Major critical arguments 1
Mina Loy and Fragmentation: the Journey of the Physical vs. the Soul through Poetry
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In “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917,” Aimee Pozorski argues that although much of Mina Loy’s literature seems racially offensive, her ideas “against producing racially hybrid children” (49) were actually a form of saving grace. Loy’s life’s contradictions had to do with her unsupportive parents who hated each other and her; her mother was an Anti-Semite and white while her father was Jewish and not white, and they despised each other and her because of their differing race and identity and even viewed her as a fear-invoking traitor. Upon summation of Mina’s “battleground of contradictory identities” (46), she felt that she had no God, no race, nowhere to fit in or belong, that she was solely an incomplete, complex and perplexed being, suffering complete psychic confusion. This unique upbringing shaped her into a woman with a fascination for race, a conflicted self, and a yearning to make the world a better place by not having the same thing that happened to her happen to anyone else. This led to the apppearance of racist undertones in her works. She depicts “herself as victim of both external and internal dueling identities” (49), commenting on both the externality of her physical race, arguing it as a cause of her intense struggle, and the internality of how the emotions of her parents taking their own problems with identity out on her affected Loy--she was a woman spawned of self-division, which was evident in her fragmented work. Hence, the transition in her literature to a slightly racist outlook was not because of her transition and acceptance into futurism and common racist ideology, it was because of her own ideals coming into place for her. Given Mina Loy’s transition into an adulthood “confused by a compound heritage” (49), it is less surprising that she “‘escape[d]’ from these complications by writing a manifesto against producing racially-hybrid children” (49). Essentially, her solution to avoid a painful upbringing like hers, according to her best logic based upon her own experience with struggle, was to fight against producing racially hybrid children.
Pozorski, Aimee L. “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917.” Melus 30.3 (2005):41-69. Print.
Pozorski, Aimee L. “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917.” Melus 30.3 (2005):41-69. Print.
In “Desires Dissolvent: How Mina Loy Exceeds George Bataille,” Sara Crangle argues that Loy picks words in her literature specifically to show connectedness between the world of thought and feeling, and the physical carnality of the human body. Her literature is poetic, and is written to bring about deep feelings or discoveries within the reader, but by accomplishing this via physical, fleshy connotations, Loy is achieving something unique and powerful. The poetry she writes “frequently toys with the term carnality, its variants, and its extended meanings” (41), meaning Loy’s obsession with the carnal is evident by her extended reference to it. For example, she used variations of the words “carnal” and “carnality” repetitively in her poem Mass Production on 14th Street, returning the reader to the carnal body. Three lines in this poem appear as follows: “carnations/ tossed at a carnal caravan/ for Carnevale” (41); here Loy aligns carnality with the terms ‘carnation’ and ‘carnival,’ whose associations can extend to words like “coronation’ and ‘incarnation’ (41). This piece, then, combines the physicality of flesh and carnality with the non-physical, soul-enhancing beauty that poetry brings to us. Additionally, she refers to ego as “a fleshy, time-telling instrument... [asking] us to reconfigure the ego as inseparable from its body” (41), explaining the feeling of ego as something that is a part of our flesh and physical body, not something separate, spiritual, intellectual. Also in the poem Mass Production on 14th Street, Loy chooses to specifically use the word iris, a term that refers to both a plant and the center of the eye, a carnal being, and writes that the “‘Iris of Industry’ generates ‘orgies of orchid’” (41), again relating the physical world and physically human associations with poetry and conveying a message of feeling. It is clear upon investigation of Loy’s word choice that although poetry is a soulful art form meant to make the readers’ emotions feel a certain way, Loy is unique for using very real, physical, fleshy human body references rather than intangible references, leading the reader to form a connection between this soulful work and physicality.
Crangle, Sara. “Desires Dissolvent: How Mina Loy Exceeds George Bataille.” Journal of Philosophy: A Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry 6.13 (2010): 41-53. Print.
Crangle, Sara. “Desires Dissolvent: How Mina Loy Exceeds George Bataille.” Journal of Philosophy: A Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry 6.13 (2010): 41-53. Print.
Romantics in a Modern Age: Auden’s Romantic Inheritance and Influence on the Postmodern
In “Making Nothing Happen: W.H. Auden’s Romantic Legacy,” JoAnne Cappeluti argues against the popular academic discourse which states that W.H. Auden’s work is split into two distinct periods, with a defining shift halfway through his career wherein he beings to negate and criticize the romantic movement which he inherited. Cappeluti argues instead that Auden has instead always drawn from romanticism in his works, and that his shift mid-career is not only less pronounced than many critics claim, but that the shift is a result of his growing awareness of the inability to succeed as a romantic poet in an era of intense anti-Romanticism. She goes on to argue that Auden’s later works do not present poetry as something to be mocked nor does he attempt to undermine the craft, as some critics have suggested; rather, he presents himself as an exaggerated anti-Romantic in many of his later works in order to bring awareness to the failure of the anti-Romantic movement. Auden dedicates the second half of his career to creating poetry that “makes nothing happen,” using his poetry to mirror the indeterminacy and unpredictability of human life, undermining authors that use poetry primarily for didactic purposes. Cappeluti uses two of Auden’s mid-career pieces that are often used as evidence of his career shift, his poem “Caliban to the Audience” (1944) and his essay The Enchanted Flood (1949), and interprets them instead as a criticism of anti-Romanticism. Finally, she states that Auden’s works are deeply rooted in imagination and his own subjective conscious, which place them very squarely within the Romantic tradition, and argues that this makes Auden not a failed anti-Romantic, but a successful Romantic poet in a starkly anti-Romantic world, stating that through this view we can create a sense of consistency throughout his entire oeuvre that no other interpretation of his works has yet offered.
Cappeluti, Jo-Anne. "Making Nothing Happen: W. H. Auden's Romantic Legacy." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 66.1 (2014): 3+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Unlike Cappeluti, Michael Murphy’s essay takes Auden’s works into the context of the post-modern, presenting him as a bridge between the two movements. Murphy explores how the themes of alienation, isolation, and identity develop within Auden’s works as a product of this late modernist period, and how they create the beginnings of a bridge that eventually leads to the postmodern. He looks closely at the events surrounding this period in Auden’s life, most especially the Second World War and the death of Yeats, one of his greatest inspirations, as the source of the works Auden produces in this period. He, like Cappeluti, looks primarily at works from the mid-point of Auden’s career, especially In Memory of W.B. Yeats, but looks at them in the context of the world surrounding Auden as an individual. He breaks In Memory down into its barest element and as referring more to poetry and poetic form than it does to Yeats as an individual. Murphy also looks at New Years’ Letter, one of Auden’s mid-career works about the plight of industrial workers in the modern era. New Years’ Letter is one of the strongest examples of the themes of alienation and isolation in Auden’s works, as well as a very obvious link to the themes that are often explored in modernist works and in which he actively works to negate romantic notions about salvation and emotion. Finally, Murphy looks closely at the similarities between Auden and other modernists, including Yeats and Stravinsky, to strengthen his connection to them and to the movement. He argues that in these strong thematic connections, rather than in looking at the form of Auden’s works, we find the truest meaning we can in his works and the best possible interpretation of his oeuvre.
Murphy, Michael. "Neoclassicism, Late Modernism, and W. H. Auden's 'New Year Letter." Cambridge Quarterly 33.2 (2004): 102-118. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 230. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Cappeluti, Jo-Anne. "Making Nothing Happen: W. H. Auden's Romantic Legacy." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 66.1 (2014): 3+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Unlike Cappeluti, Michael Murphy’s essay takes Auden’s works into the context of the post-modern, presenting him as a bridge between the two movements. Murphy explores how the themes of alienation, isolation, and identity develop within Auden’s works as a product of this late modernist period, and how they create the beginnings of a bridge that eventually leads to the postmodern. He looks closely at the events surrounding this period in Auden’s life, most especially the Second World War and the death of Yeats, one of his greatest inspirations, as the source of the works Auden produces in this period. He, like Cappeluti, looks primarily at works from the mid-point of Auden’s career, especially In Memory of W.B. Yeats, but looks at them in the context of the world surrounding Auden as an individual. He breaks In Memory down into its barest element and as referring more to poetry and poetic form than it does to Yeats as an individual. Murphy also looks at New Years’ Letter, one of Auden’s mid-career works about the plight of industrial workers in the modern era. New Years’ Letter is one of the strongest examples of the themes of alienation and isolation in Auden’s works, as well as a very obvious link to the themes that are often explored in modernist works and in which he actively works to negate romantic notions about salvation and emotion. Finally, Murphy looks closely at the similarities between Auden and other modernists, including Yeats and Stravinsky, to strengthen his connection to them and to the movement. He argues that in these strong thematic connections, rather than in looking at the form of Auden’s works, we find the truest meaning we can in his works and the best possible interpretation of his oeuvre.
Murphy, Michael. "Neoclassicism, Late Modernism, and W. H. Auden's 'New Year Letter." Cambridge Quarterly 33.2 (2004): 102-118. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 230. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Art Nouveau and gothicism as modernism's foundation: Represented in gaudi's architecture
Raventos-Pons argues that Gaudi used architecture as a way to create three-dimensional poems throughout Catalonia, Spain. The author suggests that just as writers use the various elements of language to string together lines of meaning, Gaudi uses the elements of architecture (walls, floors, windows, etc.) to do the same. Furthermore, Gaudi’s “architecture is sensitive to both: the “real” or utilitarian aspect of the common language and the “unreal,” or creative, aspect of the poetic message” (1). This easily compares to that of the language of poetry, as the words used in poems have literal meanings and can be pragmatic, only used for communication. However, poetry is also “unreal” (1) in the sense that it takes the structure of language and uses it to imply deeper meaning that changes with the reader, just as the meaning of Gaudi’s architecture changes with the viewer. This idea is reinforced as “any object, architectural or not, can communicate a message” (1). That is to say, anything can have a deeper meaning than its face value. The author emphasizes this idea by the use of a metaphor, calling the elements of architecture used by Gaudi a “syntagmatic relation of linguistic units…[that] builds into a semantic field of figurative meaning” (2). The architect has the ability to transform the natural shapes used in his field into words that combine and “strengthen[s] the “unreal” and stirs our feelings and imagination” (2). Consequently, Gaudi’s structures leave an everlasting impression on his culture and are less likely to get lost amongst all of the other great poems of his era, since they are in a more permanent, physical form.
Raventos-Pons, Esther. “Gaudi’s Architecture: A Poetic Form.” Mosaic: A Journal for
the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 35.4 (2002): 199-212.
In contrast to Raventos-Pons, Thomas G. Beddall argues that Gothicism influenced Gaudi’s work in “Gaudi and the Catalan Gothic.” The author asserts that although the architect was influenced “by a variety of historical styles” (48), “the distinctly regional tradition of Catalan Gothic” (48) loudly resonates throughout all of Gaudi’s structures. Beddall claims that what makes this style so obvious are the use of “pure geometric forms” (52) and “contrasts between different grades of masonry to create a decorative effect” (52). Both of these elements are commonly found throughout Gothic architecture, especially that found it Catalan, Spain. However, even with Beddall suggesting that Gothicism is of the most prevalent influences, he admits, “Gaudi was certainly exposed to a wide range of architectural style” (58) with most of his “characteristic elements…inspired by other traditions” (58). Consequently, the author’s opinion must be taken with a grain of salt, as it seems well grounded, but also influenced by emotion. Beddall’s essay is another piece of the puzzle to explaining the world of Gaudi, but does not describe the total effect.
Beddall, Thomas G. “Gaudi and the Catalan Gothic.” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 34.1 (1975): 48-59. Print.
Raventos-Pons, Esther. “Gaudi’s Architecture: A Poetic Form.” Mosaic: A Journal for
the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 35.4 (2002): 199-212.
