Reception theory in the third millennium : an application of Jauss's Horizons of Expectation to Beckett's Waiting for Godot

Abstract EN

Regardless of whether or not literary theories have lost their novelty, the present discussion is meant to demonstrate that there are certain theoretical contributions in the field of literary criticism that remain always valid, given the pivotal presence of the element of history in their analytical logic.

Hans Robert Jauss’s theory of the aesthetics of reception, which is markedly grounded in history, is one such contribution.

Contrary to the tendency of a number of literary scholars today to question the productive role of theorizing about literature, the present article will try to show that the application of Jauss’s ‘horizons of expectation’ in studying a dramatic work and its reception is a productive undertaking.

It will also try to highlight the historicity of the act of reception and the circumstances conditioning it as well as the fact that the life of a literary text is the product of its perpetual dialogue with its readers.

To this end, the discussion will use a seminal work that has not been approached from the perspective of reception theory: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a play whose multiple readings and performances, extending from the moment of its appearance in 1953 up to the present day, provide evidence that the survival of the literary work depends on its ability to give answers to the questions posed by successive generations of readers and recipients.

The article will also prove, in the undertones, that the endurance of any critical theory depends on how far it is anchored in history and culture, how far it can continue to answer the questions of readers and how far it can continue to sustain the insightful understanding and analysis of literature.