The Representation of Anacoluthon in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Öz

An absurdist play entitled Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) has had received many interpretations and criticism covering a wide range of issues since its first premiere in 1953 in the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. The play offers varying approaches for appreciating the significance of historical context in interpretation as well as the relevance of linguistic and unconscious components of the text. For instance, the play is interpreted in term of politics, religion, psychoanalytic, homoerotic and philosophical approaches among many others. However, the play is not examined in relation to the functions of ‘anacoluthon’, a linguistic term which can generally be defined as an unexpected discontinuity or disjointedness in the expression of ideas within a sentence by giving rise to a form of words in which there is logical incoherence of thought. Accordingly, in this paper firstly the demarcations between ‘language’ and ‘culture’ are exposed briefly as both of the conceptions are heavily dealt with the term ‘anacoluthon’. Secondly, anacoluthon is elucidated in terms of its use and function with reference to its historical context. However, the main purpose of this paper is to unveil the functions of anacoluthon by making a classification and also to expose intra-textual functions of anacoluthon by exemplifying the discourses in order to shed light into the psychological situations of the characters and figurative meaning of the play.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Samuel Beckett,Waiting for Godot,anacoluthon,language

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