This volume of the BDMP analyses the genesis of Beckett’s play Krapp’s Last Tape, written in 1958, and translated into French in the same year. The play is characterized by the stark opposition light/darkness, relating to the dualism of mind and body, which makes it a suitable case to study Beckett’s developing views on cognition. The notes, manuscripts and typescripts are therefore examined from a cognitive perspective. The study combines genetic criticism and cognitive narratology, starting from the research hypothesis that the connecting element in the dichotomies between light and darkness, mind and body is Time, and that, by introducing a temporal dimension, a genetic approach may be particularly relevant to the study of cognition in Krapp’s Last Tape.