"LITTLE PEOPLE" IN LE DÉPEUPLEUR: Beckett and the Eighteenth Century

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In this Subject: Literature
By this author: Inoue, Yoshiyuki

Author: Inoue, Yoshiyuki

Source: Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui, Borderless Beckett Beckett sans frontières Tokyo 2006 Edited by / Édité par Minako Okamuro Naoya Mori Bruno Clément Sjef Houppermans Angela Moorjani Anthony Uhlmann , pp. 223-233(11)

Publisher: Rodopi

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Abstract:

This paper aims to study how eighteenth-century natural history operates in Beckett's Le dépeupleur. Regarding its "little people," I show that they can be compared to insects and animals. Firstly, I suggest that the bodies on the cylinder's floor can be regarded as animalcules under the microscope as in Diderot's Le rêve de d'Alembert. Secondly, I demonstrate similarities in the way insects are depicted in Le dépeupleur and in Voltaire's Micromégas. Thirdly, I discuss the "dépeupleur" in connection with Swift. Lastly, Beckett is considered to be a writer who aims for "mindlessness" by reducing the number of animals in the brain.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2008-08-01