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic Language: English
Author: David Kleinberg-Levin
ISBN: 9781474216883
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: July 30, 2015
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English

At stake in this book is a struggle with language in a time when our old faith in the redeeming of the word-and the word's power to redeem-has almost been destroyed. Drawing on Benjamin's political theology, his interpretation of the German Baroque mourning play, and Adorno's critical aesthetic theory, but also on the thought of poets and many other philosophers, especially Hegel's phenomenology of spirit, Nietzsche's analysis of nihilism, and Derrida's writings on language, Kleinberg-Levin shows how, because of its communicative and revelatory powers, language bears the utopian "promise of happiness," the idea of a secular redemption of humanity, at the very heart of which must be the achievement of universal justice. In an original reading of Beckett's plays, novels and short stories, Kleinberg-Levin shows how, despite inheriting a language damaged, corrupted and commodified, Beckett redeems dead or dying words and wrests from this language new possibilities for the expression of meaning. Without denying Beckett's nihilism, his picture of a radically disenchanted world, Kleinberg-Levin calls attention to moments when his words suddenly ignite and break free of their despair and pain, taking shape in the beauty of an austere yet joyous lyricism, suggesting that, after all, meaning is still possible.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

At stake in this book is a struggle with language in a time when our old faith in the redeeming of the word-and the word's power to redeem-has almost been destroyed. Drawing on Benjamin's political theology, his interpretation of the German Baroque mourning play, and Adorno's critical aesthetic theory, but also on the thought of poets and many other philosophers, especially Hegel's phenomenology of spirit, Nietzsche's analysis of nihilism, and Derrida's writings on language, Kleinberg-Levin shows how, because of its communicative and revelatory powers, language bears the utopian "promise of happiness," the idea of a secular redemption of humanity, at the very heart of which must be the achievement of universal justice. In an original reading of Beckett's plays, novels and short stories, Kleinberg-Levin shows how, despite inheriting a language damaged, corrupted and commodified, Beckett redeems dead or dying words and wrests from this language new possibilities for the expression of meaning. Without denying Beckett's nihilism, his picture of a radically disenchanted world, Kleinberg-Levin calls attention to moments when his words suddenly ignite and break free of their despair and pain, taking shape in the beauty of an austere yet joyous lyricism, suggesting that, after all, meaning is still possible.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book The German Army 1939–45 (1) by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book The Fire, the Star and the Cross by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book 'The Dogstone' and 'Nasty, Brutish and Short' by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book British Universities Past and Present by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book The Gulf States by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book Ethnographies of Waiting by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book Talking Heads' Fear of Music by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book On the Religious Frontier by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book The US Army in the Vietnam War 1965–73 by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book My Best Friend, Maybe by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book My Name Is . . . by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book The Internet Unconscious by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book Trade in the Service of Sustainable Development by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book Half of What I Say by David Kleinberg-Levin
Cover of the book Diary of a Madman by David Kleinberg-Levin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy