Articles | Open Access | DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume06Issue07-16

POSTMODERN INTERPRETATIONS OF SAMUEL BECKETT'S WAITING FOR GODOT: JEAN-FRANÇOIS LYOTARD'S POSTMODERN CONDITION WITH REFERENCES

Mahmood Shakir Sabbar , Thi Qar University, Department of Cultural Affairs, Iraq

Abstract

Using Jean-François Lyotard's ideas from The Postmodern Condition as a starting point, this study examines the postmodern elements in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The themes and structure of Beckett's work are consistent with Lyotard's rejection of big narratives and postmodern knowledge's decentralized, fragmented character. An embodiment of Lyotard's skepticism and celebration of the "incredulity towards metanarratives" is waiting for Godot, with its circular narrative, enigmatic characters, and existential reflections. This research shows how Beckett's portrayal of waiting, uncertainty, and the quest for meaning resounds with the postmodern state by looking at the play's artistic choices and thematic aspects. The character's words and deeds or lack thereof reflect the play's postmodernist alignment with meaning instability and the deconstruction of conventional storytelling. Viewed through this prism, Lyotard's Waiting for Godot becomes the prototypical postmodern work, summarising his theoretical claims.

Keywords

Skepticism and celebration, Postmodern Condition, postmodern elements

References

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Mahmood Shakir Sabbar. (2024). POSTMODERN INTERPRETATIONS OF SAMUEL BECKETT’S WAITING FOR GODOT: JEAN-FRANÇOIS LYOTARD’S POSTMODERN CONDITION WITH REFERENCES. The American Journal of Social Science and Education Innovations, 6(07), 151–154. https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume06Issue07-16