Robert C. Solomon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195181579
- eISBN:
- 9780199786602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195181573.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Camus’ essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, is a study of what Camus calls “the Absurd”. This chapter explores the various interpretations of that idea, including human mortality and the absurdity of ...
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Camus’ essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, is a study of what Camus calls “the Absurd”. This chapter explores the various interpretations of that idea, including human mortality and the absurdity of repetition.Less
Camus’ essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, is a study of what Camus calls “the Absurd”. This chapter explores the various interpretations of that idea, including human mortality and the absurdity of repetition.
Robert C. Solomon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195181579
- eISBN:
- 9780199786602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195181573.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Camus’ novel, The Plague, breaks from the focus on individual experience to talk about solidarity and the experience of being with other people. The titular plague has been interpreted as a metaphor ...
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Camus’ novel, The Plague, breaks from the focus on individual experience to talk about solidarity and the experience of being with other people. The titular plague has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Nazi occupation, but it is interpreted here much more generally and more philosophically as the nature of human mortality and “the Absurd”. The novel also gives us Camus’ clearest statement about the significance of what Sartre calls “Being-for-Others”.Less
Camus’ novel, The Plague, breaks from the focus on individual experience to talk about solidarity and the experience of being with other people. The titular plague has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Nazi occupation, but it is interpreted here much more generally and more philosophically as the nature of human mortality and “the Absurd”. The novel also gives us Camus’ clearest statement about the significance of what Sartre calls “Being-for-Others”.
Robert C. Solomon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195181579
- eISBN:
- 9780199786602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195181573.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Camus’s last novel, The Fall, returns to the Absurd and individual experience and the conflict between experience and reflection. Clamence is a brilliant but burnt out Parisian lawyer languishing ...
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Camus’s last novel, The Fall, returns to the Absurd and individual experience and the conflict between experience and reflection. Clamence is a brilliant but burnt out Parisian lawyer languishing away in gloomy Amsterdam. Having escaped from what he describes as his perverse role in the French judicial system, he is living the rest of his days as what he calls a “judge-penitent”, wallowing in his own guilt and doing whatever it takes to escape judgment. But this chapter analyzes the story by focusing on Clamence’s overweening pride.Less
Camus’s last novel, The Fall, returns to the Absurd and individual experience and the conflict between experience and reflection. Clamence is a brilliant but burnt out Parisian lawyer languishing away in gloomy Amsterdam. Having escaped from what he describes as his perverse role in the French judicial system, he is living the rest of his days as what he calls a “judge-penitent”, wallowing in his own guilt and doing whatever it takes to escape judgment. But this chapter analyzes the story by focusing on Clamence’s overweening pride.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new ...
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For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new sonic options to BBC producers. At first, the mere presence of “electronic sound” was a novelty, but soon, as these sounds began to appear in programming with greater frequency, several producers within the Drama Department began to explore Continental musical techniques. This chapter tells this history and discusses how this curiosity led to the first deliberate domestic productions using concrete techniques. It also introduces a radio‐specific adaptation of Michel Chion's concept of the acousmêtre, traditionally any sound in a film for which the source is invisible, as a way of understanding the appeal of electronic sound in both science fiction and Theatre of the Absurd productions, including Samuel Beckett's All That Fall (1957), the success of which precipitated the opening of the Radiophonic Workshop a year later.Less
For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new sonic options to BBC producers. At first, the mere presence of “electronic sound” was a novelty, but soon, as these sounds began to appear in programming with greater frequency, several producers within the Drama Department began to explore Continental musical techniques. This chapter tells this history and discusses how this curiosity led to the first deliberate domestic productions using concrete techniques. It also introduces a radio‐specific adaptation of Michel Chion's concept of the acousmêtre, traditionally any sound in a film for which the source is invisible, as a way of understanding the appeal of electronic sound in both science fiction and Theatre of the Absurd productions, including Samuel Beckett's All That Fall (1957), the success of which precipitated the opening of the Radiophonic Workshop a year later.
Paul M. Zall
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123714
- eISBN:
- 9780813134864
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123714.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named ...
