Toward a Politics of Vocal Expression: Beckett and Video Art

Tubridy, Derval. 2025. Toward a Politics of Vocal Expression: Beckett and Video Art. Journal of Beckett Studies, 34(1), pp. 48-64. ISSN 0309-5207 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

This article examines the televisual version of Beckett’s play Not I (1973) as a work of video art, placing it in dialogue with video work by Bruce Nauman (Lip Sync, 1969), Vito Acconci (Open Book, 1974), Gary Hill (Mouth Piece, 1978), Stan Douglas (Deux Devises: Mime, 1983), and Mona Hatoum (So Much I Want to Say, 1983), with reference also to Agnieszka Polska (I Am The Mouth, 2014), and Kurdwin Ayub (Pretty-Pretty, 2015). By exploring modalities of asynchronicity, slippage, awkwardness, and obstruction through the philosophies of Adriana Cavarero and Hannah Arendt – who argue that speaking up is a deeply political act – the article positions Not I within an ethics of voice, and situates Beckett’s work as a significant contribution to twentieth-century video art.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.3366/jobs.2025.0441

Keywords:

Beckett, voice, video art, mouth, politics, philosophy

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

English and Comparative Literature
English and Comparative Literature > Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought

Dates:

DateEvent
28 June 2024Accepted
30 April 2025Published

Item ID:

37148

Date Deposited:

19 Jun 2024 08:59

Last Modified:

27 May 2025 10:16

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/37148

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