Interactive aspects of subject and gesture in Beckett's trilogy

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Department Faculty of Humanities, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran

Abstract

Subject and gesture are concepts that are in an interactive and corresponding relationship with each other. In literary discourse, the subject is transformed by the effect of the gesture, and the gesture plays a role in reproducing the identity of the subject. The problem of this research is the effect of the gesture on the subject and the expression of its mechanisms. One of the effects of the effect of the subject on the gesture can be found in the works of Samuel Beckett. Beckett's type of thinking transformed the literary and intellectual structures of the 20th century, and from this point of view, the interactive aspects of these two concepts are very important in this structure. In this research, the interactive aspects of the subject and gesture in Beckett's trilogy are analyzed and the effect of the gesture on the decline of the subject is revealed. The metamorphosis of the subject refers to the concept that the lack of gesture makes Beckett's subjects faceless and degenerate, which even reach pre-subjectivity. To show this process, the movement of the subject in Beckett is represented in three areas: pre-decline, decline and post-decline. In this process, Beckett's subject refuses to conform to the symbolic order and does not become a subject. The downward path of Beckett's figure, by going to the field of nothing, removes the body and gives her a static body and a restless mind. Therefore, the body of the subject (figure) becomes a collapsed, disintegrated and mass-like body.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 30, Issue 2
September 2025
Pages 511-541

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