Russian Beckett: Paradoxes of Perception

Abstract

This essay is focused on hermeneutical aspects of Samuel Beckett’s work. To be precise – on the problems of their perception and interpretation in contemporary Russia in the situation of “revaluation of values” that is typical of the new fin de siécle. The process of Russian perception of Beckett is connected with radical changes in the optics of our vision. Something outer and alien unexpectedly becomes inner and native when we apply the works by this “splendidly mad Irishman” to our own experience. Beckett’s works help us to feel the unity of European cultural tradition and the common fate of “all that fall”.