{"id":22104,"date":"2021-06-14T08:56:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T07:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?p=22104"},"modified":"2021-06-14T10:58:31","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T09:58:31","slug":"beckett-our-contemporary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/","title":{"rendered":"Beckett our Contemporary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We at the Beckett Centre often draw on our spectacular archives of Beckett\u2019s notes and manuscripts to examine the links between his work and the moment in which it was written. From James Knowlson\u2019s magnificent biography on, scholars at Reading have worked to generate some context for his famously bare stages and homeless characters.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22103 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-1024x671.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"419\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-1024x671.png 1024w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-768x503.png 768w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and.png 1243w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But while this has told us a lot about his influences, creative process and the kinds of things he responded to, it falls short of accounting for the continued relevance and significance of the work. To put this another way, if Beckett\u2019s work can only be understood in its context, then why does it still seem so relevant to us, over a century after he was born? What is it about the writing that continues to strike a chord with so many people, in so many places? What needs do these plays and fictions continue to satisfy?<\/p>\n<p>One could ask the same question of any of the great European artists: Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Beethoven. In the work of all these figures there is something inexhaustible, a capacious richness that draws audiences and readers back again and again across continents and time periods. It is work that manages somehow to reinvent itself continually, and in doing so to speak to new, issues, new ideas, new events as they arise.<\/p>\n<p>The Beckett Centre\u2019s new series of podcasts, Beckett &amp;, aims to demonstrate the way in which, like the figures listed above, Beckett remains our contemporary. As the title of the series suggests, in each monthly episode Beckett\u2019s work will be conjoined with a major theme or issue. The goal here is to take the writing as a way of exploring the issue in question, in an accessible and open-ended way, either in talks or interviews. It is hoped that the listener will come away from the podcast knowing more about Beckett, and the type of work that goes on at the Beckett Research Centre, but also that they will see the topic in a new or altered light. In the process we may stay quite far from Beckett\u2019s work, but we will always come back to it.<\/p>\n<p>The famous phrase from <em>The Unnamable<\/em>: \u2018You must go on, I can\u2019t go on, I&#8217;ll go on\u2019 is one we&#8217;ve heard quite often over the past year, as we have all struggled with the effects of the pandemic. Now, as we (hopefully) emerge, the <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-715884271\/1-beckett-and-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first podcast of the series<\/a> asks what exactly Beckett means by this statement, taking his work as a guide to consider what it is to live, and to live on, through and after traumatic events.\u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-715884271\/2-beckett-fascism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second episode<\/a>, with Matthew Feldman of the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right, considers Beckett\u2019s encounter with Fascism, in the context of today\u2019s resurgence of extreme politics. Future podcasts in the series will examine Beckett and Beauty, Beckett &amp; Race, Beckett and Neurodiversity, Beckett &amp; Religion and Beckett and Neurodiversity. We hope you enjoy them.<\/p>\n<p>Conor Carville is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We at the Beckett Centre often draw on our spectacular archives of Beckett\u2019s notes and manuscripts to examine the links between his work and the moment in which it was&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#45;&#98;&#108;&#111;&#103;&#47;&#50;&#48;&#50;&#49;&#47;&#48;&#54;&#47;&#49;&#52;&#47;&#98;&#101;&#99;&#107;&#101;&#116;&#116;&#45;&#111;&#117;&#114;&#45;&#99;&#111;&#110;&#116;&#101;&#109;&#112;&#111;&#114;&#97;&#114;&#121;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[108,1581,320,1582],"class_list":["post-22104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heritage-creativity","tag-beckett-research-centre","tag-covid-19","tag-english-literature","tag-pandemic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We at the Beckett Centre often draw on our spectacular archives of Beckett\u2019s notes and manuscripts to examine the links between his work and the moment in which it was...Read More &gt;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Connecting Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversityofreading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-1024x671.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Frej\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UniRdg_Research\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UniRdg_Research\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Frej\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anna Frej\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a83a75a4fb8e557ec1f4d6b12e6d5971\"},\"headline\":\"Beckett our Contemporary\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\"},\"wordCount\":521,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Beckett Research Centre\",\"Covid-19\",\"English Literature\",\"pandemic\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Heritage &amp; Creativity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\",\"name\":\"Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beckett our Contemporary\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/\",\"name\":\"Connecting Research\",\"description\":\"Research stories from across the University of Reading\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Reading\",\"alternateName\":\"UoR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2022\/10\/University-of-Reading-Logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2022\/10\/University-of-Reading-Logo-1.png\",\"width\":440,\"height\":147,\"caption\":\"University of Reading\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversityofreading\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniRdg_Research\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/university-of-reading\/mycompany\/verification\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCsFUmxmcVbVJ-9iGczsKfuw\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/University_of_Reading\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uniofreading\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@uniofreading\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a83a75a4fb8e557ec1f4d6b12e6d5971\",\"name\":\"Anna Frej\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd5aecffe235398b2ed2e04359faf6870d5fd91feaf2db4d2e179451bbdcab12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd5aecffe235398b2ed2e04359faf6870d5fd91feaf2db4d2e179451bbdcab12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anna Frej\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/author\/a-d-frejreading-ac-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research","og_description":"We at the Beckett Centre often draw on our spectacular archives of Beckett\u2019s notes and manuscripts to examine the links between his work and the moment in which it was...Read More >","og_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/","og_site_name":"Connecting Research","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversityofreading\/","article_published_time":"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2021\/06\/Cr-beckett-and-1024x671.png"}],"author":"Anna Frej","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UniRdg_Research","twitter_site":"@UniRdg_Research","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anna Frej","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/"},"author":{"name":"Anna Frej","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a83a75a4fb8e557ec1f4d6b12e6d5971"},"headline":"Beckett our Contemporary","datePublished":"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/"},"wordCount":521,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Beckett Research Centre","Covid-19","English Literature","pandemic"],"articleSection":["Heritage &amp; Creativity"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/","name":"Beckett our Contemporary - Connecting Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-06-14T07:56:38+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-14T09:58:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2021\/06\/14\/beckett-our-contemporary\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Beckett our Contemporary"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/","name":"Connecting Research","description":"Research stories from across the University of Reading","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization","name":"University of Reading","alternateName":"UoR","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2022\/10\/University-of-Reading-Logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2022\/10\/University-of-Reading-Logo-1.png","width":440,"height":147,"caption":"University of Reading"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversityofreading\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniRdg_Research","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/university-of-reading\/mycompany\/verification\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCsFUmxmcVbVJ-9iGczsKfuw","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/University_of_Reading","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uniofreading\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@uniofreading"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a83a75a4fb8e557ec1f4d6b12e6d5971","name":"Anna Frej","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd5aecffe235398b2ed2e04359faf6870d5fd91feaf2db4d2e179451bbdcab12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd5aecffe235398b2ed2e04359faf6870d5fd91feaf2db4d2e179451bbdcab12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anna Frej"},"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/author\/a-d-frejreading-ac-uk\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22104"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22109,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104\/revisions\/22109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}