Samuel Beckett and the Postmodern: Language Games, Play and <i>Waiting for Godot</i>

Abstract

In Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon pass the time while waiting by playing at a series of games — language games — which constitute their existence and form their social bond. Language games and play are two key concepts in much of contemporary thought; as Wittgenstein — the "father" of language–game theory — writes , "the term ' language game' is meant to bring into prominence the fact that the speaking of a language is part of an activity, a form of life (Lebensjorm)." As Wittgenstein sees it, a word is analogous to a chess piece, and utterances can be thought of as moves within the language games that make up the human social bond. This notion of language games, as appropriated from Wittgenstein and modified by 'subsequent thinkers, has had a great influence on contemporary thinking about language, shifting the emphasis of language analysis from an enquiry into the meaning of a statement to its role in a language game.