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Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named Franklin “Man of the Year” for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans: humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin's words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, this book chronicles Franklin's use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and enduring humor of Benjamin Franklin, the book samples Franklin's apologues on the necessity of living reasonably even when life's circumstances may seem absurd.Less
Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named Franklin “Man of the Year” for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans: humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin's words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, this book chronicles Franklin's use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and enduring humor of Benjamin Franklin, the book samples Franklin's apologues on the necessity of living reasonably even when life's circumstances may seem absurd.
Peter Lamarque
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199577460
- eISBN:
- 9780191722998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577460.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter identifies a view about the ontology of art in the final sections of Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nausea and suggests a more positive evaluation of the novel's ending than is commonly ...
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This chapter identifies a view about the ontology of art in the final sections of Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nausea and suggests a more positive evaluation of the novel's ending than is commonly proposed. A contrast between the nature of objects, as a source of nausea, and the nature of works of art (with the focus on the jazz song ‘Some of These Days’) is drawn in terms of three features: the viscous, the absurd, and the contingent. Reasons for the absence, in Sartre's view, of these features in works of art are elaborated, partly by reference to Sartre's work The Psychology of Imagination, as is the idea that works are objects of the imagination. Sartre's puzzling claim that works of art do not (strictly) exist is explained in terms of the distinctive ontology of art that emerges in the novel.Less
This chapter identifies a view about the ontology of art in the final sections of Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nausea and suggests a more positive evaluation of the novel's ending than is commonly proposed. A contrast between the nature of objects, as a source of nausea, and the nature of works of art (with the focus on the jazz song ‘Some of These Days’) is drawn in terms of three features: the viscous, the absurd, and the contingent. Reasons for the absence, in Sartre's view, of these features in works of art are elaborated, partly by reference to Sartre's work The Psychology of Imagination, as is the idea that works are objects of the imagination. Sartre's puzzling claim that works of art do not (strictly) exist is explained in terms of the distinctive ontology of art that emerges in the novel.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter introduces the concept of the absurd, which is frequently used in literature and is defined as something applied to the modern sense of human purposelessness in a universe with no ...
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This chapter introduces the concept of the absurd, which is frequently used in literature and is defined as something applied to the modern sense of human purposelessness in a universe with no meaning or value. It studies the connections the absurd has to nihilism, existentialism and ontology, and then takes a look at ‘negative theology’, which is relevant to practitioners of the absurd. From there, the discussion considers the problems related to the perception of inherent absurdity and the deconstruction of a philosophical system into nonsense, contradiction and absurdity. The chapter also considers the concept of the socio-linguistic absurd, as well as the nature of jokes and humour.Less
This chapter introduces the concept of the absurd, which is frequently used in literature and is defined as something applied to the modern sense of human purposelessness in a universe with no meaning or value. It studies the connections the absurd has to nihilism, existentialism and ontology, and then takes a look at ‘negative theology’, which is relevant to practitioners of the absurd. From there, the discussion considers the problems related to the perception of inherent absurdity and the deconstruction of a philosophical system into nonsense, contradiction and absurdity. The chapter also considers the concept of the socio-linguistic absurd, as well as the nature of jokes and humour.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based ...
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This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based philosophical background. Sections covering theoretical approaches and an overview of the historical literary antecedents to the ‘modern’ absurd introduce the largely twentieth-century core chapters. In addition to discussing a variety of literary movements (from Surrealism to the Russian OBERIU), the book offers detailed case studies of four prominent exponents of the absurd: Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Daniil Kharms and Flann O'Brien. There is also wide discussion of other English-language and European contributors to the phenomenon of the absurd.Less
This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based philosophical background. Sections covering theoretical approaches and an overview of the historical literary antecedents to the ‘modern’ absurd introduce the largely twentieth-century core chapters. In addition to discussing a variety of literary movements (from Surrealism to the Russian OBERIU), the book offers detailed case studies of four prominent exponents of the absurd: Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Daniil Kharms and Flann O'Brien. There is also wide discussion of other English-language and European contributors to the phenomenon of the absurd.
