Incheon National University Humanities Research Institute Holds 9th International Collaboration Program on “Can the Subject Be Brought onto the Stage? Reflections on the Theatre of Samuel Beckett”

The Humanities Research Institute (Director: Jeong-gyeong Kim), the Department of French Language and Literature, and the Digital-Affective Humanities Research Group at Incheon National University jointly hosted the 9th International Collaboration Program on May 8 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Room 101 of the College of Humanities (Building 15), under the theme: “Can the Subject Be Brought onto the Stage? Reflections on the Theatre of Samuel Beckett.”

The lecture was delivered by Professor Emeritus Bruno Clément of Paris 8 University, a globally renowned scholar. During the lecture, Professor Clément provided an in-depth examination of how Samuel Beckett, who brought a revolutionary transformation to theatrical art, turned the stage into a space for revealing questions, anxieties, and hypotheses concerning the human subject.

The program particularly explored key characteristics of Beckett’s theatrical aesthetics, including:

△ The process of constructing the theatrical stage as a “space of the skull”

△ Formal experimentation that places the subject at the forefront

△ Philosophical practices developed in conjunction with these theatrical approaches

Delivered through sequential French–Korean interpretation, the lecture attracted many Incheon National University students and university members interested in literary subjectivity and formal experimentation. Participants had the opportunity to engage directly with insights from a world-renowned scholar and discuss the intersection of contemporary theatre and philosophy in depth.

Jeong-gyeong Kim, Director of the Humanities Research Institute, stated, “Through this international collaboration program, we provided university members with a valuable opportunity to engage with global academic discourse,” adding, “We will continue organizing high-quality academic events that promote foundational scholarship and humanistic reflection.”

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