In contrast to Raventos-Pons, Thomas G. Beddall argues that Gothicism influenced Gaudi’s work in “Gaudi and the Catalan Gothic.” The author asserts that although the architect was influenced “by a variety of historical styles” (48), “the distinctly regional tradition of Catalan Gothic” (48) loudly resonates throughout all of Gaudi’s structures. Beddall claims that what makes this style so obvious are the use of “pure geometric forms” (52) and “contrasts between different grades of masonry to create a decorative effect” (52). Both of these elements are commonly found throughout Gothic architecture, especially that found it Catalan, Spain. However, even with Beddall suggesting that Gothicism is of the most prevalent influences, he admits, “Gaudi was certainly exposed to a wide range of architectural style” (58) with most of his “characteristic elements…inspired by other traditions” (58). Consequently, the author’s opinion must be taken with a grain of salt, as it seems well grounded, but also influenced by emotion. Beddall’s essay is another piece of the puzzle to explaining the world of Gaudi, but does not describe the total effect.
Beddall, Thomas G. “Gaudi and the Catalan Gothic.” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 34.1 (1975): 48-59. Print.
Light over time and the Multiplicity of Reality: Claude Monet's struggle
Robert Knott, in his essay “Monet's Cathedrals: A Point in Time”, argues in his examination of Claude Monet’s series of cathedral paintings that Monet, by using thick, layered paint, quick and light brushstrokes, and that by contrasting the modernity of the cathedral’s clock to the ancient and natural scene around it, was showing that light was an eternal element with instantaneous and fleeting effects, the creator of all time and form. Knott says that in his paintings of the Rouen Cathedral, Monet “built up the surfaces of these paintings with layers of paint which were more consistently thick than any he had produced before” (175) in order to show the texture and illumination of the church. Monet’s speed allowed him to paint an entire scene illuminated in a specific light, and his small brushstrokes mimicked the way light illuminated his scene in thousands of tiny points of color. This showed Monet’s focus on light, that he painted in light instead of form. The main purpose of Monet’s technique is to accentuate the prominence of the clock in the series. In every painting he made of the Rouen Cathedral, Monet made the clock in the front of the church the focal point of the painting. Monet made the clock central to his paintings to show the modernity of the clock, to contrast is against the weathered and ancient stone of the church. Yet, despite the significance of the clock in Monet’s cathedral paintings, the real focus of his painting was light, not time. This is supported by Monet’s emission of the details of the clock. In every work, the light was “obliterating the face of the clock” (173), no numbers or hands were visible, only the bright reflection of its surface. This was Monet showing the importance of light to him, and to painting. By not painting the actual clock face, Monet rejects the concept of time and instead relies solely on light to provide the context for the scene, he makes light an omnipotent element that transcends time and form, that creates the world through its illumination.
Knott, Robert. "Monet's Cathedrals: A Point in Time." Southeastern College Art Conference Review 12.3 (1993): 171-80. EBSCO Host. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.
In “Paradoxes: The Theme and Variations in the Visual Arts - False-color Cartography and the Grainstacks of Claude Monet”, Gary Storm argues that Monet, in his series of grainstack paintings, was attempting to show the truth of nature by repetitiously painting the grainstacks with tiny, pixel-like brushstrokes to capture the different realities exposed by changes in light over time. Storm quoted Monet remembering that when painting the grainstacks, he called to his daughter-in-law to bring him canvas after canvas because the light had changed, and revealed some new paintable aspect to him (50). Monet painted the changing light so obsessively because, to him, it revealed the truth of nature. Monet captured these instants through his technique as well as through his painting of the changes of light. Monet was known for his use of tiny, individual brushstrokes, a technique he employed skillfully in his grainstacks series. Storm notes how “when viewed from a few inches away, the brush strokes [in the paintings] are physically obvious and the individual colors in the strokes are distinct”, but that “when viewed from a distance, the strokes and colors mingle and create a recognizable picture of grainstacks” (53). Storm is saying that Monet’s small, pixel-like brushstrokes, although lacking blending of color or texture, are still able to represent the scene. Monet uses these small strokes of solid color to paint the light he sees instead of the form. Monet is mimicking the way light creates form and reality: in tiny spots of color that, when seen up close, seem abstract or random, but then when viewed from a further distance, come together to create a reality unlike any other that came before, or will come after it. As one reality drifted away with the light and a new one took its place, Monet would paint each one carefully, often reworking them many times in his studio later until he felt he had captured the moment. Monet’s multiple paintings of the grainstacks shows his attempt to represent the complete truth of the scene, his attempt to show every one of the realities of the grainstacks. The change in light changed the reality, forcing Monet to create a painting to capture that instantaneous moment.
Storm, Gary. "Paradoxes: The Theme and Variations in the Visual Arts - False-color Cartography and the Grainstacks of Claude Monet." Material Culture 40.2 (2008): 45-75.EBSCO Host. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Knott, Robert. "Monet's Cathedrals: A Point in Time." Southeastern College Art Conference Review 12.3 (1993): 171-80. EBSCO Host. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.
In “Paradoxes: The Theme and Variations in the Visual Arts - False-color Cartography and the Grainstacks of Claude Monet”, Gary Storm argues that Monet, in his series of grainstack paintings, was attempting to show the truth of nature by repetitiously painting the grainstacks with tiny, pixel-like brushstrokes to capture the different realities exposed by changes in light over time. Storm quoted Monet remembering that when painting the grainstacks, he called to his daughter-in-law to bring him canvas after canvas because the light had changed, and revealed some new paintable aspect to him (50). Monet painted the changing light so obsessively because, to him, it revealed the truth of nature. Monet captured these instants through his technique as well as through his painting of the changes of light. Monet was known for his use of tiny, individual brushstrokes, a technique he employed skillfully in his grainstacks series. Storm notes how “when viewed from a few inches away, the brush strokes [in the paintings] are physically obvious and the individual colors in the strokes are distinct”, but that “when viewed from a distance, the strokes and colors mingle and create a recognizable picture of grainstacks” (53). Storm is saying that Monet’s small, pixel-like brushstrokes, although lacking blending of color or texture, are still able to represent the scene. Monet uses these small strokes of solid color to paint the light he sees instead of the form. Monet is mimicking the way light creates form and reality: in tiny spots of color that, when seen up close, seem abstract or random, but then when viewed from a further distance, come together to create a reality unlike any other that came before, or will come after it. As one reality drifted away with the light and a new one took its place, Monet would paint each one carefully, often reworking them many times in his studio later until he felt he had captured the moment. Monet’s multiple paintings of the grainstacks shows his attempt to represent the complete truth of the scene, his attempt to show every one of the realities of the grainstacks. The change in light changed the reality, forcing Monet to create a painting to capture that instantaneous moment.
Storm, Gary. "Paradoxes: The Theme and Variations in the Visual Arts - False-color Cartography and the Grainstacks of Claude Monet." Material Culture 40.2 (2008): 45-75.EBSCO Host. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
medium as meaning: Ocsar Wilde and gertrude stein
In A Matter of Style: On Reading the Oscar Wilde Trials as Literature, Marco Wan argues that although the trials of Oscar Wilde are often viewed as either a historical document or a literary biography, this is an incorrect reading in either view as in reality they should be read as a form of literature. In calling for the trials to be read as a form of literature, Wan theorizes that Wilde’s trials were actually a form of art created by Oscar Wilde himself, to “enact and reflect Wilde’s vision of what literature is and how it should be read” and such, the trials were not meant to be read as legal documents, as they have been in the past in determining whether an artist’s art was plausible evidence in the courtroom. Rather than having his trials become legal documents, Wilde intended them to be an expression of his own unique aestheticism that is omnipresent in his work. To portray this aestheticism, Wan uses an in depth analysis of the character Sybil and her romantic relationship with Dorian, in Wilde’s Dorian Gray. In this analysis Wan sheds light onto a key factor of Wilde’s aestheticism present in the play, when Dorian falls in love with the woman, Sybil, who is an actress, and as soon as she quits acting to pursue their relationship, she becomes unattractive to Dorian. Using this depiction as evidence, Wan argues, “the actress is more fascinating than the woman because art is superior to life” which is a key Wildean principle, evident throughout his work. As art is superior to life in Wilde’s mind, and Wan argues that Wilde intended for his trials to be viewed as literature, not as legal or historical documents, it can be said that Wilde might have been more concerned with his performance in his trial, demonstrating true literature and his aestheticism, rather than the legal matters that were being debated and were at stake.
Wan, M. "A Matter of Style: On Reading the Oscar Wilde Trials as Literature."Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 31.4 (2011): 709-26. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
In A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde, Ari Adut argues that while law enforcement for homosexuality and sodomy in Victorian England was quite lax, it was Oscar Wilde’s scandalous publicity which lead to the prosecution of his transgressions. Adut states that, “scandals in effect trigger a great deal of the normative solidification and transformation in society”, suggesting that because of Wilde’s popularity and openness about his sexuality, Victorian England’s hands were tied if they wanted to keep society content with the status quo and keep homosexuality a thing to be despised. The scandal of Wilde’s fairly open love interests could possibly leaded to the normification of homosexuality in Victorian society had it not been addressed. Not only was Victorian England afraid of homosexuality becoming a normative ideal, Wilde’s scandal, due to his popularity, which is said to “impose the transgressions upon the audience and makes it costly for those who would otherwise ignore the transgression to do so” causes a ripple effect and ends up affecting many other third parties in that anyone associated with Wilde would face social repercussions if he were convicted. Even though there were so many reputations involved, the scandal cannot be ignored either, as it was slowly “undermining the reputation and social standing of the ones [it] affect[ed]”, there were too much at stake to not bring Wilde to prosecution. Once Wilde was brought to prosecution, Adut writes that, “They [the prosecution] would provide for public consumption the sordid spectacle of the internecine hostilities within the English upper crust.” In other words, the general public would devour all news of the trial, as it was a visible flaw in the upper class, and such things were a rarity to find in Victorian upper class. With this knowledge, it can be proposed that Wilde intended to create a scene in his trials highlighting his aesthetic ideals, with full knowledge that the general public would consume it at an enormous rate, thus giving him to create a theatrical performance within his trials.
Adut, Ari. "A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde." American Journal of Sociology 111.1 (2005): 213-48.
Wan, M. "A Matter of Style: On Reading the Oscar Wilde Trials as Literature."Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 31.4 (2011): 709-26. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
In A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde, Ari Adut argues that while law enforcement for homosexuality and sodomy in Victorian England was quite lax, it was Oscar Wilde’s scandalous publicity which lead to the prosecution of his transgressions. Adut states that, “scandals in effect trigger a great deal of the normative solidification and transformation in society”, suggesting that because of Wilde’s popularity and openness about his sexuality, Victorian England’s hands were tied if they wanted to keep society content with the status quo and keep homosexuality a thing to be despised. The scandal of Wilde’s fairly open love interests could possibly leaded to the normification of homosexuality in Victorian society had it not been addressed. Not only was Victorian England afraid of homosexuality becoming a normative ideal, Wilde’s scandal, due to his popularity, which is said to “impose the transgressions upon the audience and makes it costly for those who would otherwise ignore the transgression to do so” causes a ripple effect and ends up affecting many other third parties in that anyone associated with Wilde would face social repercussions if he were convicted. Even though there were so many reputations involved, the scandal cannot be ignored either, as it was slowly “undermining the reputation and social standing of the ones [it] affect[ed]”, there were too much at stake to not bring Wilde to prosecution. Once Wilde was brought to prosecution, Adut writes that, “They [the prosecution] would provide for public consumption the sordid spectacle of the internecine hostilities within the English upper crust.” In other words, the general public would devour all news of the trial, as it was a visible flaw in the upper class, and such things were a rarity to find in Victorian upper class. With this knowledge, it can be proposed that Wilde intended to create a scene in his trials highlighting his aesthetic ideals, with full knowledge that the general public would consume it at an enormous rate, thus giving him to create a theatrical performance within his trials.
Adut, Ari. "A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde." American Journal of Sociology 111.1 (2005): 213-48.
