Understanding Waiting for Godot Based on a Psychoanalytic Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Science and Culture, Tehran

2 PhD Graduate of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Yasouj University, Iran.

Abstract

The present paper, by the intellectual heritage of Osychoanalysis (Freud, Lacan and zizek) tries to give an interpretation of the work of Samuel Beckett. Based on the concept of the "das ding, or " the thing” Zizek provides a differentiation of modernism and postmodernism. Based on this division, zizek claims that the “waiting for Godot” is a Modernist works. We try to challenge him by suggesting that “waiting for Godot” is a postmodernist phenomenon. In this regard, the present paper does not intend to investigate among the previous literature about the “waitiong for Godot”, but we try to present a philosophical-psychoanalytic suggestion and challenging his interpretation about the play. By adopting such strategy, the present paper states that “Godot” is a name for "silent scream", because Godot is the name of nothingness, Goddo is the name of fundamental absent which can be considered as the spriteof Becket works. . .

Keywords


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