Samuel Beckett, Krapp's Last Tape: Literature And Modernism lecture 2020
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- I made this lecture for my students in the Literature and Modernism unit at Moansh University. Beckett came at the end of the course, after weeks on André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Leonora Carrington, Lu Xun, Eileen Chang, Ding Ling, and Jean Rhys.
There is talk in university circles these days of the lecture format being dead. I think that's a naive view, like saying radio is dead because of the invention of television.
So in addition to helping my students understand Beckett, I wanted to see what I could do with a 50 minute "lecture" slot under lockdown. I gave myself an afternoon and an evening to produce the finished product (which encoded overnight and was uploaded the next morning) from notes I had written in a previous year.
After receiving feedback from students who watched the "lecture", I'm more convinced than ever that "young people" today are more than capable of sitting for 50 minutes and consuming information, providing it is presented with some thoughtfulness.
To abandon the 50 minute concentration span is, in my opinion, to concede too much territory to a troubling ideology that assumes a thinking elite will manage the attention of the rest of the population for their own ends. Teaching students to have their attention managed by other people is a problematic way to prepare them to thrive in a world in which attention is a commodity that is viciously and expertly hoarded.
Teaching students to manage their own attention and to focus for extended periods is, perhaps, one of the most empowering life lessons we can teach during their time with us, providing them with a significant bulwark against being manipulated in the years beyond university.
I love this video. I am currently directing a version of Krap's last tape for my theatre studies and I also noticed very strongly the very first sentence: ...in the future. It brought me to Crhistmas tale, so Krapp would be a sort of Mr Scrooge who has the chance, the CHANCE, to amend his future. The Krapp we see is a sort of the ghost of himself, a ghost from the furure, and just like Mr Scrooge, he show what can be. I feel a certain hope in the play, a bitter reality too, but still a certain hope for his quest towards happiness. Beckett said, when asked what if Krapp had married, that he would likely be the same, probably suffering a Mrs Krapp at his back. However, the loop of that precise moment in the past could suggest a flashback to the present and then, maybe, an opportunity for redemption. Amazing, truly.
I also believe what Krapp seeks most is PLEASURE, as opposed to PAIN, and you made me notice this antagonism, which is not that clear at first sight. He is a character of excess, he's an addict -to bananas, to alcohol, to sex maybe. The most difficult part of the text is the one that talks about his VISION. What has he been looking for all his life? What VISION, acknowledgment, has the 39 Krapp realized? Whatever it was, it was obviously fake. He's an intellectual and he aims to find something beyond the body, the earth and the material world. But, at the end, what he remembers most is the touch of a black ball in his hand and the softness of love in that boat. As simple as that... and yet so far away from his understanding.
Really interesting that you found the opening stage direction arresting too. Re "vision", interesting too that his peak expereiences seem to have to do with hearing and touch (the tapes: "spoooool"), the touch of the black ball, the softness of love. Can there be any "vision" in Krapp's world?
@@christopherwatkin9627 interesting that vision is the least of his senses. He's also a little deaf but hearing is a strong part of his behaviour. His is an inner vision, he always filters what he sees through his mind. I just read this 'Vision' is actually a real life related experience by Beckett, when he was living with his mum in 1945 in Dublin. Apparently, it has to do with a 'revelation' that he had regarding the direction of his writing and his seek of literary identity in comparison to Joyce's. Anyway, reflecting on your question, he's got vivid memories about things he's seen, specially beautiful eyes, the chapter at the dock, the details of the blind curtain... but everything regarding an inner vision is somehow blurred by darkness. Its definitely a subject worth of analysis!
this is absolutely amazing, online classes introduced us to possibilities that connects people even more. I live in Brazil and I study theater at university and I’m able to witness this exceptional class over a year later it was posted on youtube. Thank you for your work!
Thank you for yor encouraging comment Jared, and all the best for your theatre studies!
this is very good -the statement by St. Augustine was very helpful,/ as was the breathing element- very informative and many implications- very much in the last half video
Many thanks for sharing your work. Rich and clear insight on Beckett is not easy to reach, I think, but your lecture definitely does it!
in prepping to perform this play for the 2nd time in 40 years i found this placing of Krapp as an example of the end of the fading tape of modernism deeply illuminating. loved use of 3 monologues. brava!
Thanks so much John! I'm so envious of you: in another life I'd have loved to train as an actor. Where is the production, and when is it on?
@@christopherwatkin9627 Go for it! Just get in a show that fits. Never too late to have some fun acting with good theatre people. So I live in St. Catharine's Ontario. Its 15 minutes from Niagara Falls and the US border. I will be doing it here to raise money for "The Willow Community" a charity that supports mental health care by offering free art /writing classes as therapy. Probably 4 or 5 shows. Ive almost learned lines again and working creating the tape etc and movement over the summer. When I feel its ready for an audience, I'll set the dates from there. My memory is now probably worse than Krapp's so I want to make sure its super ready when we set the dates. Probably early October. We have a beautiful church sanctuary with great acoustics. I am 69 now and a retired theatre teacher. I was a young actor when I first did it in Toronto in a cabaret on Yonge St. in 80's---same age then as the Krapp described on the 69 year old Krapp. But way to young to have done it well. Much more aware of what its about I think. Your article was so helpful for so many reasons. Ive been doing a great deal of reading this time, but just hope it's not "Johns Last Play" but I'll take that chance.
Utterly fantastic. Thank you so much for the scholarly insight and masterful delivery. 👤
That's lovely of you to say SurrenderPink; thanks for the encouragement. The play is so rich and powerful, I feel I've only just scratched its surface.
29:08
Since Beckett never gave an explanatory interview and none of his major works are explanatory prose, this video misses the point.
where do you guys get this new agey fog music...totally annoying and distracting...can't hear what you're saying... defeats your purpose