Une Mélancolie Des Temps Modernes? Beckett Entre Monstrueux Et Obscéne

Abstract

In order to better delineate what in Beckett's aesthetics and imaginings could be considered as being part and parcel of a type of modem idiom, this article proposes to examine their relationships with the classical era, and more precisely with what classicism aimed to suppress, its i.e. melancholy, monstrosity and obscenity. If what is monstrous, in which can be perceived a melancholic projection, proceeds essentially from the imaginary, the obscene, even though not strictly speaking a concept, constitutes a category likely to gather together a number of themes, stylistic features and values which were rejected by the classical era and which Beckett's work appropriates again for its own ends in a melancholic vein with the aim of "killing beauty" (Murielle Gagnebin), as defmed by the criteria of that period.