Humanities (Feb 2022)

Stranger Things, Plant Life, and Posthuman Endgames: Reading Beckett with Others

  • Jesper Olsson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/h11020032
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 2
p. 32

Abstract

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This essay reads work by Samuel Beckett, especially his prose, with a focus on vegetal ontology and plant life, soil, mud, and dirt. By juxtaposing Beckett with recent fiction, e.g., the Netflix series Stranger Things, contemporary plant theory, and the general ecology of Erich Hörl, posthuman entanglements and relations are discussed as part of an ontological infrastructure in the texts, which can also be linked to Beckett’s interest in prosthetics and technical media. It is suggested that an approach of this kind might offer new perspectives on the dispersed subjectivity in Beckett’s texts.

Keywords