The Ineffable Nature of the Surrealist Art of René Magritte
In the years following the rise and appreciation for Magritte’s work, French philosopher Michel Foucault began to identify the lingering image that was left by Magritte’s work after viewing. While examining Magritte’s most famous painting Ceci n’est pas une pipe, from the collection La Trahison des Images (The Treachery of Images),Foucault comes to the conclusion that “Magritte sought to evoke not shock or disgust, but mystere: the ineffable alienness beneath the surface of familiarity in the world” (3). This idea of the infallibility of something familiar being dismantled is what Foucault has credited as the main key to Magritte’s work. Convinced of the idea of “ascendency of poetry over painting” (12), the idea of a redefining of traditional painting therefore being free to express and not be tethered by fickleness. By emphasizing the focus on this one image, Ceci n’est pas une pipe, a different aspect of Magritte is observed by Foucault. One that does not focus on solely the surrealist aspect of his painted works, but rather technical components. In this a different side of Magritte can be seen; for example, Foucault bases a large part of his argument of the use of language in this particular painting. Though Magritte uses image mainly to create the “mystere” previously mentioned by Foucault the idea of uncertainty in image, the use of the wordage “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” is testing the boundary between language and reality. Foucault notes language and reality, citing babel, that is has been emotionalized and romanticized (7). Magritte managed to break this connection creating a sense of unfamiliarity and uncertainty. In the simplicity of the drawing the writing becomes more a legend, the piece of artwork having the resemblance of a scientific figure, yet there is nothing absolute about it. The piece is not quantifiable like a scientific figure, Magritte using this to promote uncertainty. Foucault makes the conclusion that while the physical manifestation of the pipe may be on the canvas, the contrast between language and art in this piece leave an image that cannot be directly portrayed and it that which truly remains.
Foucault, Michel, and James Harkness. This Is Not a Pipe: With Illustrations and Letters by René Magritte. Berkeley: University of California, 1983. Print.
Richard Shone’s article in The Burlington Magazine takes a broader look at the work of Rene Magritte and the surrealist movement. The article draws from the climate of the time and used that as a means to begin to redefine art. Magritte is referred to as a bourgeoisie conformist by many critics and was labeled as such as his fan base was a younger population (471). Another surrealists, Dali, use the contrast of ideas and images, while still relying on their classical skill, that were thought of together as being irrational. The use of contrast in Magritte’s paintings was a means to put forward the idea provincialism (468). Provincialism being the idea that the way of life or mode that is believed to be characteristic an outer area, being particularly true if the surrounding area is believed to be especially narrow-minded. Magritte’s style and popularity was assumed by young conformists looking to break out of the provincial lifestyle, gravitating towards unfamiliarity and following the surrealist movement. Magritte observing the gaining momentum of the break from provincialism, began seeing similarities to thinkers like Freud who was intending to change human conditions with his theories defining the subconscious. Magritte, disagreeing with this, would never be interested in changing the human condition but instead redefining it as “unknown despite being in an initially familiar state” (470). This is contrary to Freud’s belief that there is reasoning behind the subconscious mind. Magritte is in a sense, in his works, actively separating what has been determined as stationary trading it for an unknown meaning and new connotation. For Magritte being able to destabilize schemas and meanings allowed for him to posit what would become part of the surrealist movement.
The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 124, No. 952, Special Issue in Honour of Terence Hodgkinson (Jul., 1982), pp. 468-471
Foucault, Michel, and James Harkness. This Is Not a Pipe: With Illustrations and Letters by René Magritte. Berkeley: University of California, 1983. Print.
Richard Shone’s article in The Burlington Magazine takes a broader look at the work of Rene Magritte and the surrealist movement. The article draws from the climate of the time and used that as a means to begin to redefine art. Magritte is referred to as a bourgeoisie conformist by many critics and was labeled as such as his fan base was a younger population (471). Another surrealists, Dali, use the contrast of ideas and images, while still relying on their classical skill, that were thought of together as being irrational. The use of contrast in Magritte’s paintings was a means to put forward the idea provincialism (468). Provincialism being the idea that the way of life or mode that is believed to be characteristic an outer area, being particularly true if the surrounding area is believed to be especially narrow-minded. Magritte’s style and popularity was assumed by young conformists looking to break out of the provincial lifestyle, gravitating towards unfamiliarity and following the surrealist movement. Magritte observing the gaining momentum of the break from provincialism, began seeing similarities to thinkers like Freud who was intending to change human conditions with his theories defining the subconscious. Magritte, disagreeing with this, would never be interested in changing the human condition but instead redefining it as “unknown despite being in an initially familiar state” (470). This is contrary to Freud’s belief that there is reasoning behind the subconscious mind. Magritte is in a sense, in his works, actively separating what has been determined as stationary trading it for an unknown meaning and new connotation. For Magritte being able to destabilize schemas and meanings allowed for him to posit what would become part of the surrealist movement.
The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 124, No. 952, Special Issue in Honour of Terence Hodgkinson (Jul., 1982), pp. 468-471
Chaplin and Picasso: Untamed self-expression through modernist works
In “Booting the Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America,” John Sbardellati and Tony Shaw argue that Chaplin gained notoriety with the FBI not because he was a threat to the nation, but because he was a prominent cultural icon. Chaplin had a history of social and political deviance and through film he could influence a broad portion of the public. According to Sbardellati and Shaw, Chaplin was not a communist, but a progressive who realized that the ways of the past had to undergo a drastic change. The FBI’s uneasiness with Chaplin was a result of film becoming “one of the greatest […] influence[s] upon minds and culture” (Sbardellati & Shaw 500). Out of all of Chaplin’s films, Sbardellati and Shaw argue that Chaplin’s 1947 film Monsieur Verdoux, catalyzed the beginning of many personal and political attacks by the media and the FBI . Monsieur Verdoux, the story of a man, who in orders to provide for his family in the aftermath of the stock market crash, “marries and then kills several rich widows,” was meant to be a critique on the “rapacious tendencies of the modern age” by noting that “one murder makes a villain, millions a hero” (Sbardellati & Shaw 501). Despite critical praise, the mainstream media chose to report on if the film meant Chaplin was a communist instead of the film’s cinematic merits. It is this scrutiny that Sbardellati and Shaw argue lead to Chaplin’s eventual expulsion from the country.
Sbardellati, John, & Shaw, Tony. “Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare.” Pacific Historical Review. 72.4 (2003): 495 – 530. Print.
Charlie Chaplin Have in Common,” Rob King brings Chaplin’s film The Great Dictator, into a modern context by drawing parallels between the Huffington Post’s article “Can comedy indeed contribute to a space for political discourse?” responding to “Rally to Restore Sanity/ and or Fear,” headlined by political satirists Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart. It was this rally that the Huffington Post’s argues brings into question if “two comedians could lead the effort to bring politics into an atmosphere of disagreement without having to be disagreeable in the process” (King 263). Drawing connections between Jon Stewart’s final monologue and Chaplin’s final speech in “The Great Dictator,” King argues that both share similar basic concepts – leaving comedy behind in order to enforce the take home message. For both Stewart’s final monologue and Chaplin’s final speech, King argues that both exhibit sincerity at the price of comedy, in that both use comedy in order to ease into heavier issues. King does note that Stewart’s “monologue was not entirely humorless,” but instead that there is “a clear shift in the genre of verbal expression” – “ a transformation from, satirical into serious intent”(King 275). It is this shift from the satirical to the serious that King argues is where “comedy and politics do intersect”(King 275). In The Great Dictator, Hykel’s political discourse is reduced to comical nonsense, which in turn opens up a space for Jewish suffering where the tramp/ the Jewish Barber has a chance to speak. Similarly with the Steward Colbert rally, by slowly dismantling partisanship through various comedic skits, the rally moves toward the idea of sanity and a shared civil discourse. As King argues, seriousness is not the absence of comedy, but rather a point when “comedy approaches its clearest articulation as politics (King 277).” Just as Chaplin used comedy in order to ease into a politically charged call for the end of unjust dictatorship and anti-Semitism, Stewart used comedy to ease into issues like racism and importance of bipartisanship.
King, Rob. “Retheorizing Comedic and Political Discourse, or What Do Jon Stewart and Charlie Chaplin Have in Common?” Discourse. 34. 2-3 (2012): 263-289. Print.
Sbardellati, John, & Shaw, Tony. “Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare.” Pacific Historical Review. 72.4 (2003): 495 – 530. Print.
Charlie Chaplin Have in Common,” Rob King brings Chaplin’s film The Great Dictator, into a modern context by drawing parallels between the Huffington Post’s article “Can comedy indeed contribute to a space for political discourse?” responding to “Rally to Restore Sanity/ and or Fear,” headlined by political satirists Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart. It was this rally that the Huffington Post’s argues brings into question if “two comedians could lead the effort to bring politics into an atmosphere of disagreement without having to be disagreeable in the process” (King 263). Drawing connections between Jon Stewart’s final monologue and Chaplin’s final speech in “The Great Dictator,” King argues that both share similar basic concepts – leaving comedy behind in order to enforce the take home message. For both Stewart’s final monologue and Chaplin’s final speech, King argues that both exhibit sincerity at the price of comedy, in that both use comedy in order to ease into heavier issues. King does note that Stewart’s “monologue was not entirely humorless,” but instead that there is “a clear shift in the genre of verbal expression” – “ a transformation from, satirical into serious intent”(King 275). It is this shift from the satirical to the serious that King argues is where “comedy and politics do intersect”(King 275). In The Great Dictator, Hykel’s political discourse is reduced to comical nonsense, which in turn opens up a space for Jewish suffering where the tramp/ the Jewish Barber has a chance to speak. Similarly with the Steward Colbert rally, by slowly dismantling partisanship through various comedic skits, the rally moves toward the idea of sanity and a shared civil discourse. As King argues, seriousness is not the absence of comedy, but rather a point when “comedy approaches its clearest articulation as politics (King 277).” Just as Chaplin used comedy in order to ease into a politically charged call for the end of unjust dictatorship and anti-Semitism, Stewart used comedy to ease into issues like racism and importance of bipartisanship.
King, Rob. “Retheorizing Comedic and Political Discourse, or What Do Jon Stewart and Charlie Chaplin Have in Common?” Discourse. 34. 2-3 (2012): 263-289. Print.
Body Language:
Isadora Duncan, Franz Kafka, and Modernist Theories on the Human Body
In her article “Isadora Duncan’s Dance Theory,” Daly argues that Duncan used dance not only as entertainment, but also as a way to understand human kind, entitling it to respect as an art form. She compares Duncan’s philosophy to Victorian era ideas by contrasting Duncan’s style of dance to Ballet and Victorian social norms. Duncan sought to work outside the confines of conventional dance. The respected dance form of the time was Ballet and she criticized the way in which it constricted the body and changed the human form. Daly uses the example of the common Victorian style of the corset, “Not only are the disfiguring properties of the corset physically and morally degenerate, but they are also aesthetically distasteful.”(26). Duncan’s take on this common fashion is that the human body is aesthetically perfect and should not be changed in any way. Furthermore, by changing the human body, not only are you damaging it physically and taking away its natural beauty, you are also damaging the “soul;” Duncan believed that the physical body and the inner self were closely aligned. Daly argues that this connection is what defined Duncan’s dance as an art form. Daly further argues that Duncan did not only consider dance as an art, she considered it a religion. Duncan believed that through the freeing of the body, dance could bring both the dancer and the audience closer to God.
Daly, Ann. "Isadora Duncan's Dance Theory." Dance Research Journal 26.2 (1994): 24-31
In “‘A God Dances through Me’: Isadora Duncan on Friedrich Nietzsche’s Revaluation of Values,” LaMothe argues that Duncan’s philosophy was a critique of Christian interpretations of the body and was based off of Nietzsche’s teachings. LaMothe argues that by deriving her philosophy from Nietzsche’s writings, Duncan creates her own religious experience based off of liberation of the female body (248). LaMothe asserts, “Duncan intends her dancing not only to counter anti-dance forces in Western history emanating from Christian sources but also to challenge as false and harmful a host of hierarchical oppositions on which that hostility is based-” (253). One of Duncan’s goals in her philosophy was to disband the limiting and harmful patriarchal view of the women’s body that Christianity imposes and enforces in western society.
LaMothe, Kimerer L. "“A God Dances through Me”: Isadora Duncan on Friedrich Nietzsche’s Revaluation of Values." The Journal of Religion 85.2 (2005): 241-66.
