Y. Mével, L'imaginaire mélancolique de Samuel Beckett, de Murphy à Comment c'est - Other Literary Studies

French Literature Reviews - 2026

Y. Mével, L'imaginaire mélancolique de Samuel Beckett, de Murphy à Comment c'est
Other Literary Studies

Yann MÉVEL

L'imaginaire mélancolique de Samuel Beckett, de Murphy à Comment c'est

Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi, coll. "Faux Titre", 2008.

433 p.
EAN 9789042024564

ABSTRACT

Melancholy carries within it the legacy of a very long history, one that has traversed multiple cultural fields: medicine of the soul and body, the arts and literature, philosophy, religion... Samuel Beckett's imaginary, as well as his aesthetics, continually confronted all these facets of melancholy, playing with them and reinventing them. How better for the melancholic genius to grasp this affliction than by approaching it indirectly, through the prism of those who encountered it before him or attempted to pierce its obscurity—such as Democritus, Dürer, or Robert Burton? Through these mirrors, and many others, Beckettian melancholy reflects upon itself, stages its inner theater, seeks to break free from a deadly grip, and tries to glimpse its own image—scanning the earth without losing sight of the horizon.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Chapter 1: Archaisms and the Picturesque of Melancholy
Chapter 2: Measure and Excess of a Melancholic Imaginary
Chapter 3: Melancholy and Otherness
Conclusion
Bibliography
List of Illustrations

The concept of melancholy has long occupied a central position in Western thought, evolving from ancient medical theories of the humors to a complex aesthetic and philosophical motif. This study situates the work of Samuel Beckett within a lineage that includes historical figures such as Democritus, Albrecht Dürer, and Robert Burton, who defined the melancholic condition through various lenses ranging from spiritual affliction to creative genius.

Yann Mével's L'imaginaire mélancolique de Samuel Beckett, de Murphy à Comment c'est examines Beckett's imaginary and aesthetics in relation to the history of melancholy. The work tracks this theme from Murphy to Comment c'est, discussing the interplay between the melancholic imagination and its expression. Readers interested in the intersection of literary history and the development of Beckett's narrative voice may find this exploration of his thematic preoccupations relevant.