Is the Absurd a Male-Dominated Terrain? Pessoa and Beckett as Case Studies

Author: Rinhaug, Aino1

Source: Portuguese Studies, Volume 24, Number 1, 15 March 2008 , pp. 41-55(15)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content

Abstract:

The present article examines the notion of the absurd as it transpires in the form of Modernist literature; more specifically, in the works of Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) and Samuel Beckett (1906-1989). On the basis of how these authors responded to a sense of existential disquiet, experienced as the absurd, an examination of the latter as a particular terrain proposes that the bewildered self sought a refuge in literature from a sensation of nothingness. The idea of literature as a territory of signification is, moreover, analogous to that of an inner, psychological terrain where the creation of an identity originates and where the question of a male-female difference might possibly be obliterated.

Portugese
O presente artigo pretende investigar a noção do absurdo, como é visível na forma de literatura modernista, mais especificamente, nas obras de Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) e Samuel Beckett (1906-1989). Baseada na maneira como os autores responderam a uma sensação de desassossego, visto como o absurdo, a investigação deste como se fosse um terreno propõe que o eu desorientado procura um refúgio na literatura, escapando assim à sensação do nada. A ideia da literatura como um espaço de significação é, além disso, análoga à de um terreno psicológico, interior, de onde a criação da identidade se origina e onde a questão da diferença entre o masculino e o feminino, talvez, se anule.

Keywords: Fernando Pessoa; Samuel Beckett; the absurd; Modernism; Fernando Pessoa; Samuel Beckett; o absurdo; Modernismo

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Oslo

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$22.00 plus tax      Refund Policy

 

OR

Back to top

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content
Share this item with others: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Page Help Click here for Page Help
Shopping cart
Tools
Sign in






Need to register?
Sign up here
Text size: A | A | A | A