Daly, Ann. "Isadora Duncan's Dance Theory." Dance Research Journal 26.2 (1994): 24-31
In “‘A God Dances through Me’: Isadora Duncan on Friedrich Nietzsche’s Revaluation of Values,” LaMothe argues that Duncan’s philosophy was a critique of Christian interpretations of the body and was based off of Nietzsche’s teachings. LaMothe argues that by deriving her philosophy from Nietzsche’s writings, Duncan creates her own religious experience based off of liberation of the female body (248). LaMothe asserts, “Duncan intends her dancing not only to counter anti-dance forces in Western history emanating from Christian sources but also to challenge as false and harmful a host of hierarchical oppositions on which that hostility is based-” (253). One of Duncan’s goals in her philosophy was to disband the limiting and harmful patriarchal view of the women’s body that Christianity imposes and enforces in western society.
LaMothe, Kimerer L. "“A God Dances through Me”: Isadora Duncan on Friedrich Nietzsche’s Revaluation of Values." The Journal of Religion 85.2 (2005): 241-66.
“The Negro Speaks of Modernism”:Discussion of Societal Issues in Hughes and Kafka
In "Montage of an Otherness Deferred: Dreaming Subjectivity in Langston Hughes", David Jarraway argues that Hughes used his “Otherness” and his cultural identity as themes in his poetry that set it apart from other black artists writing at the same time. Jarraway states “race may have been an issue that Hughes – unlike his contemporaries Alain Locke and Countee Cullen – did not care to lead us beyond” (820). He argues that because Hughes addressed race in his literature, he stood out among black artists of the time period because they chose to move the themes of their literature beyond the racial aspect. Hughes, however, believed that whiteness and America was in the way of the maintaining cultural identity, due to the “desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization and be as little Negro and as much American as possible” (821). Essentially, Hughes was convinced that other artists were attempting to be more American, but he wanted to maintain his cultural identity and use what Jarraway refers to as “Otherness”. He frequently references this Otherness in the context of Hughes as a cultural definer that sets him apart from mainstream America. In Hughes' case, Otherness is the idea that he has some quality that makes him unique. However, the term “other” has some negative connotation; it implies that this quality is something that distances him from society. Luckily, he was able to use this societal isolation as a theme in his poetry. Hughes' poetry differs from other literature written by black artists at the time in the way that it discusses race instead of attempting to overcome it, which ultimately allowed Hughes to explore his identity in a different manner.
Jarraway, David R. "Montage of an Otherness Deferred: Dreaming Subjectivity in Langston Hughes." American Literature 68.4 (1996): 819-47. Web.
In “Religion in the Poetry of Langston Hughes”, Mary Beth Culp argues that Hughes uses different representations of Christ to reflect the reality of the Black struggle in the 20th century. The extreme racism present at the time Hughes was writing inspired him to present Christ in different ways to express his frustration towards these events. Culp states, “Christ is sometimes white, symbolizing the oppressors and acting as their accomplice; at other times he is black, the image and friend of the lynched Negro, and one who suffers with him” (242). Culp is saying that depending on the context of the appearance of religion in his poetry, Christ is playing different roles in order to show the persecution towards blacks. These varying roles show the importance of religion in Black culture, while emphasizing the struggle of and persecution towards the same. As a youth, Hughes did not have a significant religious influence in his life. In one strange event, he attended a revival meeting at his aunt's church, and in vain attempted to see Jesus, but was unsuccessful. His faith in religion was stunted from that point forward, and in his poetry he speaks of religion through other personae, except for one poem, “Personal”, which expresses God's doubt in Hughes (Culp 240-241). Because of Hughes' strained relationship with God and religion, it is strange that he chose to use religion so much to express himself in his poetry. However, it is also important to note that religion played, and still plays, a significant role in African-American culture, and perhaps this is why Hughes chose to use it to express himself and his culture. Culp states, “Hughes sought to capture every aspect of Black culture, including its religion” (240). Like Jarraway, Culp shows how Hughes' poetry uses Black identity to communicate his message. Although Hughes didn't relate to the religious aspect of his culture as much, he still used it as a tool to express the identity of his people through his poetry.
Culp, Mary Beth. "Religion in the Poetry of Langston Hughes." Phylon 48.3 (1987): 240-45. JSTOR. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.
Jarraway, David R. "Montage of an Otherness Deferred: Dreaming Subjectivity in Langston Hughes." American Literature 68.4 (1996): 819-47. Web.
In “Religion in the Poetry of Langston Hughes”, Mary Beth Culp argues that Hughes uses different representations of Christ to reflect the reality of the Black struggle in the 20th century. The extreme racism present at the time Hughes was writing inspired him to present Christ in different ways to express his frustration towards these events. Culp states, “Christ is sometimes white, symbolizing the oppressors and acting as their accomplice; at other times he is black, the image and friend of the lynched Negro, and one who suffers with him” (242). Culp is saying that depending on the context of the appearance of religion in his poetry, Christ is playing different roles in order to show the persecution towards blacks. These varying roles show the importance of religion in Black culture, while emphasizing the struggle of and persecution towards the same. As a youth, Hughes did not have a significant religious influence in his life. In one strange event, he attended a revival meeting at his aunt's church, and in vain attempted to see Jesus, but was unsuccessful. His faith in religion was stunted from that point forward, and in his poetry he speaks of religion through other personae, except for one poem, “Personal”, which expresses God's doubt in Hughes (Culp 240-241). Because of Hughes' strained relationship with God and religion, it is strange that he chose to use religion so much to express himself in his poetry. However, it is also important to note that religion played, and still plays, a significant role in African-American culture, and perhaps this is why Hughes chose to use it to express himself and his culture. Culp states, “Hughes sought to capture every aspect of Black culture, including its religion” (240). Like Jarraway, Culp shows how Hughes' poetry uses Black identity to communicate his message. Although Hughes didn't relate to the religious aspect of his culture as much, he still used it as a tool to express the identity of his people through his poetry.
Culp, Mary Beth. "Religion in the Poetry of Langston Hughes." Phylon 48.3 (1987): 240-45. JSTOR. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.
Van Gogh's portrayal of women in his paintings
In “Sorrowing women, rescuing men: Van Gogh’s images of women and family,” Carol Zemel argues that as a young artist, Van Gogh wanted to experience working class lifestyle so that he could accurately portray it through his paintings. Zemel goes on to explain that he achieved this experience through his relationship with a poor seamstress and prostitute named Clasina (Sien) Hoornik. Van Gogh painted over 60 pictures of Sien and her family, and assumed the role of her rescuer; he believed she was a woman who had fallen victim to her circumstances and he was there to save her from that terrible fate. Eventually, however, Van Gogh’s opinion of Sien began to change. While his initial perception of Sien as a fallen woman appealed to him in an interesting, beautiful, and artistic way, he soon came to look down upon her peasant and prostitute lifestyle. When Van Gogh came to realize that he was incapable of separating Sien from her lifestyle, he became frustrated. The perfect scenario he had in his head of himself as Sien’s rescuer did not play out, and Zemel points out that this is reflected in his paintings from the time, which are laced with sadness. Zemel argues that this gloominess in the paintings of Sien and her family is more of a reflection of Van Gogh’s thoughts about Sien’s life and the difference between the two of them, rather than a direct and realistic representation of Sien’s state of life. Van Gogh was distinctly aware of their class difference, but his effort to lift Sien out of poverty was futile, and he soon lost hope, as his paintings reflect.
Zemel, Carol. “Sorrowing women, rescuing men: Van Gogh’s images of women and family.” Art History vol. 10 (1987): 351-368. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
In “Favoured fictions: women and books in the art of Van Gogh,” Judy Sund argues that Van Gogh’s relationship with modernism influenced his representation of women in his paintings. Van Gogh’s relationship with Sien the peasant frustrated him with the uneducated classes, and this frustration pushed him toward literature, and especially modern literature. Sund explains that Van Gogh was an avid reader and encouraged both men and women to read the modern novels of the time. She discusses Van Gogh’s sketch of Madame Marie Ginoux (a woman Van Gogh knew while living in Southern France). Van Gogh painted Ginoux several times, and in his first rendition, she is portrayed with a highly intellectual expression, and a few books lay on the tabletop in front of her. Sund postulates that this extrapolation of Ginoux’s character is a reflection of Van Gogh’s desire for more women to read as well as his admiration for educated women. By reworking his portrait of Ginoux, Sund argues that Van Gogh is inserting himself and his views into the painting. Shortly after his first painting of Ginoux, Van Gogh suffered the first of many mental breakdowns. He admitted himself to an asylum in Southern France, and while staying there, he reread two of his favorite books from childhood: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Charles Dickens’s Christmas Stories. Sund believes that this retreat into comforting books from the modern French novel led Van Gogh to strongly question his advocacy of women’s familiarity with such modern books, and his opinion of the ideal woman was drastically affected by this period of mental instability. He repainted his sketch of Madame Ginoux while staying in the asylum, and in this second rendition she looks plumper and kinder and more maternal. Sund suggests that because Van Gogh was vulnerable and alone while staying in the asylum, his ideal woman changed from a highly educated, well-read woman, to a maternal figure that could comfort and care for him.
Sund, Judy. “Favoured fictions: women and books in the art of Van Gogh.” Art History vol. 11 (1988): 255-267. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Zemel, Carol. “Sorrowing women, rescuing men: Van Gogh’s images of women and family.” Art History vol. 10 (1987): 351-368. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
In “Favoured fictions: women and books in the art of Van Gogh,” Judy Sund argues that Van Gogh’s relationship with modernism influenced his representation of women in his paintings. Van Gogh’s relationship with Sien the peasant frustrated him with the uneducated classes, and this frustration pushed him toward literature, and especially modern literature. Sund explains that Van Gogh was an avid reader and encouraged both men and women to read the modern novels of the time. She discusses Van Gogh’s sketch of Madame Marie Ginoux (a woman Van Gogh knew while living in Southern France). Van Gogh painted Ginoux several times, and in his first rendition, she is portrayed with a highly intellectual expression, and a few books lay on the tabletop in front of her. Sund postulates that this extrapolation of Ginoux’s character is a reflection of Van Gogh’s desire for more women to read as well as his admiration for educated women. By reworking his portrait of Ginoux, Sund argues that Van Gogh is inserting himself and his views into the painting. Shortly after his first painting of Ginoux, Van Gogh suffered the first of many mental breakdowns. He admitted himself to an asylum in Southern France, and while staying there, he reread two of his favorite books from childhood: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Charles Dickens’s Christmas Stories. Sund believes that this retreat into comforting books from the modern French novel led Van Gogh to strongly question his advocacy of women’s familiarity with such modern books, and his opinion of the ideal woman was drastically affected by this period of mental instability. He repainted his sketch of Madame Ginoux while staying in the asylum, and in this second rendition she looks plumper and kinder and more maternal. Sund suggests that because Van Gogh was vulnerable and alone while staying in the asylum, his ideal woman changed from a highly educated, well-read woman, to a maternal figure that could comfort and care for him.
Sund, Judy. “Favoured fictions: women and books in the art of Van Gogh.” Art History vol. 11 (1988): 255-267. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Art Within Art: Langston HUghes' Use of the BLues in poetry
Hughes’ ability to connect with and represent the black community relies on his use of jazz. In, “Jazzing it up: The be-bop modernism of Langston Hughes,” O’Brien argues that Langston Hughes uses be-bop jazz style in his poem, “Montage of a Dream Deferred,” to address the myth of Americans social harmony. O’Brien considers Hughes’ poem as a piece of be-bop, a fragmented untraditional form, which itself is considered an African-American modernist form of jazz. The poem itself consists of 91 pieces set apart by headings, and uses several voices that work as a whole to portray a unification of the individual and the collective. Hughes creates a be-bop aesthetic through the use of dialogue within his work that allows a more profound context for each line, in other words, he uses the blues to give his work more meaning. Hughes also uses a vernacular style that resembles be-bop in his dialogue to represent black lives in particular, in his exploration of the struggle between reality and ideal within the myth of American social harmony. “In terms of jazz, the poem can be thought of as a sequence of distinctive voices that play off each other while building a freeform, improvisational whole,” (O’Brien). By creating multiple voices within his poem, Hughes goes against conventional forms of poetry in pursuit of a black textual voice, on a communal level. In doing so, he is able to express the voices of the black community, not only within the text of his poem, but through the use of be-bop and its representation of the hope of creating a collective black voice.
