Something or Nothing: Freedom and Negativity in Beckett and Adorno

Natalie Leeder

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

Since his notorious 1961 lecture, ‘Trying to Understand Endgame’, Theodor W. Adorno’s name has frequently been coupled with that of Samuel Beckett. This monograph offers a radical reappraisal of the intellectual affinities between these two figures, whose paths crossed all too fleetingly. Specifically, the book argues for a preoccupation with the concept of freedom in Beckett’s works⎯one which situates him as a profoundly radical and even political writer. Adorno’s own more explicit reconceptualization of the nature of freedom and its scarcity in modernity offers a unique lens through which to examine the way Beckett’s preserve a minimal space of freedom that acts in direct opposition to an unfree social totality.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherRowman & Littlefield
Publication statusAccepted/In press - Aug 2016

Publication series

NameFounding Critical Theory
PublisherRowman & Littlefield

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