Joseph Frank
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823239252
- eISBN:
- 9780823239290
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823239252.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
In the aftermath of World War II, there was a great influx of refugees into the United States, three of whom were Mircea Eliade, E. M. Cioran, and Eugène Ionesco. Eliade, the much-admired historian ...
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In the aftermath of World War II, there was a great influx of refugees into the United States, three of whom were Mircea Eliade, E. M. Cioran, and Eugène Ionesco. Eliade, the much-admired historian of religion, appears, under a fictitious name, in Saul Bellow's novel Ravelstein. His books on the history of religion elevated him to a commanding height in the field, and he attained fame as a novelist both in his own country and in France. Cioran, known for his brilliantly disillusioned reflections on history and culture, written first in Romanian and then in French, was praised as one of the greatest contemporary stylists in his adopted language. Ionesco pioneered the vogue of the theater of the absurd, and his comic but also symbolically tragic plays were performed everywhere; eventually he was elected to the Académie Française. All three men were the subjects of a fascinating French study, Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco: L'Oubli du fascisme (2002), written by Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine.Less
In the aftermath of World War II, there was a great influx of refugees into the United States, three of whom were Mircea Eliade, E. M. Cioran, and Eugène Ionesco. Eliade, the much-admired historian of religion, appears, under a fictitious name, in Saul Bellow's novel Ravelstein. His books on the history of religion elevated him to a commanding height in the field, and he attained fame as a novelist both in his own country and in France. Cioran, known for his brilliantly disillusioned reflections on history and culture, written first in Romanian and then in French, was praised as one of the greatest contemporary stylists in his adopted language. Ionesco pioneered the vogue of the theater of the absurd, and his comic but also symbolically tragic plays were performed everywhere; eventually he was elected to the Académie Française. All three men were the subjects of a fascinating French study, Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco: L'Oubli du fascisme (2002), written by Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter discusses absurdist practice during the twentieth century, examining absurdism in the works of some writers, namely Fernando Pessoa, Antonin Artaud and Camus. It notes that these writers ...
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This chapter discusses absurdist practice during the twentieth century, examining absurdism in the works of some writers, namely Fernando Pessoa, Antonin Artaud and Camus. It notes that these writers can be regarded as absurdists, and that they sometimes embrace absurdist qualities. The chapter also clarifies that the use of the word ‘absurd’ does not guarantee that a work is to be considered – with justification – as fully or solely belonging to the ‘literature of the absurd’.Less
This chapter discusses absurdist practice during the twentieth century, examining absurdism in the works of some writers, namely Fernando Pessoa, Antonin Artaud and Camus. It notes that these writers can be regarded as absurdists, and that they sometimes embrace absurdist qualities. The chapter also clarifies that the use of the word ‘absurd’ does not guarantee that a work is to be considered – with justification – as fully or solely belonging to the ‘literature of the absurd’.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter studies the concept of the Theatre of the Absurd, which is based on the precepts of Antonin Artaud, and goes on to describe Artaud as the bridge between the present Theatre of the Absurd ...
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This chapter studies the concept of the Theatre of the Absurd, which is based on the precepts of Antonin Artaud, and goes on to describe Artaud as the bridge between the present Theatre of the Absurd and the pioneers of the concept. It then identifies the five major dramatists of the absurd: Arthur Adamov, Eugène Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. The chapter focuses on the works of these dramatists – except for Beckett – and views the Theatre of the Absurd in (Soviet) Russia and in east Europe (during the Cold War).Less
This chapter studies the concept of the Theatre of the Absurd, which is based on the precepts of Antonin Artaud, and goes on to describe Artaud as the bridge between the present Theatre of the Absurd and the pioneers of the concept. It then identifies the five major dramatists of the absurd: Arthur Adamov, Eugène Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. The chapter focuses on the works of these dramatists – except for Beckett – and views the Theatre of the Absurd in (Soviet) Russia and in east Europe (during the Cold War).
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter explores several of Samuel Beckett's works, where one can find traces of the absurd. It first takes a look at traces of Kafka in Beckett's work, and then studies the prose fiction of ...
