Samuel Beckett and Indian Literature

Godot ke Intezar Mein (Hindi), Godor Pratikshay (Bengali), Eppo Varuvaru (Tamil), Kalpo Ke Kalpana Mari Parvari Chhe (Gujarati), Edin Ahibo Teu (Assamese), Su Yee (Kashmiri): these are just some of the translations and adaptations of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot into Indian languages. They reveal how Beckett's chef d'oeuvre has reached every corner of the country, from Tamil Nadu in the South, to Kashmir in the North, Assam in the East, and Gujarat in the West. Just as Honoré de Balzac's fictitious Godeau returns prosperously from 'Les Indes' in Le Faiseur (1848), Beckett's Godot gains from the remarkable dissemination through a multilingual, multicultural, social, and political space of post-independence India.

This thesis, divided into three parts, is a comparative study of the relation between Samuel Beckett's works and Indian prose fiction, drama, and cinema, from the moment when Beckett's oeuvre was first introduced in India. Engaging with recent debates on the concept of world literature, it assesses three phases that are pertinent to the three parts and the circulation of Beckett's works through India: 1) the topical-planetary phase: Beckett's influence on Anglo Indian novelists, starting with Salman Rushdie; 2) the world-making phase: the circulation of Beckett's works amongst Indian playwrights, based on themes, writing techniques and style; and 3) the canonical phase: Beckett's pervasive presence rather than direct influence in Indian mainstream and experimental cinema. Put together, these three parts form a three-phase evolution, and a conceptual framework for world literature.

In exploring Beckett's influence, circulation, and pervasive presence in Indian literature, alongside adaptations and re-creations of Beckettian motifs, characters, and stylistic techniques, this thesis not only re-conceives of Beckett's place in world literature today, but it also presents a process by which his works achieve canonicity. Starting with the works of Rushdie, the thesis charters new territories where Beckett's works have found a place, while the comparative approach draws attention to the heterogeneous and complex nature of modern Indian literature.