Self as a Failed Project in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape

Year 2025, Issue: 9, 329 - 344, 23.10.2025

Candan Kızılgöl Özdemir

https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1793267

Abstract

This study aims to provide an analysis of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape with reference to the concepts of memory, subjectivity, and selfhood, arguing that the self is a constructed idea rather than something inherent to the subject as such. Taking the monologic and dialogic qualities of the play as its point of departure, the study examines the character Krapp in light of his project of archiving his past selves in the form of voice recordings he makes over the years. In the play, it is evident that by using these recordings as a tool for fashioning himself a consistent self, Krapp ends up creating a breach between his past and present selves instead, thereby failing in his project. Focusing also on the role of time and memory in the construction of the self, the study draws the conclusion that the play succeeds in revealing the discontinuous and inconsistent nature of any such process in and through Beckett’s manipulation of the techniques of characterisation associated with realist drama.

Keywords

Samuel Beckett , Krapp’s Last Tape , character , memory , self and subjectivity , Twentieth Century British Drama

Supporting Institution

This study was conducted without any financial support.

Thanks

No artificial intelligence-supported tools were used in this study.

Samuel Beckett’in Krapp’ın Son Bandı Oyununda Başarısız Bir Proje Olarak Benlik

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Samuel Beckett’in Krapp’ın Son Bandı oyununu bellek, öznelik ve benlik kavramları çerçevesinde inceleyerek benliğin özneye içkin bir şey olmaktan ziyade inşa edilmiş bir fikir olduğu görüşünü savunmaktadır. Oyunun monolojik ve diyalojik özelliklerini çıkış noktası olarak alan çalışma, Krapp karakterini geçmiş benliklerini yıllar içerisinde yaptığı ses kayıtları aracılığıyla arşivleme projesi bağlamında incelemektedir. Krapp’ın kendine istikrarlı bir benlik oluşturma aracı olarak seçtiği ses kayıt yönteminin, amacının aksine, geçmiş ve şimdiki benlikleri arasında bir yarık oluşturduğu, bu nedenle de projenin başarısızlıkla sonuçlandığı oyunda açıkça görülmektedir. Zamanın ve belleğin benliğin inşasındaki rolüne de odaklanan çalışma, Beckett’in bu oyununda gerçekçi tiyatro teknikleri üzerinde yaptığı oynamalar yoluyla bahsi geçen inşa sürecinin süreksiz ve tutarsız doğasını yansıtma konusunda başarıya ulaştığı sonucuna varmaktadır.

Keywords

Samuel Beckett , Krapp’ın Son Bandı , karakter , bellek , benlik ve öznellik , Yirminci Yüzyıl Britanya Tiyatrosu

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