O'Brien Hokanson, Robert. "Jazzing it Up: The be-Bop Modernism of Langston Hughes." Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 31.4 (1998): 61-82.
Hughes’ use of the blues transformed the way African-Americans were thought of in modernist society. In “Langston Hughes and Approaches to Modernism in the Harlem Renaissance,” Rampersad argues that Langston Hughes led African-Americans into the modern world through poetry by identifying black modernism and structuring his art around that concept. Much of Hughes’ poetry invokes the blues, a form based in the chants and songs of African-American slave laborers. The blues appealed to many through its combined expressions of pain and laughter, and came to be the language of true black modernism. Hughes used the blues to diminish the misconceptions of black society by integrating the style into his poetry and bringing attention to the black communal voice. “No one could listen to the blues without realizing that there were two Americas,” (Rampersad). By using black vernacular and blues style in his poetry, Hughes conveyed the differences between white and black peoples in society, as well as in modernism. Hughes’ use of blues in poetry recognized the significance of race and integrated African-Americans into the modernist movement while perpetuating the idea of black modernism.
Rampersad, Arnold. “Langston Hughes and Approaches to Modernism in the Harlem Renaissance.” The Harlem Renaissance: Revaluations. Ed. Amritjit, William S. Shriver, Stanley Brodwin. Garland: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1989. 49-71. Print.
O'Brien Hokanson, Robert. "Jazzing it Up: The be-Bop Modernism of Langston Hughes." Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 31.4 (1998): 61-82.
Hughes’ use of the blues transformed the way African-Americans were thought of in modernist society. In “Langston Hughes and Approaches to Modernism in the Harlem Renaissance,” Rampersad argues that Langston Hughes led African-Americans into the modern world through poetry by identifying black modernism and structuring his art around that concept. Much of Hughes’ poetry invokes the blues, a form based in the chants and songs of African-American slave laborers. The blues appealed to many through its combined expressions of pain and laughter, and came to be the language of true black modernism. Hughes used the blues to diminish the misconceptions of black society by integrating the style into his poetry and bringing attention to the black communal voice. “No one could listen to the blues without realizing that there were two Americas,” (Rampersad). By using black vernacular and blues style in his poetry, Hughes conveyed the differences between white and black peoples in society, as well as in modernism. Hughes’ use of blues in poetry recognized the significance of race and integrated African-Americans into the modernist movement while perpetuating the idea of black modernism.
Rampersad, Arnold. “Langston Hughes and Approaches to Modernism in the Harlem Renaissance.” The Harlem Renaissance: Revaluations. Ed. Amritjit, William S. Shriver, Stanley Brodwin. Garland: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1989. 49-71. Print.
VIRGINIA Woolf's DISCUSSION of Process and Self-Identification
In “Only Relations: Vision and Achievement in To the Lighthouse,” Thomas Matro argues that in To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf emphasizes the process behind creating art and connecting with others through her depiction of human and artistic relationships that are originally viewed as failures. Throughout To the Lighthouse, Lily Briscoe struggles with her desires to discover a deeper self-knowledge, or “oneness and unity,” through her painting and in her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay (212). Lily fears that her painting will not represent her “vision”, a concrete image, and that it will not achieve the “unity” she wishes to discover (212). Lily’s struggles are resolved at the end of the novel when she realizes that the moment she wished to display is transient and that her painting will eventually be disregarded. The realization of this inevitable “failure” leads Lily to the conclusion that representing a concrete image is less significant than attempting to represent it and attempting to understand the “unity” she desired. Matro argues that at the end of the novel, Lily recognizes that the significance of her piece lies not in what it depicts but in what it attempts to represent for her and her own struggle to understand this. Matro connects the process of completing the painting and Lily’s new understanding of art with a new understanding of her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay. Matro argues that Lily’s relationship is simply another way to achieve the “oneness” or knowledge she looked for in her painting. Her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay similarly fails to achieve the initial “unity” or intimacy she desired, but is still significant in its attempt to do so. The discussion of both Lily’s painting and her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay leads Matro to the conclusion that Woolf is trying to place the emphasis of the novel “on the act of making, on invention itself in whatever mode” (223). Matro argues that Woolf is emphasizing through both Lily’s painting and her relationship that what is individually gained through attempting to establish understanding, both in art and relationships, is far more significant than the final product.
Matro, Thomas. “Only Relations: Vision and Achievement in To the Lighthouse.” PMLA, 99.2. Modern Language Association (Mar 1984): 212-224.
In “‘As in the rough stream of a glacier’: Virginia Woolf’s Art of Narrative Fusion,” Patricia Clements argues that Woolf’s use of water reveals her own writing process and parallels the development of her characters, which ultimately establishes representation and the past and present as mutable ideas. Clements identifies that Woolf’s image of water is twofold; Woolf includes both water and ice. Through the use of ice, Woolf emphasizes the idea that her works are the result of an accumulation of tradition and this parallels her characters moments of self-identification. In the Great Frost of Orlando, Woolf includes symbolic images within the frozen Thames River that Clements argues represents distinct ideas from literary past that have become embedded in Woolf’s own style just as their images are embedded in ice. Through revealing her inspiration, Woolf shows that her prose were formed through an accumulative process of past material to form her present artistic aesthetics, similar to the accumulation of water to form ice. This transformative process of Woolf’s prose is similarly identifiable within Woolf’s characters. Clements recognizes that the solidification of a stream is coupled with Mrs. Dalloway establishing a new identity. Clements identifies that water and ice are used to identify transformations within both Woolf’s words and characters. Clements argues that while these transformations are frozen in the image of ice the idea that ice melts is central to a complete understanding of Woolf’s discussion of process and transformation. Through the capricious nature of ice, Woolf shows that even after temporary self-discovery, as in her characters or the “crystallization” of aesthetic form within her own works, there still lies the ability to change. Woolf’s portrayal of process suggests that it is ongoing and never reaches and ultimate fixed state. Clements argues that the pairing of ice and water “suggests a steady making and crumbling of aesthetic order” (12). Woolf saw art and representation as dynamic. Clements argues that Woolf uses water and ice, as they reveal her own creative process and emphasize character transformations, to ultimately discuss a lack of fixed identification within both artistic aesthetics and personal identity.
Clements, Patricia. “‘As in the rough stream of a glacier’: Virginia Woolf’s Art of Narrative Fusion.” Virginia Woolf New Critical Essays. Ed. Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy. London: Vision Press (1983): 11-31. Print.
Matro, Thomas. “Only Relations: Vision and Achievement in To the Lighthouse.” PMLA, 99.2. Modern Language Association (Mar 1984): 212-224.
In “‘As in the rough stream of a glacier’: Virginia Woolf’s Art of Narrative Fusion,” Patricia Clements argues that Woolf’s use of water reveals her own writing process and parallels the development of her characters, which ultimately establishes representation and the past and present as mutable ideas. Clements identifies that Woolf’s image of water is twofold; Woolf includes both water and ice. Through the use of ice, Woolf emphasizes the idea that her works are the result of an accumulation of tradition and this parallels her characters moments of self-identification. In the Great Frost of Orlando, Woolf includes symbolic images within the frozen Thames River that Clements argues represents distinct ideas from literary past that have become embedded in Woolf’s own style just as their images are embedded in ice. Through revealing her inspiration, Woolf shows that her prose were formed through an accumulative process of past material to form her present artistic aesthetics, similar to the accumulation of water to form ice. This transformative process of Woolf’s prose is similarly identifiable within Woolf’s characters. Clements recognizes that the solidification of a stream is coupled with Mrs. Dalloway establishing a new identity. Clements identifies that water and ice are used to identify transformations within both Woolf’s words and characters. Clements argues that while these transformations are frozen in the image of ice the idea that ice melts is central to a complete understanding of Woolf’s discussion of process and transformation. Through the capricious nature of ice, Woolf shows that even after temporary self-discovery, as in her characters or the “crystallization” of aesthetic form within her own works, there still lies the ability to change. Woolf’s portrayal of process suggests that it is ongoing and never reaches and ultimate fixed state. Clements argues that the pairing of ice and water “suggests a steady making and crumbling of aesthetic order” (12). Woolf saw art and representation as dynamic. Clements argues that Woolf uses water and ice, as they reveal her own creative process and emphasize character transformations, to ultimately discuss a lack of fixed identification within both artistic aesthetics and personal identity.
Clements, Patricia. “‘As in the rough stream of a glacier’: Virginia Woolf’s Art of Narrative Fusion.” Virginia Woolf New Critical Essays. Ed. Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy. London: Vision Press (1983): 11-31. Print.
Love songs to joannes: a mina-loy interpretation of georges braque
Like the cubists, Mina Loy was not one to shy away from controversial practices; in fact it is how she made a name for herself. In “’The Tattle of Tongueplay’: Mina Loy’s Love Songs,” Peter Quartermain argues that due to the lack of attention that women poets received during the Modernist period, Mina Loy was inspired to utilize lexical and syntactic strategies in order to achieve the poetic discontinuity that allowed her and her work to gain support. Quartermain observes that contrary to the conventions at the time, Loy offers a more graphic and realistic approach to the physical experiences of human life, rather than idealizing sex and the body. Loy provides a shockingly honest approach, as her Songs to Johannes work includes descriptions of “saliva in ‘a trickle’” and addresses a “mucous-membrane” and a “skin sack” (78, 80). Such controversial vocabulary was juxtaposed by more familiar poetic language as well as colloquial terminology, creating the sort of disjointed work that Quartermain argues was crucial to Loy’s recognition and (admittedly posthumous) success.
Quartermain, Peter. “’The Tattle of Tongueplay’: Mina Loy’s Love Songs.” Mina Loy: Woman and Poet. Ed. Maeera Shreiber and Keith Tuma. Orono: National Poetry Foundation (1998): 75-85. Print.
In addition to her shocking vocabulary, Mina Loy made use of the multifaceted nature that words can display. In “Body and the Text/Body of the Text in Mina Loy’s Songs to Johannes,” Lucia Pietroiusti argues that Loy’s use of metonymy instead of metaphors works to redefine the idea of the “body of a text” as non-linear and codified, offering a counterpoint to the conventional patriarchal writing style. Pietroiusti argues that Loy fully realizes metonymy through the use of codification, fragmentation, and ambiguity. Nearly every word in Loy’s poems are chosen to dictate the pace of the reading. For instance in Songs to Joannes, medical terms, difficult vocabulary, and multi-syllabic words all serve to disrupt the fluidity of the poem, reflecting the impact that each of Loy’s words has (35). This could not be achieved in such a way through the use of traditionally logical poetry. When examining Songs in a linear, narrative manner, it is evident that Loy’s presentation of events in a non-chronological order does not allow for a conventional patriarchal reading—one that mirrors the sexual experience of a man throughout its development.
Pietroiusti, Lucia. “Body and the Text/Body of the Text in Mina Loy’s Song to Joannes.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 9.2 (2008): 28-40.
Quartermain, Peter. “’The Tattle of Tongueplay’: Mina Loy’s Love Songs.” Mina Loy: Woman and Poet. Ed. Maeera Shreiber and Keith Tuma. Orono: National Poetry Foundation (1998): 75-85. Print.
In addition to her shocking vocabulary, Mina Loy made use of the multifaceted nature that words can display. In “Body and the Text/Body of the Text in Mina Loy’s Songs to Johannes,” Lucia Pietroiusti argues that Loy’s use of metonymy instead of metaphors works to redefine the idea of the “body of a text” as non-linear and codified, offering a counterpoint to the conventional patriarchal writing style. Pietroiusti argues that Loy fully realizes metonymy through the use of codification, fragmentation, and ambiguity. Nearly every word in Loy’s poems are chosen to dictate the pace of the reading. For instance in Songs to Joannes, medical terms, difficult vocabulary, and multi-syllabic words all serve to disrupt the fluidity of the poem, reflecting the impact that each of Loy’s words has (35). This could not be achieved in such a way through the use of traditionally logical poetry. When examining Songs in a linear, narrative manner, it is evident that Loy’s presentation of events in a non-chronological order does not allow for a conventional patriarchal reading—one that mirrors the sexual experience of a man throughout its development.
