Cultural Recontextualization: Localized Responses to Beckett’s Poetry in Pakistan

Samuel Beckett’s works are integral to undergraduate and graduate English literature curricula in numerous Pakistani universities, yet his literary contributions as a poet remain largely overlooked in academia. This study explored the reasons behind this disregard and examined how Pakistani readers engaged with his selected poems, ‘Ooftish’ and ‘What Is the Word.’ Employing Reader Response theory, it analyzed how themes of religion, suffering and linguistic limitations in Beckett’s poetry resonated with Pakistani readers’ socio-political and personal experiences. The findings revealed that Beckett’s poetry served as a lens for critiquing socio-economic exploitation and the manipulation of religious ideologies in Pakistan. Moreover, the study demonstrated how Pakistani readers reinterpreted Beckett’s poems through their cultural frameworks, producing meanings distinct from one intended by the author or Eurocentric interpretations, aligning with Umberto Eco’s concept of ‘aberrant decoding’. Ultimately, this essay suggests that interdisciplinary approaches to literary studies may enrich our understanding of Beckett’s works and reaffirms his position as a global literary figure whose poetry transcends cultural boundaries, offering profound insights into universal human struggles.