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This chapter explores several of Samuel Beckett's works, where one can find traces of the absurd. It first takes a look at traces of Kafka in Beckett's work, and then studies the prose fiction of Beckett's prewar period, a period that covers three works: Dream of Fair to Middling Women, More Pricks Than Kicks and Murphy. This is followed by a discussion of Beckett's foray into drama, wherein Endgame and Waiting for Godot are examined. The chapter also explores the Kharmasian trace in Beckett, views Watt as the epitome of Beckettian absurdism and considers the nature of the absurd in terms of Beckett.Less
This chapter explores several of Samuel Beckett's works, where one can find traces of the absurd. It first takes a look at traces of Kafka in Beckett's work, and then studies the prose fiction of Beckett's prewar period, a period that covers three works: Dream of Fair to Middling Women, More Pricks Than Kicks and Murphy. This is followed by a discussion of Beckett's foray into drama, wherein Endgame and Waiting for Godot are examined. The chapter also explores the Kharmasian trace in Beckett, views Watt as the epitome of Beckettian absurdism and considers the nature of the absurd in terms of Beckett.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter surveys the absurd present in prose writing of the latter half of the twentieth century, considering the more recent developments in drama and briefly referencing several theoretical, ...
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This chapter surveys the absurd present in prose writing of the latter half of the twentieth century, considering the more recent developments in drama and briefly referencing several theoretical, popular and general areas. It starts with a section on Boris Vian, one of the contributors to absurdist theatre and the writer of I Spit on Your Graves, and then identifies a number of American and English-language absurdist novels, including John Fowles's Mantissa and Joseph Heller's Catch-22. The discussion also explores European absurdist prose, such as the works of Roland Topor and Cees Nooteboom, and women absurdist writers. The final part of the chapter discusses Sarah Kane, whose plays deal with human relations and usually involve extreme acts of sexuality and violence, and looks at absurdism in popular culture, thoughts and science.Less
This chapter surveys the absurd present in prose writing of the latter half of the twentieth century, considering the more recent developments in drama and briefly referencing several theoretical, popular and general areas. It starts with a section on Boris Vian, one of the contributors to absurdist theatre and the writer of I Spit on Your Graves, and then identifies a number of American and English-language absurdist novels, including John Fowles's Mantissa and Joseph Heller's Catch-22. The discussion also explores European absurdist prose, such as the works of Roland Topor and Cees Nooteboom, and women absurdist writers. The final part of the chapter discusses Sarah Kane, whose plays deal with human relations and usually involve extreme acts of sexuality and violence, and looks at absurdism in popular culture, thoughts and science.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This concluding chapter summarises the discussion on the four ‘special author’ representatives of absurdism that were presented in previous chapters. It emphasises that the term ‘absurd’ can be ...
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This concluding chapter summarises the discussion on the four ‘special author’ representatives of absurdism that were presented in previous chapters. It emphasises that the term ‘absurd’ can be applied to literature in three ways, namely: as a prominent period style, as a category with philosophical implications and as a modern reworking of much older works. The chapter also describes how one can study the absurd in literature.Less
This concluding chapter summarises the discussion on the four ‘special author’ representatives of absurdism that were presented in previous chapters. It emphasises that the term ‘absurd’ can be applied to literature in three ways, namely: as a prominent period style, as a category with philosophical implications and as a modern reworking of much older works. The chapter also describes how one can study the absurd in literature.
K. M. Newton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748636730
- eISBN:
- 9780748652082
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748636730.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter reviews the relation between the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ and the tragic and argues that though Samuel Beckett's drama can't be pinned down as being either tragic or anti-tragic, Harold ...
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This chapter reviews the relation between the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ and the tragic and argues that though Samuel Beckett's drama can't be pinned down as being either tragic or anti-tragic, Harold Pinter's The Caretaker has a strong claim to be a major modern tragedy. Beckett is without doubt the major figure associated with the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’. Waiting for Godot might be said to go beyond the tragic, at least in any conventional sense, and to deny the audience anything resembling catastrophe or catharsis as that would provide an inauthentic emotional consolation. It is possible that Pinter in The Caretaker is presenting a kind of counter-argument to the view that human beings are always free to overcome their past selves and create themselves anew.Less
This chapter reviews the relation between the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ and the tragic and argues that though Samuel Beckett's drama can't be pinned down as being either tragic or anti-tragic, Harold Pinter's The Caretaker has a strong claim to be a major modern tragedy. Beckett is without doubt the major figure associated with the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’. Waiting for Godot might be said to go beyond the tragic, at least in any conventional sense, and to deny the audience anything resembling catastrophe or catharsis as that would provide an inauthentic emotional consolation. It is possible that Pinter in The Caretaker is presenting a kind of counter-argument to the view that human beings are always free to overcome their past selves and create themselves anew.
