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In 1934, Nancy Cunard published Negro: An Anthology, which brought together more than two hundred contributions, serving as a plea for racial justice, an exposé of black oppression, and a hymn to black achievement and endurance. The anthology stands as a virtual ethnography of 1930s racial, historic, artistic, political, and economic culture. Samuel Beckett, a close friend of the flamboyant and unconventional Cunard, translated nineteen of the contributions for Negro, constituting Beckett's largest single prose publication. Beckett traditionally has been viewed as an apolitical postmodernist rather than as a willing and major participant in Negro's racial, political, and aesthetic agenda.

In Beckett in Black and Red, Friedman reevaluates Beckett's contribution to the project, reconciling the humanism of his life and work and valuing him as a man deeply engaged with the greatest public issues of his time. Cunard believed racial justice and equality could be achieved only through Communism, and thus "black" and "red" were inextricably linked in her vision. Beckett's contribution to Negro demonstrates his support for Cunard's interest in surrealism as well as her political causes, including international republicanism and anti-fascism. Only in recent years have Cunard's ideas begun to receive serious consideration.

Beckett in Black and Red radically revalues Cunard and reconceives Beckett. His work in Negro shows a commitment to cultural and individual equality and worth that Beckett consistently demonstrated throughout his life, both in personal relationships and in his writing.

Alan Warren Friedman, professor of English at the University of Texas, is coeditor of Beckett Translating/Translating Beckett and author of four books, including Fictional Death and the Modernist Enterprise.

"Opens up a whole new view of Beckett."—Barney Rosset

"Forces us to take Beckett seriously as a translator and to recognize this 'work' as serious."—Jane Marcus

Publication Date

2000

Publisher

The University Press of Kentucky

Place of Publication

Lexington, KY

ISBN

9780813156293

eISBN

9780813161624

Keywords

African Americans, African American arts, Black arts

Disciplines

French and Francophone Language and Literature

Beckett in Black and Red: The Translations for Nancy Cunard's <em>Negro</em>
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