The Theatre of the Absurd With Reference to Modernism

Abstract

A reasonable introduction to the theater of the absurd is available in Urdu literary and scholarly circles, especially of Samuel Beckett's world-renowned play Waiting for Godot, which has had at least two translations in Urdu and one in Punjabi. One Urdu translation was done by Krishan Chandra which was published in Shab Khoon. The second rendering was made by Shafiq Naz, which was published in 2006. Most of the English graduate syllabuses at Pakistani universities include Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. This play has becom a source of introducing theatre of the absurd here in Pakistan and there is no doubt that this play is representative of this theater, however, The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco is another good example of the theatre of the absurd. The importance of The Chairs is not less but today its importance has come out more openly because of its clearer and direct talks on the issues of communication and language.

Keywords

• theatre of the absurd, the chairs, ionesco, research, editing