Dirk Van Hulle

“Holo and unholo”: the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project

The following short piece aims to introduce ongoing work on the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project, a prototype of which was presented at the Beckett at Reading 2006 conference. An overview of the benefits and some of the key (technical) features of the genetic electronic manuscript editions will be preceded by a short examination of Becketts own attitude towards his manuscripts.

Samuel Beckett with, in, and around Philosophy

Book synopsis: In the past decade, there has been an unprecedented upsurge of interest in Samuel Becketts works. The New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Beckett offers an accessible and engrossing introduction to a key set of issues animating the field of Beckett studies today. This Companion considers Becketts lasting significance by addressing a host of relevant topics. Written by a team of renowned scholars, this volume presents a continuum in Beckett studies ranging from theoretical approaches to performance studies, from manuscript research to the study of bilingualism, intertextuality, late modernism, history, philosophy, ethics, body and mind. The emphasis on burgeoning critical approaches aids the readers understanding of recent developments in Beckett studies while prompting further exploration, assisted by the guide to further reading.

Historisch-krritische genetic crritic!

In Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Estragon says to Vladimir in the second act: “That’s the idea, let’s abuse each other.” They turn, move apart, turn again, face each other and play an abusive scene. The climax of the scene in the English version is the term of abuse “Crritic!” In the German version, however, the term is “Oberforstinspektor!” And the original French version simply mentions an unspecified «échange d’injures». The variants of the word “Crritic!” in these versions in three languages indicate the differences between editorial traditions in the corresponding linguistic regions. The adjective ‘critical’ has other connotations in a ‘critical edition’ than in a ,kritische‘ or ,historisch-kritische Ausgabe‘; and the critical aspect of ‹critique génétique› is quite different yet again. By means of a case study (the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project), this article tries to understand and reconcile these differences, to conclude with Estragon’s words: “Now let’s make it up.” 16 Beckett, En attendant Godot 1999 (Anm. 3), S. 106. 17 Beckett, Waiting for Godot 2010 (Anm. 1), S. 71. 18 Beckett, Drei Stücke 2005 (Anm. 2), S. 84.