Defamiliarization Through Modality of Discourse: Waiting for Godot

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20420/Phil.Can.2022.465

Keywords:

epistemic modality, defamiliarization, theatre of the absurd, Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett

Abstract

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1954) is a parody of the world following World War II. The play exemplifies the spirit of the age by using defamiliarization as a textual strategy by means of which the characters utilize epistemic modals leading their conversational exchanges to never-ending voidness and uncertainty. Therefore, this study analyses discoursal features of Waiting for Godot by focusing on modality as the primary means for a void and indecisive attitude that is created through defamiliarization. The study further exemplifies how Beckett’s use of defamiliarization foregrounds epistemic modality to create a discourse unique in his authorial path.

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Author Biographies

Mahmut Yasin Demir, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat Üniversitesi

Mahmut Yasin Demir is an instructor at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University. He currently studies on his PhD at Department of English Language and Literature at Akdeniz University, Turkey.

H. Sezgi Saraç Durgun, Akdeniz Üniversitesi

Hatice Sezgi Saraç Durgun (corresponding author) completed her PhD in English language education at the Hacettepe University in 2007. Her research interests focus on applied linguistics, stylistics, and pedagogical linguistics. Currently, she is an associate professor at Akdeniz University, Department of English Language and Literature in Antalya, Turkey.

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Published

2022-05-31

How to Cite

Demir, M. Y., & Saraç Durgun, H. S. (2022). Defamiliarization Through Modality of Discourse: Waiting for Godot. Philologica Canariensia, 28, 23–36. https://doi.org/10.20420/Phil.Can.2022.465

Issue

Vol. 28 (2022)

Section

Articles

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