Pietroiusti, Lucia. “Body and the Text/Body of the Text in Mina Loy’s Song to Joannes.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 9.2 (2008): 28-40.
The Shattered Individual: Matisse, Kafka, Christianity, & capitalism
In “Matisse at Vence : Epilogue to Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art,” Silver argues that Matisse’s complicated relationship with faith expressed by his wish to design the Chapel of the Rosary reflects how Christianity was integral to the Modernist movement and affected the way in which artists unconsciously interpreted spirituality. Silver writes in response to Debora Silverman’s book, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art, in which she argued that modernism is in need of being viewed from a religious perspective. In agreement with Silverman, Silver argues that “Christian habits of faith and thinking about faith... were still formative, and productive, for artists who had seemed to leave their religion behind” (Silver 81). This was shown by the fact that artists tried “to be at a distance from religious mystery yet [seemed] to embrace mystery itself as a source of creativity” (82). While it is unclear whether Matisse was a Christian, it becomes obvious that spirituality weighed on his mind. It is clear that if he was not a practicing Christian that Christian theological principles influenced the way he defined his updated spiritual doctrine of art in which he saw himself as the central creator. If he was a Christian, it is clear that the pressures of the artistic community coupled with how he wanted to be viewed by the public were in opposition with his spiritual beliefs. In either case, the Christian institution failed to change with the times, thus forcing Matisse to take his spirituality into his own hands. Matisse reflects the complex connection between Christianity, spirituality, and art, in which the modern individual sought to repair their spiritual connection vital to creation by rejecting Christianity, contributing to the fragmentation of the individual.
Silver, Kenneth E. "Matisse at Vence: An Epilogue to Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art." French Politics, Culture & Society 24.2 (2006): 81-90.
Similar to the failure of the Catholic Church, the capitalistic system failed to provide guidance to modern individuals, resulting in fragmentation through capitalism as seen early in Matisse’s career. In Matisse and the Subject of Modernism, Wright argues that the increasing capitalistic nature of the art market and the success of Impressionism affected the way in which Matisse’s early work was perceived. Individuality and innovation following the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist generations began to decrease. Styles and themes of artists heroized by critics such as Monet were being imitated, posing “a serious challenge to the myth of the individual creator” (Wright 35). Not only did the critics dislike the bastardization of their idols and the use of their previously inimitable techniques, but the interest in the Impressionist style had worn off and such paintings were deemed un-artistic and safe, so called “ready-mades” or “pastiches” (34). Capitalism prevented innovation and perpetuated the status quo of what was popular and sold. Matisse was affected because he needed to sell his art in order to maintain his livelihood. He had to make sure that his art appealed to a broad audience. Wright argues that this “tide of plagiarism thus carried with it the suspicion that the much vaunted freedoms of the republic were not… producing fully fledged individuals” because “the logic of the marketplace seemed to take over” (36). Matisse stuck to traditional subject matter, such as nudes, landscapes, and still-life, perhaps to make his art attractive to the public. However, he did individualize it with his radical uses of color. The question comes to mind, what would he have produced if he hadn’t been painting for the public? The “freedom” of Western civilization was inhibited by capitalism as it deemphasized individuality in favor of monetary value and success. Wright argues that the decline in individuality represented a loss of selfhood within the modern individual.
Wright, Alastair. Matisse and the Subject of Modernism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. Print.
Silver, Kenneth E. "Matisse at Vence: An Epilogue to Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art." French Politics, Culture & Society 24.2 (2006): 81-90.
Similar to the failure of the Catholic Church, the capitalistic system failed to provide guidance to modern individuals, resulting in fragmentation through capitalism as seen early in Matisse’s career. In Matisse and the Subject of Modernism, Wright argues that the increasing capitalistic nature of the art market and the success of Impressionism affected the way in which Matisse’s early work was perceived. Individuality and innovation following the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist generations began to decrease. Styles and themes of artists heroized by critics such as Monet were being imitated, posing “a serious challenge to the myth of the individual creator” (Wright 35). Not only did the critics dislike the bastardization of their idols and the use of their previously inimitable techniques, but the interest in the Impressionist style had worn off and such paintings were deemed un-artistic and safe, so called “ready-mades” or “pastiches” (34). Capitalism prevented innovation and perpetuated the status quo of what was popular and sold. Matisse was affected because he needed to sell his art in order to maintain his livelihood. He had to make sure that his art appealed to a broad audience. Wright argues that this “tide of plagiarism thus carried with it the suspicion that the much vaunted freedoms of the republic were not… producing fully fledged individuals” because “the logic of the marketplace seemed to take over” (36). Matisse stuck to traditional subject matter, such as nudes, landscapes, and still-life, perhaps to make his art attractive to the public. However, he did individualize it with his radical uses of color. The question comes to mind, what would he have produced if he hadn’t been painting for the public? The “freedom” of Western civilization was inhibited by capitalism as it deemphasized individuality in favor of monetary value and success. Wright argues that the decline in individuality represented a loss of selfhood within the modern individual.
Wright, Alastair. Matisse and the Subject of Modernism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. Print.
Individuality and free agency
During the modernist period, as the study of the human brain increased, preconceived thoughts concerning individuality were challenged. By this point German physiologist, Theodor Schwann had discovered that the human body was made up of individuated cells. With this breakthrough, complex questions arose such as “was it [the brain] all one unit, or made of single, individuated cells” (Cohn 188). This uncertainty led to an understanding of the human being on a molecular level; the molecular level being a predetermined element of life that all individuals share. In “‘One Single Ivory Cell’: Oscar Wilde and the Brain”, Elisha Cohn, argues that in suggesting that all people are defined by the inner workings of their body, individuality no longer exists. The distinction from person to person is no longer at play considering the same individuated cells define all people. Once the mind and soul were deemed elements of the physical body and a manifestation of the relationship between cells, an individual was predetermined by the very ingredients, which they were made of. In other words, if a person is simply made of cells, precisely like all others, their vital freedom of individuality no longer exists. The individual has been reduced to scientific discourse, no longer possessing free agency to define him or herself.
Cohn, Elisha. "'One Single Ivory Cell': Oscar Wilde and the Brain." Journal of Victorian Culture 17 (2012): 183-205. Print.
Having affections towards men had an unjustified negative impact on Wilde’s image as an artist as well as his supposed freedom as an individual to define his independent identity. Once the news of Wilde’s homosexual nature became public news, the term “homosexual” was used to classify and label him. In “Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, and the Rhetoric of Agency”, David Forester illustrates that these tensions led to Wilde’s forced awareness of the lack of control and freedom he had within his life. Due to the harsh characterization that had fallen onto Wilde by society, his agency had been stripped from him. In exploring De Profundis, Forester suggests Wilde’s desire to appeal to a larger audience, not simply Douglas, his past lover. Aspects of the letter illustrate Wilde’s ability to manipulate language in his favor. Wilde uses rhetorical elements such as characterizing himself as a victim of misfortune, in an attempt to gain sympathy and regain the acknowledgment of the respected artist that he is. Forester defines Wilde’s use of his art by saying; “In the text he [Wilde] casts himself alternately as a tragic protagonist undone by hubris and a victim overwhelmed by repressive social forces” (Foster 88). In doing so Wilde is challenging the association made between him and the term “homosexual” This act proved Wilde’s determination to reclaim his agency and declare his individuality. De Profundis itself was written to serve as a device of reconstruction, Wilde’s self-reconstruction of his life.
Foster, David. "Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, and the Rhetoric of Agency." Papers on Language and Literature (2001): 85-110. Print.
Cohn, Elisha. "'One Single Ivory Cell': Oscar Wilde and the Brain." Journal of Victorian Culture 17 (2012): 183-205. Print.
Having affections towards men had an unjustified negative impact on Wilde’s image as an artist as well as his supposed freedom as an individual to define his independent identity. Once the news of Wilde’s homosexual nature became public news, the term “homosexual” was used to classify and label him. In “Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, and the Rhetoric of Agency”, David Forester illustrates that these tensions led to Wilde’s forced awareness of the lack of control and freedom he had within his life. Due to the harsh characterization that had fallen onto Wilde by society, his agency had been stripped from him. In exploring De Profundis, Forester suggests Wilde’s desire to appeal to a larger audience, not simply Douglas, his past lover. Aspects of the letter illustrate Wilde’s ability to manipulate language in his favor. Wilde uses rhetorical elements such as characterizing himself as a victim of misfortune, in an attempt to gain sympathy and regain the acknowledgment of the respected artist that he is. Forester defines Wilde’s use of his art by saying; “In the text he [Wilde] casts himself alternately as a tragic protagonist undone by hubris and a victim overwhelmed by repressive social forces” (Foster 88). In doing so Wilde is challenging the association made between him and the term “homosexual” This act proved Wilde’s determination to reclaim his agency and declare his individuality. De Profundis itself was written to serve as a device of reconstruction, Wilde’s self-reconstruction of his life.
Foster, David. "Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, and the Rhetoric of Agency." Papers on Language and Literature (2001): 85-110. Print.
Dadaist Text, typography, and tension
Lapacherie argues that “typography is not dependent on language but on the graphic arts” and explains that this is backed up through the dadaist methods used with ready-mades and counters the conventional understanding of typography being reliant on text and used to simply enhance it. He says that typography and stand on its own and that it is not a mere accessory to meaning of text, but that it carries its own meaning. Lapacherie's arguments surrounding the complications and misunderstandings when analyzing text and typography are both separate and singular entities. His analyzes typographic devises and the aspects of conflict between typography and text, and the relationship made therein. He observes that when type is without text one is forced to not see signifiers or enhancers of text, but type as it's own object with its own meaning. Though I found his arguments surrounding the need for historical background understanding compelling, I didn't believe they necessarily furthered the argument made regarding the falsities and failures of the movement. “In dada texts, variations in type do not obey any rule other than the arbitrariness of the authors and are not justifies by any semiotic or aesthetic necessity” p. 76 For dada poets, it is more a matter of denying the significations of typography than of creating new ones and using characters, not as semantic complements to the text, but as pure forms.
Lapacherie, Jean-Gérard. "Typographic Characters: Tension Between Text and Drawing." Yale French
Studies No. 84.Boundaries: Writing & Drawing (1994): 63-77.
The need for the human form has not been eliminated, and by looking at Bay-Cheng and Lapacherie we can analyze and understand goals of Tzara and the Dadaists and the ways in which they did not ultimately achieve the aims of their movement. In Sarah Bay-Cheng's analysesshe focusses on one specific stage direction within this play, titled “DANSE” (the stage direction is in form similar to an infographic) and described as “du monsieur qui tombe de l'entonnoir du plafond sur la table”, which translated to english is DANCE of the gentleman who falls from a funnel in the ceiling onto the table (p.468). This stage direction, printed in form of “jumbled letters rotated with intentional randomness” is created by Tzara to destroy any attempts to translate his play.
This destruction of function and role of body as performers is displayed in Tzara's work's resistance to words being “made flesh” which is, as Bay-Cheng states, resistance to “flesh itself”.The resistant textual performances of dada drama can be “simultaneously antitext and anti-body” and in being both, highlights connection and simultaneousness of both ” (p.480).
Bay-Cheng, Sarah. "Translation, Typography, and the Avant-Garde's Impossible Text." Theatre Journal
59.3, Theatre and Translation (2007): 467-83.
Lapacherie, Jean-Gérard. "Typographic Characters: Tension Between Text and Drawing." Yale French
Studies No. 84.Boundaries: Writing & Drawing (1994): 63-77.
The need for the human form has not been eliminated, and by looking at Bay-Cheng and Lapacherie we can analyze and understand goals of Tzara and the Dadaists and the ways in which they did not ultimately achieve the aims of their movement. In Sarah Bay-Cheng's analysesshe focusses on one specific stage direction within this play, titled “DANSE” (the stage direction is in form similar to an infographic) and described as “du monsieur qui tombe de l'entonnoir du plafond sur la table”, which translated to english is DANCE of the gentleman who falls from a funnel in the ceiling onto the table (p.468). This stage direction, printed in form of “jumbled letters rotated with intentional randomness” is created by Tzara to destroy any attempts to translate his play.
