Art of noise: Beckett's language in a culture of information

Salisbury, Laura (2010) Art of noise: Beckett's language in a culture of information. Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui 22 , pp. 355-371. ISSN 0927-3131.

Text salisbury.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (177Kb) | Request a copy

Abstract

Using Beckett's notes on Maxwell's Demon from the “Whoroscope” Notebook alongside his psychology notes on the relationship between 'figure' and 'ground' in the perception of meaning, this article suggests that in the 1930s and 40s Beckett began to use language in a way that troubles the distinction between what can technically be described as signal and noise, intended and unintended information. It argues that Beckett's desire to hear and feel the noise of language is not part of an evocation of entropic decline towards heat death, but forms part of an understanding of the literary text as bearing signs of life.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	ISBN: 9789042031661
Keyword(s) / Subject(s):	Samuel Beckett, noise, information theory, modernism
School or Research Centre:	Birkbeck Schools and Research Centres > School of Arts > English
Depositing User:	Dr Laura Salisbury
Date Deposited:	19 Oct 2012 09:16
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2013 12:33
URI:	http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/5272

Archive Staff Only (login required)

Edit/View Item