Terry Southern
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781496803382
- eISBN:
- 9781496806789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496803382.003.0024
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter reviews William Faulkner's 1929 novel As I Lay Dying, the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's journey to a cemetery in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband and five ...
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This chapter reviews William Faulkner's 1929 novel As I Lay Dying, the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's journey to a cemetery in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband and five children, carrying her body in a coffin in a wagon, encounter various difficulties along the way. The chapter first discusses humor in existentialist literature before focusing on the absurd in As I Lay Dying. It also considers protagonists in English fiction who all possess candor and a sense of the absurd, including Jimmy Porter, Sebastian Dangerfield, Charles Lumley, Billy Liar, and Larry Vincent. It argues that the “grotesque” in Faulkner is not ordinarily read as humorous because the highly personalized style tends to obscure it.Less
This chapter reviews William Faulkner's 1929 novel As I Lay Dying, the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's journey to a cemetery in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband and five children, carrying her body in a coffin in a wagon, encounter various difficulties along the way. The chapter first discusses humor in existentialist literature before focusing on the absurd in As I Lay Dying. It also considers protagonists in English fiction who all possess candor and a sense of the absurd, including Jimmy Porter, Sebastian Dangerfield, Charles Lumley, Billy Liar, and Larry Vincent. It argues that the “grotesque” in Faulkner is not ordinarily read as humorous because the highly personalized style tends to obscure it.
Michael G. Levine
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823255108
- eISBN:
- 9780823260850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823255108.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The chapter focuses on the title Celan gave to his 1960 speech delivered on the occasion of his reception of the Büchner Prize for Literature. While critics tend to understand the title word ...
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The chapter focuses on the title Celan gave to his 1960 speech delivered on the occasion of his reception of the Büchner Prize for Literature. While critics tend to understand the title word “meridian” exclusively in spatial terms, the chapter argues that it should be understood temporally as the moment when the sun stands directly overhead at noon, dividing the day into a.m. and p.m. This moment recurs at critical points in Büchner’s plays and prose works and it is Celan’s achievement to have recognized its pivotal— and highly contradictory— significance. What is gathered together at this privileged point in time are three competing ways of viewing the meridian: as a moment of absolute sovereignty, as a point of stasis and traumatic fixation, and as the site of a possible opening toward what is yet to come. It is through his encounter with this critical moment in Büchner that Celan articulates his own poetic practice, his way not just of incorporating readings of other writers into his own work but of leaving his poems open in their turn to the solicitations of others. His notion of poetry as “desperate conversation” should thus be understood in terms of this intertextual relationship.Less
The chapter focuses on the title Celan gave to his 1960 speech delivered on the occasion of his reception of the Büchner Prize for Literature. While critics tend to understand the title word “meridian” exclusively in spatial terms, the chapter argues that it should be understood temporally as the moment when the sun stands directly overhead at noon, dividing the day into a.m. and p.m. This moment recurs at critical points in Büchner’s plays and prose works and it is Celan’s achievement to have recognized its pivotal— and highly contradictory— significance. What is gathered together at this privileged point in time are three competing ways of viewing the meridian: as a moment of absolute sovereignty, as a point of stasis and traumatic fixation, and as the site of a possible opening toward what is yet to come. It is through his encounter with this critical moment in Büchner that Celan articulates his own poetic practice, his way not just of incorporating readings of other writers into his own work but of leaving his poems open in their turn to the solicitations of others. His notion of poetry as “desperate conversation” should thus be understood in terms of this intertextual relationship.