This destruction of function and role of body as performers is displayed in Tzara's work's resistance to words being “made flesh” which is, as Bay-Cheng states, resistance to “flesh itself”.The resistant textual performances of dada drama can be “simultaneously antitext and anti-body” and in being both, highlights connection and simultaneousness of both ” (p.480).
Bay-Cheng, Sarah. "Translation, Typography, and the Avant-Garde's Impossible Text." Theatre Journal
59.3, Theatre and Translation (2007): 467-83.
Innovation for Exploration: Prokofiev's Appeal to HUman Emotion through foreign Tonality
In “Two More Russian Critiques”, Leonid Sabaneev and S.W. Pring argue that because Prokofiev is able to write in a way that contrasts simple musical techniques to more complex ones, his music is therefore able to appeal to a broader variety of audiences. In this experimentation with musical form, Prokofiev managed to discover many other ways in which music could be performed and constructed. Sabaneev and Pring write, “he has already played the fool with the whole of the musical world and even with the old professors of music. In him, music recovers its long-lost faculty of jesting and laughing… it was as though the whole of Mont Blanc came tumbling down” (p. 426). This demonstrates Prokofiev’s ability to appeal to human emotion and the love of entertainment, turning heads as he explores and plays with tonalities in ways that translate differently from presupposed notions of how music should be understood. Furthermore, Sabaneev and Pring write, “his music is essentially simpler beyond comparison… and hence its resonance on the masses is more powerful… Prokofiev provided this simple rustic fare after the too elaborate cookery of the impressionists” (p. 426 and 427). This idea is supported upon analysis of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, a well-known symphony that is often used in repertoire for children’s concerts. This is so because the symphony contains simple, easy to recognize melodies. The character Peter and his animal friends have very fun, Major key themes, while the wolf has a foreboding, dissonant theme. In writing a symphony that appeals to even the most novice music listener, Prokofiev managed to endear himself to a vaster audience than simply musicologists and historians: all children who enjoy a good story. Prokofiev’s demonstration of his ability to interweave both simplicity and complexity, and allowing for listeners of all skill sets to recognize aspects that resonate within themselves as well, supports the idea that Prokofiev used his mastery of the musical form in order to appeal to a wider audience of listeners.
Sabaneev, Leonid, and S. W. Prince. "Two More Russian Critiques: Sergei Prokofiev." Music & Letters 8.4 (1927): 425-31. Oxford Journals. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
In “A Kapustnik in the American Opera House: Modernism and Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges”, Michael V. Pisani argues that although reviews for Prokofiev’s work was often mixed, Prokofiev’s intent was to indulge his audience in a wide array of emotions and feelings through his music. Prokofiev’s critics, however, often found fault with his tonalities, criticizing a lack of melody or lyricism, and finding them insufficient despite the virtuosic dissonance of his music. His musical achievements were under scrutiny as well, for in consideration of his opera The Love for Three Oranges, Pisani writes, “Was Prokofiev merely relying on the irrationality of opera, or was his virtuoso juggling of such disparate operatic elements as eighteenth-century-style theatrical parody, vaudevillian buffoonery, and political and social irony a truly daring and remarkable accomplishment?” (p. 489). This was a prominent question after the initial release of this opera, as The Love for Three Oranges received many highly critical reviews in terms of its “peppery dissonances and lack of traditional melody” (p. 494). Although general reception of the opera had a large spectrum in terms of those who appreciated it and those who didn’t, the highly evocative nature of the music that Prokofiev writes clearly indicates that he wants his music to influence passionate reactions. This provocative aspect of Prokofiev’s writing strongly links him to Modernist ideals as it prompts the listener to analyze their presupposed notion of what music is and how it should be listened to. Whether positive or negative, Prokofiev’s music coaxes distinct feelings from its listeners. In exploring vivid and powerful tonalities and musical structures that draw expressive reactions from his listeners, Prokofiev proves his genius through his appeal to the emotions.
Pisani, Michael V. "A Kapustnik in the American Opera House: Modernism and Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges." American Musics (n.d.): 487-515. Oxford Journals.
Sabaneev, Leonid, and S. W. Prince. "Two More Russian Critiques: Sergei Prokofiev." Music & Letters 8.4 (1927): 425-31. Oxford Journals. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
In “A Kapustnik in the American Opera House: Modernism and Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges”, Michael V. Pisani argues that although reviews for Prokofiev’s work was often mixed, Prokofiev’s intent was to indulge his audience in a wide array of emotions and feelings through his music. Prokofiev’s critics, however, often found fault with his tonalities, criticizing a lack of melody or lyricism, and finding them insufficient despite the virtuosic dissonance of his music. His musical achievements were under scrutiny as well, for in consideration of his opera The Love for Three Oranges, Pisani writes, “Was Prokofiev merely relying on the irrationality of opera, or was his virtuoso juggling of such disparate operatic elements as eighteenth-century-style theatrical parody, vaudevillian buffoonery, and political and social irony a truly daring and remarkable accomplishment?” (p. 489). This was a prominent question after the initial release of this opera, as The Love for Three Oranges received many highly critical reviews in terms of its “peppery dissonances and lack of traditional melody” (p. 494). Although general reception of the opera had a large spectrum in terms of those who appreciated it and those who didn’t, the highly evocative nature of the music that Prokofiev writes clearly indicates that he wants his music to influence passionate reactions. This provocative aspect of Prokofiev’s writing strongly links him to Modernist ideals as it prompts the listener to analyze their presupposed notion of what music is and how it should be listened to. Whether positive or negative, Prokofiev’s music coaxes distinct feelings from its listeners. In exploring vivid and powerful tonalities and musical structures that draw expressive reactions from his listeners, Prokofiev proves his genius through his appeal to the emotions.
Pisani, Michael V. "A Kapustnik in the American Opera House: Modernism and Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges." American Musics (n.d.): 487-515. Oxford Journals.
The Roman á CLef IN Hemingway's THe Sun Also Rises
In Wagner-Martin’s Introduction, it is clear that Wagner-Martin is in favor the novel’s form. As Wagner-Martin argues, the roman á clef is essential for the realistic portrayal of people in the 1920s. The 1920s represented an era of changing ideals: The once noble ideals of romance and heroism were shattered and replaced by “confusion and disillusion” (Wagner-Martin 5). This disillusionment was a result of the Great War; death on a scale the likes of which mankind had never seen. Disillusioned soldiers, having left as boys with the intention of serving their country, returned to the civilian world as cynical and calculating men. The veteran’s disillusionment or replacement of values was Hemingway’s subject in The Sun. Hemingway wanted readers to feel cynical like the returning soldiers; to dislike the characters in his book for their lifestyle and morals. Such a reaction could not have been possible unless the characters represented real people and therefor held the same values as readers at the time. Therein lay the function of the roman á clef.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. Introduction. : Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.
While Wagner-Martin is fascinated by the implications of the roman á clef, Reynolds is more interested in the historical context of the The Sun. In Reynold’s essay The Sun Its Time: Recovering the Historical Context, he argues that the roman á clef actually distracted readers from Hemingway’s message. By basing the characters on people in Hemingway’s life Hemingway mislead readers, tempting them to focus on drawing parallels between Hemingway and the novel’s protagonist and draw false conclusions on the message of his novel(Reynolds 46). Some even considered the roman á clef a cheap trick because Hemingway made no attempt to hide the inspiration behind his novel’s characters (Reynolds, 44). But Reynolds believes Hemingway wasn’t trying to write a novel about himself: Reynolds agrees with Wagner-Martin that Hemingway was writing about his frustration with the frivolity of the ‘Lost Generation’.
Reynolds, Michael. The Sun In Its Time: Recovering the Historical Context. : Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. Introduction. : Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.
While Wagner-Martin is fascinated by the implications of the roman á clef, Reynolds is more interested in the historical context of the The Sun. In Reynold’s essay The Sun Its Time: Recovering the Historical Context, he argues that the roman á clef actually distracted readers from Hemingway’s message. By basing the characters on people in Hemingway’s life Hemingway mislead readers, tempting them to focus on drawing parallels between Hemingway and the novel’s protagonist and draw false conclusions on the message of his novel(Reynolds 46). Some even considered the roman á clef a cheap trick because Hemingway made no attempt to hide the inspiration behind his novel’s characters (Reynolds, 44). But Reynolds believes Hemingway wasn’t trying to write a novel about himself: Reynolds agrees with Wagner-Martin that Hemingway was writing about his frustration with the frivolity of the ‘Lost Generation’.
Reynolds, Michael. The Sun In Its Time: Recovering the Historical Context. : Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.
Fragmenting the System: Gertrude Stein and The Cubist Agenda
In her essay “Preforming mind blindness: Gertrude Stein’s autistic ethos of modernism” Nancy Bombaci postulates that Gertrude Stein developed a subversive language to criticize the glorification of male intellect and marginalization of female artists and thinkers by adopting the modernist style of appropriating and utilizing stereotypically autistic male characteristics in their writing. There was once believed to be a gendered polarity of the autistic brain: the autistic female’s mind was categorized as empathetic, leading the person to display great sensitivity towards others and crave human connection, whereas the autistic male’s mind was thought to be systematical, the person in turn choosing isolation over integration into their community and using the kind of vigorous analysis often associated with the deified eccentric, idiosyncratic Western genius. This dichotomy of mental ability and function based on binary gender perceptions served to promote the male intellectual that showed signs of having similar mannerisms as a high functioning autistic man and trivialized female intellectuals, as they were not expected to be as egocentric as the men and therefore less intelligent and eccentric. Bombaci argues that Stein harnessed literary modernists’ proclivity for the veneration of such male intellectuals to develop her own language, putting to use the characteristically repetitive, focused and nearly incomprehensible style to utilize the inherent masculine privilege to gain intellectual eminence and authority, as well as to satirize the modernist tradition. By mimicking the manner in which male authors and poets wrote, Stein earned a place in the modernist canon, but the exacerbation of the style makes clear that it is with irony she holds such a title, as the seditious language she developed and used in her work ultimately criticizes and branches off from the modernist tradition of espousing patriarchal and misogynic values.
Bombaci, Nancy. “Preforming mindblindness: Gertrude Stein’s autistic ethos of modernism.” New London: Taylor & Francis, 2008. CORRECT THIS CITATION.
In her essay “The Return of the Mother’s Body,” Lisa Ruddick argues that Stein criticized the custom to value men over women in the male-centric society she lived in by dismantling custom in her work entirely. Ruddick claims that Stein theorized that the patriarchy is dependent on a collection of inflexible distinctions, binary and therefore dichotomized in nature. Simply put, the patriarchy is built on the division that is born of such things as man versus woman, culture versus nature, mind versus matter, and this inevitably favors and privileges one of the two. The devalued of the two is the one associated with women, such as nature and matter, as women born biologically female typically menstruate monthly, therefore succumbing to nature and their bodies, or, matter. Men, however, are seen as stronger and therefore of higher value because nature does not sway them in such a way and they are able to remain “cultured” and in control of their minds. Stein rightfully saw this basis of male privilege as ridiculous and sought to destroy it by subverting the patriarchal arrangement in her poetry. She works to take apart the predetermined notions of what objects and their interpretations are in poems such as “A Piece of Coffee,” where she writes “More of a double/ A place in no new table. / A single image is not splendor. Dirty is yellow. A sign of more in / not mentioned.” She prompts readers to question what coffee is and how its definition can differ from the accepted standard of its representation. This idea then extends from simple objects to the fixed identities set by that patriarchy, such as femininity and the female figure in both society and in art. According to Ruddick, in order to redefine the fixed identities, she has to “unmake, ex-create, or dismantle the existing order” (Ruddick 231). Stein unmakes the “existing order” in her subversive work, ex-creating the boundaries set by literary tradition through use of her radical style and dismantling the conventions set by the patriarchy by opposing its fixed system through exploring the crossing of gender roles and reclaiming the devalued pieces of femininity in her poetry.
