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SUMMARY:The Sage Under the Bo: Darwinism and Buddhism in Samuel Beckett's 
 How It Is. - Andy Wimbush (Faculty of English\, University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20141021T121000Z
DTEND:20141021T130000Z
UID:TALK54094@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Duncan Needham
DESCRIPTION:Samuel Beckett's 1964 novel How It Is has usually been underst
 ood as a critique of Christian theodicy\, as found in the Bible and epic p
 oetry such as Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Commedia. This paper argu
 es that Beckett's target is much broader: How It Is also tackles Darwinian
  evolution\, and the mechanics of rebirth and salvation found in Indian re
 ligions. I show how Beckett was indebted to A Visit to Ceylon\, a travel m
 emoir by the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel\, and propose understanding H
 ow It Is as Beckett's sustained engagement with the question raised by Bud
 dhist ethics.
LOCATION:The Richard King Room\, Darwin College
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