Published in association with the seminar series of the same name held by the University of Oxford, Samuel Beckett: Debts and Legacies presents the best new scholarship addressing the sources, development and ongoing influence of Samuel Beckett's work. Edited by convenors Dr Peter Fifield and Dr David Addyman, the volume presents ten research essays by leading international scholars ranging across Beckett's work, opening up new avenues of enquiry and association for scholars, students and readers of Beckett's work.
Among the subjects covered the volume includes studies of:
·Beckett and the influence of new media 1956-1960
·the influence of silent film on Beckett's work
·death, loss and Ireland in Beckett's drama - tracing Irish references in Beckett's plays from the 1950s and 1960s, including Endgame, All That Fall, Krapp's Last Tape and Eh Joe
·a consideration of Beckett's theatrical notebooks and annotated copies of his plays which provide a unique insight into his attitude toward the staging of his plays, the ways he himself interpreted his texts and approached theatrical practice.
·the French text of the novel Mercier et Camier, which both biographically and aesthetically appeared at a very significant moment in Beckett's career and indicates a crucial development in his writing
·the matter of tone in Beckett's drama, offering a new reading of the ways in which this elusive property emerges and can be read in the relationship between published text, canon and performance
Chris Ackerley is Professor of English at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
Graley Herren is Professor and Chair of English at Xavier University, USA. He is the author of Samuel Beckett's Plays on Film and Television (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). He serves on the executive board for the Samuel Beckett Society and edits the Society's newsletter, The Beckett Circle.
Ulrika Maude is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of Bristol, where she also directs the Centre for Health, Humanities and Science.
Matthew Feldman is Emeritus Professor in the Modern History of Ideas, Professional Fellow at the University of York, UK.
Mark Nixon is Associate Professor in Modern Literature at the University of Reading, UK. He is Co-Director of the Beckett International Foundation, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Beckett Studies and Co-Director of the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.