Dialogues on Beckett - Authors’ Note

 The 12 dialogues in this book arose out of a seminar on Samuel Beckett offered in 2012–13 by the the Dominican Philosophy and Theology Studies programme in that year’s ‘School of Reading’, conducted under the auspices of the Polish Province of the Dominicans.

Our discussions were so lively and inspiring, and so conducive to further analysis and enquiry that we thought them worth elaborating, editing and preserving in written form. Thus arose these twelve conversations about 12 of Beckett’s plays – those which we considered to be the most important, the most interesting or the most representative of his work.

We have included what we hope is a judicious balance of basic information about Beckett’s life and work, brief sketches of some interpretations of his plays and a few words on the critical reception of each; and we have set out some possible criticisms of the vision of the world expressed in them. These last are particularly interesting given the many references and allusions to Christian theology to be found in the plays. They are, admittedly, heavily ironic, but they testify to the importance in Beckett’s thought of the Christian vision of the universe and the eschatological dimension of human existence.

Beckett, through the radicalism of his thought and his crystalline and very distinctive style, succeeds better perhaps than anyone else in getting at the heart of the disquiet which has marked our age; and he identifies its cause as a metaphysical transformation which is taking place before our eyes. That transformation is the disenchantment of the world. A number of factors have contributed to it; the progress of science is just one among many. But whatever the causes, the sphere of the sacred has lost its power and can no longer explain the course of history. The temple lies in ruins, and we have found nothing to supplant it, no new way of making sense of the world and our place in the universe. Western Man has lost his bearings and can see no way forward; beyond the ancient and familiar paths of the Judeo-Christian tradition, increasingly difficult now to return to, lies unknown territory, empty and dark and cold. This state of suspension and disorientation gives rise to a profound disquiet, though we may not always be aware of its nature or its source.

An analysis of Samuel Beckett’s major plays is an excellent introduction to a broader debate not only on the current state of Western culture and civilization but also, more generally, on the spiritual condition of modern man. We hope that the dialogues we present here will inspire readers to reflect on these issues and encourage such a debate.

Antoni Libera

Janusz Pyda OP