Existential motives in the drama of the absurd (Samuel Beckett - "Waiting for Godot"; Goderdzi Chokheli - " Human Sadness")

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Irina Komakhidze

Abstract

In the history of cultural development of the mankind, the issue of the essence of a human and universe has always been acute. Changing the epoch led to the changes in the philosophy of life. The issue of existence is conceptualized by the Antique, Medieval, Renaissance and Modernism periods in different ways. The development of scientific fields and techniques leads mankind to crisis - existential philosophy and later drama of absurd appears in Western Europe in the XIX-XX century and it takes a global form which covers all fields of art. Within the scope of the research we will discuss the following novels - “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett and “Human Sadness” by Goderdzi Chockheli.


Georgian culture is one of the oldest in the world, with its traditions, worldviews and attitudes. The processes that came from the West, such as romanticism, realism, symbolism, and others, appear with some peculiarities in the Georgian social-cultural environment. Existentialism and drama of absurd has been identified with peculiarities decades later due to historical and political situation in Georgia. The thesis examines the tendencies of existentialism, the drama of the absurd, and the influence of national motives. Also, interesting interpretations of face-symbols were revealed. We present the ideological-aesthetic similarities and differences between Georgian and Western literary texts. The research is based on the works of representatives of Western European life and existential philosophy: Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Berdyaev, Sartre and Camus. Problems, characteristic to existentialism and drama of absurd, are presented in the novels to be studied: conflict between a human’s inner world and life circumstances; alienation, pointless life, absurdity, loneliness, abandonment, the problem of choice. The person cannot find the internal "me" as well as his place in the world.


Regardless of temporal, geographic or sociocultural differences, there are archetypal issues that are always relevant. One of many, the knowledge of the essence of man and the world, in the context of existential philosophy and in the drama of the absurd, is clearly reflected in these novels.

Published: Nov 14, 2022

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