Nobel Prize in Literature
1 appearances
-
Edition 62 (1969) Winner
Samuel Barclay Beckett
サミュエル・バークレイ・ベケット
Samuel Barclay Beckett
Pen Names:
Andrew Belis（Pseudonym used for some early writings and manuscripts）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1906-04-13 （Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland）
- Died
- 1989-12-22 （Paris, France） age 83
- Nationality
- Ireland
- Languages
- English, French
- Religion
- Church of Ireland (Anglican)
- Residence History
- Dublin (birth and early life) → Paris (long-term residence) → Roussillon, Vaucluse (hiding during WWII) → Chelsea, London (periods in the 1930s) → La Ferté-sous-Jouarre (cottage)
Career
- Occupations
- playwright, poet, novelist, literary critic
- Active Years
- 1929-1989
- Affiliations
- Aosdána (elected Saoi)
- Memberships
- Aosdána (Irish affiliation of artists), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Foreign Honorary Member)
- Influenced By
- James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Henri Bergson, Arthur Schopenhauer
- Influenced
- Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Václav Havel, John Banville, J. M. Coetzee, Jon Fosse
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portora Royal School | — | Secondary education | — | 1919–1923 | Northern Ireland (then: Ireland) |
| Trinity College Dublin | Modern literature and Romance languages | Modern Languages | B.A. | 1923–1927 | Ireland |
| École Normale Supérieure (lecteur d'anglais) | — | English lecturer | — | 1928–1930 | France |
Portora Royal School
Secondary education
Period:
1919–1923
Year of Graduation:
1923
Country:
Northern Ireland (then: Ireland)
School attended by, among others, Oscar Wilde
Trinity College Dublin
Modern literature and Romance languages
/ Modern Languages
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
1923–1927
Year of Graduation:
1927
Country:
Ireland
Elected a Scholar in Modern Languages in 1926
École Normale Supérieure (lecteur d'anglais)
English lecturer
Period:
1928–1930
Country:
France
Served as a lecteur d'anglais (English lecturer)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Croix de Guerre | — | — | French government | recipient |
| — | Resistance Medal (Médaille de la Résistance) | — | — | French government | recipient |
| 1961 | International Publishers' Formentor Prize | — | — | Formentor Prize Committee | shared |
| 1969 | Nobel Prize in Literature | For his writing — in new forms for the novel and drama — in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation. | — | Nobel Foundation | winner |
| 1959 | Honorary Doctorate (Trinity College Dublin) | — | — | Trinity College Dublin | recipient |
| 1958 | Obie Awards (Off-Broadway) | Endgame | — | The Village Voice / Obie Awards | recipient |
Croix de Guerre
1945
Organization:
French government
Result:
recipient
Resistance Medal (Médaille de la Résistance)
Organization:
French government
Result:
recipient
International Publishers' Formentor Prize
1961
Organization:
Formentor Prize Committee
Result:
shared
Nobel Prize in Literature
1969
Work:
For his writing — in new forms for the novel and drama — in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.
Organization:
Nobel Foundation
Result:
winner
Honorary Doctorate (Trinity College Dublin)
1959
Organization:
Trinity College Dublin
Result:
recipient
Obie Awards (Off-Broadway)
1958
Work:
Endgame
Organization:
The Village Voice / Obie Awards
Result:
recipient
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Waiting for Godot
1952 Play (tragicomedy / Theatre of the Absurd)Two vagrants wait for the mysterious Godot; through their repetitive waiting the play explores meaninglessness, human dependence, and the absurd.
absurditymeaninglessnesswaiting and time
Adaptations
- [Stage (premiere)] Waiting for Godot (premiere) / Roger Blin (1953)
Translations
- Author translated his own works between English and French (including Godot)
Molloy
1951 Novel (experimental)A two-part novel focusing on interior monologue; the prose becomes increasingly stripped and fragmented.
solitudememoryexistence
Translations
- Originally written/published in French; English version produced by the author
Malone Dies
1951 NovelContinues themes from Molloy; focuses on interior monologue and the tension between speech and silence.
language and silencelife and death
The Unnamable
1953 Novel (experimental)The final part of a loosely linked trilogy; explores the compulsion to speak versus the desire for silence. Contains the famous line about continuing.
compulsion to speaksilenceerosion of self
Murphy
1938 Novel (satire / black humour)An early novel about a man seeking mental equilibrium; mixes humour with bleakness.
madnesshumourexistential void
Endgame
1957 Play (tragicomedy)Four characters in a confined space enact repetitive routines that underline the futility and comic despair of existence.
confinementrepetitionmeaninglessness of life
Adaptations
- [Stage] Endgame (various stage productions) (1957)
Bibliography
- More Pricks Than Kicks (short stories, 1934)
- Murphy (novel, 1938)
- Watt (novel, written 1941–1945, published 1953)
- Molloy / Malone Dies / The Unnamable (trilogy, 1951–1953)
- Waiting for Godot (play, 1952/1953)
- Endgame (play, 1957)
- Collected Poems / What is the Word (poetry, 1989)
Adaptations
- Film (short film, 1965)
- International stage productions and televised performances (e.g. Godot)
Translations by Author
- Contributed to French translations of James Joyce (e.g. Anna Livia Plurabelle)
Translations of Works
- Works translated into many languages; Beckett often translated between English and French himself
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- minimalism (stripping away of excess)black comedytheatre of the absurd techniquesexperimental, fragmentary prose
- Recurring Motifs
- isolation and alienationmemory and recollectionlimits of languagerepetition and stasis
Health
-
Declining health in late life (unspecified)1980s（特に晩年）He continued writing and translating but health problems in late life likely affected his work. His final poem 'What is the Word' grapples with difficulty finding words.
Legacy
One of the foremost 20th-century writers and playwrights. Established key works of the Theatre of the Absurd (notably Waiting for Godot) and has exerted wide and lasting influence on theatre, literature, music, and film.
Museums
- No single dedicated museum; exhibitions and collections held across institutions
Academic Societies
- Aosdána (elected Saoi)
- Samuel Beckett Society (international)
Archives
- Harry Ransom Center (collections)
- Trinity College Dublin (manuscripts)
- Washington University in St. Louis (collections)
- University of Reading (Beckett International Foundation)
- Houghton Library (Harvard)
In Popular Culture
- Honoured in Dublin by the Samuel Beckett Bridge; commemorative coins and stamps issued
- Biopics and stage revivals continue (e.g. the biopic 'Dance First')
- Influenced numerous composers, playwrights, and filmmakers
Quotes
-
“you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on.”
Source: The Unnamable (1953)
Trivia
- The only Nobel literature laureate to have played first-class cricket and thus to appear in Wisden
- He never sold or gave away the manuscript of Waiting for Godot and refused a film translation of the play
- Directed that his gravestone should be 'any colour, so long as it's grey'