Adorno Theodor W. - Freedom and negativity in Beckett and Adorno: something or nothing

Freedom and Negativity in Beckett and Adorno

FOUNDING CRITICAL THEORY

Series Editors:

Owen Hulatt, Teaching Fellow, Department of Philosophy, University of York

Darrow Schecter, Reader in Critical Theory, University of Sussex

Editorial Review Board:

Brian OConnor, University College Dublin, Ireland

Gordon Finlayson, University of Sussex, UK

Werner Bonefeld, University of York, UK

Fred Rush, Notre Dame University, USA

Jay Bernstein, The New School, USA

Lambert Zuidervaart, Institute for Christian Studies, Canada

Deborah Cook, University of Windsor, Canada

Christoph Menke, Goethe Universitat, Germany

Andrew Arato, The New School, USA

This series publishes original research on prominent figures, texts and topics in, and associated with, the first generation of Frankfurt School Critical Theory. The series comprises specialized treatments of topics and thinkers together with new translations of key texts from the period. Emphasis is lent to Critical Theory as an on-going research project, and both its original research and historical scholarship is articulated in these terms. Critical Theory contains an intrinsic commitment to inter-disciplinary research, and this series attempts to honour this commitment where possible.

The Aesthetic Ground of Critical Theory, edited by Nathan Ross.

Communication and Expression, by Philip Hogh, translated by Antonia Hofsttter

Freedom and Negativity in Beckett and Adorno, by Natalie Leeder

Freedom and Negativity in Beckett and Adorno

Something or Nothing

Natalie Leeder

Contents

First and foremost, I would like to thank my PhD supervisor, Andrew Gibson, without whose support and absolute faith I would not have survived the doctoral study that formed the basis of this book. His inspirational supervision has developed my mind more than I can say. To Andrew Bowie, too, I owe a great debt, not least for responding to my queries, both deep and superficial, at all hours of the day and night and always with great humour, kindness and thought.

Since nurturing my burgeoning interest in Adorno during my masters study, Darrow Schecter has supported me with generosity and enthusiasm, always believing in the project. I will ever be grateful to David Addyman for introducing me to Beckett during my undergraduate years and for his uniquely Beckettian brand of friendship. Rupert Gough and the Choir of Royal Holloway deserve a special mention for accommodating my study and providing me with a wonderful space of release and fulfilment. Grateful acknowledgement is due to Royal Holloway for funding my doctoral research. I have, furthermore, been constantly overwhelmed by the kindness of friends, acquaintances and strangers, too innumerable to list, who have helped to smooth the path.

My heartfelt thanks to Sam Hall, who was my first port of call for every question, thought and fear. My mum, dad and brothers, Joseph and Simeon, have provided unending support, for which I cannot thank them enough. Love and thanks also to my nanny, eternally proud of her granddaughter, and my grandad, who would have loved to have seen this book.

Samuel Beckett

All quotations from Beckett are cited in the body of the text with the relevant full title. A number of his texts are most accessible within collected works. For ease of reference, I allude to each individual text by its full title and include below the collections full citation and relevant page numbers.

The Complete Dramatic Works. London: Faber and Faber, 2006.

Waiting for Godot, 788.

Endgame, 89134.

Happy Days, 13568.

All That Fall, 169200.

Krapps Last Tape, 21324.

Rough for Theatre II, 23550.

Embers, 25164.

Rough for Radio I, 26572.

Rough for Radio II, 27384.

Words and Music, 28594.

Cascando, 295304.

Film, 32134.

Eh Joe, 35968.

Ghost Trio, 40514.

Catastrophe, 45562.

Nacht und Trume, 46366.

The Complete Short Prose, 19291989. Edited by S. E. Gontarski. New York: Grove Press, 1995.

First Love, 2545.

The Expelled, 4660.

The Calmative, 6177.

The End, 7899.

All Strange Away, 16981.

Imagination Dead Imagine, 1825.

Enough, 18692.

The Lost Ones, 20223.

NoHow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho. Edited by S. E. Gontarski. New York: Grove Press, 1996.

Company, 146.

Ill Seen Ill Said, 4786.

Worstward Ho, 87116.

Eleutheria. Translated by Barbara Wright. London: Faber and Faber, 1996.How It Is. London: Calder & Boyars, 1964.Molloy. Edited by Shane Weller. London: Faber and Faber, 2009.Malone Dies. Edited by Peter Boxall. London: Faber and Faber, 2010.Murphy. Edited by J. C. C. Mays. London: Faber and Faber, 2009.The Unnamable. Edited by Steven Connor. London: Faber and Faber, 2010.

Theodor W. Adorno

ARThe Adorno Reader. Edited by Brian OConnor. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.

ATAesthetic Theory. Edited by Gretel Adorno and Rolf Tiedemann. Translated by Robert Hullot-Kentor. London: Continuum, 1997.

CIThe Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Edited by J. M. Bernstein. London: Routledge, 1991.

CMCritical Models: Interventions and Catchwords. Translated by Henry W. Pickford. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

HFHistory and Freedom: Lectures 19641965. Edited by Rolf Tiedemann. Translated by Rodney Livingstone. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press, 2008.

ISIntroduction to Sociology. Edited by Christoph Gdde. Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000.

K Kierkegaard: Construction of the Aesthetic. Translated and edited by Robert Hullot-Kentor. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989.

KCPRKants Critique of Pure Reason. Edited by Rolf Tiedemann. Translated by Rodney Livingstone. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001.

LNDLectures on Negative Dialectics