Frank Shovlin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781781383216
- eISBN:
- 9781786944047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781383216.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Here McGahern’s interest in existentialism and absurdity is examined. In particular is it suggested that he is conscious of Albert Camus and his Myth of Sisyphus as well as The Outsider. That ...
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Here McGahern’s interest in existentialism and absurdity is examined. In particular is it suggested that he is conscious of Albert Camus and his Myth of Sisyphus as well as The Outsider. That interest in Camus ties in to McGahern’s admiration for Samuel Beckett: these duel influences can be seen in stories like ‘The Creamery Manager’’, ‘Swallows’ and ‘Wheels’.Less
Here McGahern’s interest in existentialism and absurdity is examined. In particular is it suggested that he is conscious of Albert Camus and his Myth of Sisyphus as well as The Outsider. That interest in Camus ties in to McGahern’s admiration for Samuel Beckett: these duel influences can be seen in stories like ‘The Creamery Manager’’, ‘Swallows’ and ‘Wheels’.
Noëlle Vahanian
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823256952
- eISBN:
- 9780823261444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823256952.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter continues the line of ethico-political analysis from the previous chapter. It is an exposéhat demonstrates the limitations of thinking and problem-solving by calling to witness ...
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This chapter continues the line of ethico-political analysis from the previous chapter. It is an exposéhat demonstrates the limitations of thinking and problem-solving by calling to witness contemporary modes of production, political spin on critical situations and religious conflicts. It looks at dairy industrial practices, Iraq war newspeak, and the concepts and recommendations of the 9/11 commission to expose the failure of thinking to preempt its own callousness. Though no thinking is safe, this is not an endorsement of faith against reason, but instead, it is a warning against any form of fundamentalism. Any assuredness we might have in the worth and the efficacy of our intelligent solutions comes without insurance against their unintended or far-reaching consequences. Theological thinking finds hope in this very human condition.Less
This chapter continues the line of ethico-political analysis from the previous chapter. It is an exposéhat demonstrates the limitations of thinking and problem-solving by calling to witness contemporary modes of production, political spin on critical situations and religious conflicts. It looks at dairy industrial practices, Iraq war newspeak, and the concepts and recommendations of the 9/11 commission to expose the failure of thinking to preempt its own callousness. Though no thinking is safe, this is not an endorsement of faith against reason, but instead, it is a warning against any form of fundamentalism. Any assuredness we might have in the worth and the efficacy of our intelligent solutions comes without insurance against their unintended or far-reaching consequences. Theological thinking finds hope in this very human condition.
M.V. Ramana
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199450459
- eISBN:
- 9780199083084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450459.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Chapter 10 investigates the Department of Atomic Energy’s (DAE’s) claim that ‘Safety is accorded overriding priority in all activities’. Is this diagnosis correct? How does India’s track record ...
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Chapter 10 investigates the Department of Atomic Energy’s (DAE’s) claim that ‘Safety is accorded overriding priority in all activities’. Is this diagnosis correct? How does India’s track record measure up against international safety criteria? Evaluating numerous small accidents in India’s various reactors and processing plants, this chapter shows that that this confidence is misplaced and absurd, a theme that echoes throughout the volume. Some of the reasons for this poor safety record include: the nuclear establishment’s ‘techno-optimistic’ risk assessment approach, which underplays uncertainties and denies the possibility of many risks associated with nuclear energy; the DAE’s unaccountable and technocratic risk framework; and finally the lack of financial, technical, and organizational independence of India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board from the nuclear establishment it is tasked with surveying.Less
Chapter 10 investigates the Department of Atomic Energy’s (DAE’s) claim that ‘Safety is accorded overriding priority in all activities’. Is this diagnosis correct? How does India’s track record measure up against international safety criteria? Evaluating numerous small accidents in India’s various reactors and processing plants, this chapter shows that that this confidence is misplaced and absurd, a theme that echoes throughout the volume. Some of the reasons for this poor safety record include: the nuclear establishment’s ‘techno-optimistic’ risk assessment approach, which underplays uncertainties and denies the possibility of many risks associated with nuclear energy; the DAE’s unaccountable and technocratic risk framework; and finally the lack of financial, technical, and organizational independence of India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board from the nuclear establishment it is tasked with surveying.
