Beckett's prose Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beckett's prose - Term Paper Example Considering the times, it makes sense that much of Samuel Beckett’s works—his plays, poetry, and novels—focus on the theme of madness. This reaches back very early in Beckett’s career, even in his first novel, Murphy, published in 1938. It explains why many consider Beckett an existentialist, although as Ackerley and Gontarski state, Beckett’s views are far removed from Sartre’s existentialism (501). Much of Beckett’s works, especially his plays written after the war, have existential themes, although it is incorrect to pigeonhole him as an existentialist. It seems that as Beckett progressed in his career, he became both more existential and minimalist. Beckett is often mislabeled as an existentialist because of his connection with Theatre of the Absurd as described by Martin Esslin (n.p.), who coined the phrase and used Beckett and Waiting for Godot as his main examples. Plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre have been strongly influenced by existentialism. Esslin saw them as the fulfillment of the existential thinker Albert Camus’ concept of â€Å"the absurd.† By placing Beckett’s plays within the genre and connecting them with Camus, Beckett was subsequently wrongly closely associated with the existentialists. It cannot be denied, however, that Beckett’s works, even his earlier ones like Murphy, have existential themes. Esslin describes these themes as â€Å"the sense of metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition† and the â€Å"sense of the senselessness of life, of the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose† (n.p.). Beckett’s works, including Murphy, can be placed squarely within this tradition of writing. Murphy is Beckett’s second work of prose, and his first novel. Unlike most of his works, which were composed in French, it was written in his

Semiotic is a discipline, which can provide a unified framework for Essay

Semiotic is a discipline, which can provide a unified framework for conducting the different activities within information syste - Essay Example These elements will provide the basis of the discussion on how the unified frameworks along with other capabilities will help organisations solve the challenges entailed in designing, building and maintaining information systems. The Quest for Meaning Henry Stubbes was credited to have first coined the term "semeiotics" when he identified it as a branch of medical science that interpret signs (Bhaduri, 2008, pp.246). John Locke also referred to the terms semeiotike and semeiotics when he explained his notion about the branches of science. He stated: All that can fall within the compass of human understanding, being either, first, the nature of things, as they are in themselves, their relations, and their manner of operation: or, secondly, that which man himself ought to do, as a rational and voluntary agent, for the attainment of any end, especially happiness: or, thirdly, the ways and means whereby the knowledge of both the one and the other of these is attained and communicated; I think science may be divided properly into these three sorts (Locke, 1823, pp.174). It was Locke’s third branch, where he mentioned semiotics as one of those part of exact knowledge. The work of Charles Pierce and later on Ferdinand de Saussure, however, established the modern notion of the discipline. Pierce referred to the concept of semiotic as a quasi-necessary or formal doctrine of signs. His position on signs is based on his three classifications of its dimensions: icons, indices and symbols (Rahmann, 2001, pp.4). Saussure contributed to the semiotic thought through his discourse of his version of semiotics, which he called as semiology. In 1915, he declared that: A science that studies the life of signs within society is conceivable; it would be a part of social psychology and consequently of general psychology; I shall call it Semiology. Semiology would show what constitutes signs, what laws govern them†¦ Linguistics is only a part of the general science of semio logy; the laws discovered by semiology will be applicable to linguistics (cited in Rahmann, pp.3) Today, adherents of semiotics consider, interpret, classify and analyze signs according to the manner of transmission. The code is a crucial variable in this process because it is the means by which meaning is understood. A new word, for example could easily be coined. Saussure did this with his â€Å"semiology† term. The act alone did not ensure that meaning is transmitted. First, the word must be recognized by the society. Then, it must be transmitted according to the grammatical structures and codes of such society. This is the general framework that underpins semiotics. In the present language, semiology is semiotics. Let us consider the case of a poem. It is an example of a semiotic system because it is consisted of signs in the form of content or rhythm, wherein each constitute a term and a concept not unlike the sensation that one will experience with the aesthetics of the figure of speech. One can also cite the case of a song. Say, in Kenny Loggins’ song Footloose: the lyrics is the message, the score becomes a text and the device where these are communicated could be a digital music player. These examples show how semiotic systems are considered the organisation of patterns that typify signs, which –