THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE FAMILIAR AND THE EERIE: THE REPRESENTATION OF FREUD’S UNCANNY IN BECKETT’S ENDGAME

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 493 - 505, 30.09.2024

Mehmet Akif Balkaya

https://doi.org/10.37999/udekad.1502394

Abstract

This article examines the interaction between the familiar and the eerie, as theorized by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) in his essay “The Uncanny” (1919), and to what extent such an interaction may have been represented in the barren and post-apocalyptic setting of Samuel Beckett’s (1906-1989) Endgame (1957). Freud’s concept of the uncanny reveals it as a phenomenon that arises from the unsettling revival of what was once familiar, now transformed into something strangely unfamiliar. By conducting an analysis of Freud’s uncanny and its representation in Beckett’s play, this research aims to explain the existence of the eerie in human consciousness and its influence on the existential challenges represented by the actions and dialogues of the characters, the setting and the repetitive, seemingly pointless exchanges between Hamm and Clov. The play’s representation of reliance, isolation, and the ongoing struggle because of the inescapable nature of death puts forth the idea of the uncanny. Therefore, the play has parallels with Freud’s concept of the uncanny since it represents the uncanny as an element of the human experience, marked by an ongoing struggle that takes place between existence and nonexistence, actuality and deception.

Keywords

Freud, Beckett, Uncanny, Endgame, Eeriness

TANIDIK İLE ESRARENGİZ ARASINDAKİ ETKİLEŞİM: BECKETT’İN OYUNSONU ESERİNDE FREUD’UN TEKİNSİZ KAVRAMININ TEMSİLİ

Abstract

Bu makale, Sigmund Freud’un (1856-1939) “Tekinsiz” (1919) adlı makalesinde tanımladığı tanıdık ile ürkütücü olan arasındaki etkileşimi ve bu etkileşimin Samuel Beckett’in (1906-1989) Oyunsonu (1957) adlı eserinin çorak ve kıyamet sonrası ortamında ne ölçüde temsil edildiğini incelemektedir. Freud’un tekinsizliği incelemesi, onu bir zamanlar tanıdık olanın şimdi tuhaf bir şekilde tanıdık olmayana dönüşerek tedirgin edici bir şekilde yeniden canlanmasından kaynaklanan bir fenomen olarak ortaya koymaktadır. Bu araştırma, Freud’un tekinsizliğinin ve Beckett’in oyunundaki temsilinin bir analizini yaparak, ürkütücünün insan bilincindeki varlığını ve karakterlerin eylemleri ve diyalogları, teatral mekân ve Hamm ile Clov arasındaki tekrarlayan, görünüşte anlamsız söz alışverişleri tarafından temsil edilen varoluşsal zorluklar üzerindeki etkisini açıklamayı amaçlamaktadır. Oyunun güven, izolasyon ve ölümün kaçınılmaz doğasıyla süregelen mücadeleyi temsil etmesi, tekinsizlik fikrini ortaya koymaktadır. Bu nedenle oyun, Freud’un tekinsizlik kavramıyla paralellikler taşır çünkü tekinsizliği, varlık ve yokluk, gerçeklik ve yanılma arasında süregelen bir mücadelenin öne çıktığı insan deneyiminin bir unsuru olarak temsil eder.

Keywords

Freud, Beckett, Tekinsiz, Oyunsonu, Tekinsizlik

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