Research Article

Samuel Beckett's Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation

Volume: 1 Number: 1 April 20, 2021
  • Filiz Kutlu *

Samuel Beckett's Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation

Abstract

The Beckett on Film project, which includes nineteen stage plays, is an indication of how Beckett’s work’s journey from stage to screen can be creative, attractive, and entertaining. As a collaborative work of RTÉ (Raidiό Teilifis Éireann), Channel 4 (the British broadcaster), the Irish Film Board, and Tyrone Productions, the project includes films, ranging from approximately forty-five seconds to two hours. As each of them was assigned to a different director, Beckett on Film offers a chance to explore how individual viewpoints shape the adaptations. This article analyses how Damien Hirst reinterpreted Beckett’s shortest piece Breath. As it consists solely of an inhalation and exhalation, Breath serves as an example of the object voice, as theorised by Jacques Lacan and Mladen Dolar. In filming Breath, Hirst opts for using medical waste to interpret Beckett’s stage with rubbish framed with a breath.

Keywords

References

  1. Avari, Burjor. India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from c. 7000 BCE to CE 1200. Routledge, 2016.
  2. Bair, Deirdre. Samuel Beckett: A Biography. Simon & Schuster, 1990.
  3. Beckett, Samuel. The Collected Shorter Plays. Grove, 1984.
  4. Brater, Enoch. Why Beckett. Thames & Hudson, 1989.
  5. Breath. Directed by Damien Hirst, Blue Angel, 2000.
  6. Campbell, Julie. “‘Echo’s Bones’ and Beckett’s Disembodied Voices.” Samuel Beckett: Endlessness in the Year 2000, edited by Angela B. Moorjani and Carola Veit, Rodopi, 2001, pp. 454-468.
  7. Caponigro, Andy. The Miracle of the Breath: Mastering Fear, Hearing Illness, and Experiencing the Divine. New World Library, 2010.
  8. Chion, Michel. Film, A Sound Art. Translated by Claudia Gorbman, Columbia UP, 2009.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Applied Theatre

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Publication Date

April 20, 2021

Submission Date

January 1, 2021

Acceptance Date

March 10, 2021

Published in Issue

Year 2021 Volume: 1 Number: 1

APA
Kutlu, F. (2021). Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies, 1(1), 10-19. https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH
AMA
1.Kutlu F. Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation. IDEAS. 2021;1(1):10-19. https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH
Chicago
Kutlu, Filiz. 2021. “Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation”. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies 1 (1): 10-19. https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH.
EndNote
Kutlu F (April 1, 2021) Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies 1 1 10–19.
IEEE
[1]F. Kutlu, “Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation”, IDEAS, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 10–19, Apr. 2021, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH
ISNAD
Kutlu, Filiz. “Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation”. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies 1/1 (April 1, 2021): 10-19. https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH.
JAMA
1.Kutlu F. Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation. IDEAS. 2021;1:10–19.
MLA
Kutlu, Filiz. “Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation”. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, Apr. 2021, pp. 10-19, https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH.
Vancouver
1.Filiz Kutlu. Samuel Beckett’s Breath on Screen: Damien Hirst’s Adaptation. IDEAS [Internet]. 2021 Apr. 1;1(1):10-9. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA64LD26FH

IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies is published by The English Language and Literature Research Association of Türkiye (IDEA).