The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre and Literature of the Absurd Cambridge Introductions to Literature Series

Michael Y. Bennett's accessible Introduction explains the complex, multidimensional nature of the works and writers associated with the absurd - a label placed upon a number of writers who revolted against traditional theatre and literature in both similar and widely different ways. Setting the movement in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, Bennett provides an in-depth overview of absurdism and its key figures in theatre and literature, from Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter to Tom Stoppard. Chapters reveal the movement's origins, development and present-day influence upon popular culture around the world, employing the latest research to this often challenging area of study in a balanced and authoritative approach. Essential reading for students of literature and theatre, this book provides the necessary tools to interpret and develop the study of a movement associated with some of the twentieth century's greatest and most influential cultural figures.

1. Introduction: overview of the absurd; 2. Setting the stage; 3. The emergence of a 'movement': the historical and intellectual contexts; 4. Samuel Beckett; 5. Beckett's notable contemporaries; 6. The European and American wave of absurdism; 7. Post-absurdism?; 8. Absurd criticism.

Michael Y. Bennett is Associate Professor of English and affiliated faculty in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, where he teaches courses on modern drama. He is the author of Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd (2011), Words, Space, and the Audience (2012) and Narrating the Past through Theatre (2012); the editor of Refiguring Oscar Wilde's Salome (2011); and the co-editor of Eugene O'Neill's One-Act Plays: New Critical Perspectives (2012). He is also Editor of The Edward Albee Review.