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1. Prerequisites

At the start of this course the student should have acquired the following competences:
An active knowlegde of :

• English

Specific prerequisites for this course:

Students need to have obtained a B.A. in Language and Literature - English (or equivalent, including the succesful completion of the BA paper).

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2. Learning outcomes

 

Aims and objectives:

to develop general academic skills (critical reading, academic reporting), as well as more specific skills:
- to examine the evolution of Beckett’s works; 
- to analyse the literary, philosophical, and historical context;
- to analyse the specificity of the different genres

(prose and poetry, against the backdrop of the more famous works for theatre);
- to situate Beckett’s works within twentieth-century literature and discover different critical perspectives;
- to discover and interpret not just explicit but also implicit intertextual references.

 

 

For more information on making the objectives operational, see Blackboard. 

 

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3. Course contents

Samuel Beckett was not only a famous playwright, but also a great novelist and poet. Starting from his early stories and novels in English, his texts in French, his self-translations, up until his last text (1989) Beckett never stopped trying to find new forms to “allow the chaos” and “accommodate the mess”. His prose fiction gradually became shorter, and yet his later short prose does not belong to the category of the short story. His later works seem to resist all forms of categorization. The central question is whether these experimental innovations are little more than eccentric tryouts and literary dead-ends, or whether they did manage to leave their mark on literary history and in what way they had an impact on contemporary literature.

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4. Teaching method

Class contact teaching:

Lectures

Seminars

Personal work:

Assignments:Individually

Portfolio
Project-based work:

In group

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5. Assessment method and criteria

Continuous assessment:

Exercises

Written assignment:

Without oral presentation

Portfolio:

With oral presentation

Presentation

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6. Study material

Required reading

 

- Samuel Beckett, Complete Dramatic Works. London: Faber and Faber.
- Samuel Beckett, Watt. London: Faber and Faber, 2009.
- Samuel Beckett, Molloy. London: Faber and Faber, 2009.

- Samuel Beckett,  Malone Dies. London: Faber and Faber, 2009.

- Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable. London: Faber and Faber, 2010.

- Samuel Beckett, Company / Ill Seen Ill Said / Worstward Ho / Stirrings Still , London: Faber and Faber, 2009.

 

Optional reading

The following study material can be studied on a voluntary basis:

- James Knowlson, Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett. London: Bloomsbury, 1996.

- C. S. Ackerley and S.E. Gontarski, The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett. New York : Grove Press, 2004.

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7. Contact information

Dirk Van Hulle, CST D.137

dirk.vanhulle@ua.ac.be

 

(+)last update: 22/03/2013 13:43 dirk.vanhulle