Ruddick, Lisa. Reading Gertrude Stein: Body, Text, Gnosis. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1990. CORRECT THIS CITATION
Bombaci, Nancy. “Preforming mindblindness: Gertrude Stein’s autistic ethos of modernism.” New London: Taylor & Francis, 2008. CORRECT THIS CITATION.
In her essay “The Return of the Mother’s Body,” Lisa Ruddick argues that Stein criticized the custom to value men over women in the male-centric society she lived in by dismantling custom in her work entirely. Ruddick claims that Stein theorized that the patriarchy is dependent on a collection of inflexible distinctions, binary and therefore dichotomized in nature. Simply put, the patriarchy is built on the division that is born of such things as man versus woman, culture versus nature, mind versus matter, and this inevitably favors and privileges one of the two. The devalued of the two is the one associated with women, such as nature and matter, as women born biologically female typically menstruate monthly, therefore succumbing to nature and their bodies, or, matter. Men, however, are seen as stronger and therefore of higher value because nature does not sway them in such a way and they are able to remain “cultured” and in control of their minds. Stein rightfully saw this basis of male privilege as ridiculous and sought to destroy it by subverting the patriarchal arrangement in her poetry. She works to take apart the predetermined notions of what objects and their interpretations are in poems such as “A Piece of Coffee,” where she writes “More of a double/ A place in no new table. / A single image is not splendor. Dirty is yellow. A sign of more in / not mentioned.” She prompts readers to question what coffee is and how its definition can differ from the accepted standard of its representation. This idea then extends from simple objects to the fixed identities set by that patriarchy, such as femininity and the female figure in both society and in art. According to Ruddick, in order to redefine the fixed identities, she has to “unmake, ex-create, or dismantle the existing order” (Ruddick 231). Stein unmakes the “existing order” in her subversive work, ex-creating the boundaries set by literary tradition through use of her radical style and dismantling the conventions set by the patriarchy by opposing its fixed system through exploring the crossing of gender roles and reclaiming the devalued pieces of femininity in her poetry.
Ruddick, Lisa. Reading Gertrude Stein: Body, Text, Gnosis. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1990. CORRECT THIS CITATION
Physical Poetry: Understanding contrasting conceptions of the purpose of art through the work of charlie chaplin
In his essay,“The Art of Charlie Chaplin”, critic Elie Faure attempts to understand how the brilliant young actor had so assiduously mastered the new art of cinema. Faure argues that it is Chaplin’s ability to emotionally affect his audience, using solely his physical form and without any words or sound, that makes his art so special. This ability is described by Faure as “purely cineplastic”, in that simply by observing, an audience can relate to and sympathize with Chaplin’s character. But Faure goes even further, stating that Chaplin is “a great poet”, a controversial title for a silent film actor- especially one who at the onset of his career was generally regarded as a clown. But Chaplin is a poet, Faure argues, one who writes in the ubiquitous physical language, through which he can tell stories which inspire the hearts and minds of all of his viewers. This universality of his mode of communication allows Chaplin to return any audience to a sense of infancy, a time of meaningful communication without language. While Faure focuses on the immense talent of Chaplin early in his career, Davis discusses the political and popular turmoil he faced later on.
Faure, Elie. "The Art of Charlie Chaplin." New England Review (1990-) 19.2 (1998): 146-51. JSTOR. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
In his essay “A Tale of Two Movies: Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, and the Red Scare, D. William Davis argues that both the public and the government’s- inability to “separate a screen actor’s work and private life” led to Chaplin’s fall in popularity and conflicts with the Federal Government during the McCarthy era. Davis compares the releases of two of Chaplin’s films: Monsieur Verdoux in 1947 and Limelight in 1952. At the time of Verdoux’s release, Chaplin was reaching “the nadir of his popularity”(48), after a controversial child support case plus his Pro-Russian political views during the war had burdened his reputation. Bypassing the traditional routes for releasing films, Chaplin instead released it through a union group called United Artists. This decision, in already tense political times, appeared to shun capitalist ideology in favor of commune-esque groups. Regardless of his initial intentions, the release of Verdoux was met with a degree of public disapproval. Davis then describes the release of Chaplin’s next film, Limelight, which further illustrates his point. Emboldened by the controversy surrounding Verdoux, Chaplin made Limelight even more overtly political than any of his previous movies. Even before the new filmcould be released, Chaplin was brought in by the FBI and other government agencies for questioning, charging him with “being a member of the Communist Party ,and with grave moral charges"(54). These charges led to widespread public protest of the film and, despite the fact Chaplin was not actually a Communist, further buried his reputation as an artist. This proves Davis’s argument that the public and government’s overemphasis on the political implications of Chaplin’s work, regardless of his actual views, led to his fall from fame and legal troubles.
Davis, B. William. "A Tale of Two Movies: Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, and the Red Scare." JSTOR, Autumn 1987. Web.
Faure, Elie. "The Art of Charlie Chaplin." New England Review (1990-) 19.2 (1998): 146-51. JSTOR. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
In his essay “A Tale of Two Movies: Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, and the Red Scare, D. William Davis argues that both the public and the government’s- inability to “separate a screen actor’s work and private life” led to Chaplin’s fall in popularity and conflicts with the Federal Government during the McCarthy era. Davis compares the releases of two of Chaplin’s films: Monsieur Verdoux in 1947 and Limelight in 1952. At the time of Verdoux’s release, Chaplin was reaching “the nadir of his popularity”(48), after a controversial child support case plus his Pro-Russian political views during the war had burdened his reputation. Bypassing the traditional routes for releasing films, Chaplin instead released it through a union group called United Artists. This decision, in already tense political times, appeared to shun capitalist ideology in favor of commune-esque groups. Regardless of his initial intentions, the release of Verdoux was met with a degree of public disapproval. Davis then describes the release of Chaplin’s next film, Limelight, which further illustrates his point. Emboldened by the controversy surrounding Verdoux, Chaplin made Limelight even more overtly political than any of his previous movies. Even before the new filmcould be released, Chaplin was brought in by the FBI and other government agencies for questioning, charging him with “being a member of the Communist Party ,and with grave moral charges"(54). These charges led to widespread public protest of the film and, despite the fact Chaplin was not actually a Communist, further buried his reputation as an artist. This proves Davis’s argument that the public and government’s overemphasis on the political implications of Chaplin’s work, regardless of his actual views, led to his fall from fame and legal troubles.
Davis, B. William. "A Tale of Two Movies: Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, and the Red Scare." JSTOR, Autumn 1987. Web.
making it new: frank lloyd wright's restructuring in modern architecture
In “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: A Case Study in Inside-the-Box Creativity” Robert Weisberg contends that Fallingwater was not, as often believed, simply the result of a spontaneous creative leap in Wright’s mind, but its incremental design process is evidenced by logical reasoning in the face of design constraints and visible influences from Wright’s own and other architect’s past work. Weisberg presents the conception of Wright as an artist of “inside-the-box creativity” and design process (297). Challenging our traditional conception of “outside-the-box” thinking , in which the artist pulls from unknown and unusual sources while creating, Weisberg makes the claim that the sources being pulled from are not truly outside the box for the artist, it is just our inability to see the contents of their box that makes it appear so. Instead, creativity is an artist’s unique combination of the contents of their box, their own designs and styles and those that they’ve seen or learned about. Weisberg uses this argument to assert that the innovations for which Wright was renowned are not extraordinary because they resulted inconceivably from unknown origins, but because they are “new works on the foundation of the old” (298). That is, the hallmark of compelling creativity is that it is an original response to what already exists, resulting in something unprecedented and thereby extraordinary. This is what Wright achieved with Fallingwater. As Weisberg reasons, he did so through “automatic influence” and “strategic use” of antecedents (310). In other words, the design was influenced by preceding ideas and styles of which some the architect employed deliberately while others operated on him subconsciously. These included aspects of Wright’s prior prairie houses, as well some aspects of a current architectural movement. Though many similarities to Fallingwater can be seen in the earlier designs of Wright and other architects, the reason Fallingwater is set apart is because of the way it utilizes these aspects, applied thoughtfully and innovatively to a unique design problem. Remarkable creative thinkers, Weisberg insists, such as Wright was, are not remarkable because their ideas descend supernaturally upon them, but because they utilize their knowledge and expertise, building astutely from an established foundation to create something incredible.
Weisberg, Robert W. "Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: A Case Study In Inside-The-Box Creativity." Creativity Research Journal 23.4 (2011): 296-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
In “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: A Case Study in Inside-the-Box Creativity” Robert Weisberg contends that Fallingwater was not, as often believed, simply the result of a spontaneous creative leap in Wright’s mind, but its incremental design process is evidenced by logical reasoning in the face of design constraints and visible influences from Wright’s own and other architect’s past work. Weisberg presents the conception of Wright as an artist of “inside-the-box creativity” and design process (297). Challenging our traditional conception of “outside-the-box” thinking , in which the artist pulls from unknown and unusual sources while creating, Weisberg makes the claim that the sources being pulled from are not truly outside the box for the artist, it is just our inability to see the contents of their box that makes it appear so. Instead, creativity is an artist’s unique combination of the contents of their box, their own designs and styles and those that they’ve seen or learned about. Weisberg uses this argument to assert that the innovations for which Wright was renowned are not extraordinary because they resulted inconceivably from unknown origins, but because they are “new works on the foundation of the old” (298). That is, the hallmark of compelling creativity is that it is an original response to what already exists, resulting in something unprecedented and thereby extraordinary. This is what Wright achieved with Fallingwater. As Weisberg reasons, he did so through “automatic influence” and “strategic use” of antecedents (310). In other words, the design was influenced by preceding ideas and styles of which some the architect employed deliberately while others operated on him subconsciously. These included aspects of Wright’s prior prairie houses, as well some aspects of a current architectural movement. Though many similarities to Fallingwater can be seen in the earlier designs of Wright and other architects, the reason Fallingwater is set apart is because of the way it utilizes these aspects, applied thoughtfully and innovatively to a unique design problem. Remarkable creative thinkers, Weisberg insists, such as Wright was, are not remarkable because their ideas descend supernaturally upon them, but because they utilize their knowledge and expertise, building astutely from an established foundation to create something incredible.
Weisberg, Robert W. "Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: A Case Study In Inside-The-Box Creativity." Creativity Research Journal 23.4 (2011): 296-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Weisberg, Robert W. "Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: A Case Study In Inside-The-Box Creativity." Creativity Research Journal 23.4 (2011): 296-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
In “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: A Case Study in Inside-the-Box Creativity” Robert Weisberg contends that Fallingwater was not, as often believed, simply the result of a spontaneous creative leap in Wright’s mind, but its incremental design process is evidenced by logical reasoning in the face of design constraints and visible influences from Wright’s own and other architect’s past work. Weisberg presents the conception of Wright as an artist of “inside-the-box creativity” and design process (297). Challenging our traditional conception of “outside-the-box” thinking , in which the artist pulls from unknown and unusual sources while creating, Weisberg makes the claim that the sources being pulled from are not truly outside the box for the artist, it is just our inability to see the contents of their box that makes it appear so. Instead, creativity is an artist’s unique combination of the contents of their box, their own designs and styles and those that they’ve seen or learned about. Weisberg uses this argument to assert that the innovations for which Wright was renowned are not extraordinary because they resulted inconceivably from unknown origins, but because they are “new works on the foundation of the old” (298). That is, the hallmark of compelling creativity is that it is an original response to what already exists, resulting in something unprecedented and thereby extraordinary. This is what Wright achieved with Fallingwater. As Weisberg reasons, he did so through “automatic influence” and “strategic use” of antecedents (310). In other words, the design was influenced by preceding ideas and styles of which some the architect employed deliberately while others operated on him subconsciously. These included aspects of Wright’s prior prairie houses, as well some aspects of a current architectural movement. Though many similarities to Fallingwater can be seen in the earlier designs of Wright and other architects, the reason Fallingwater is set apart is because of the way it utilizes these aspects, applied thoughtfully and innovatively to a unique design problem. Remarkable creative thinkers, Weisberg insists, such as Wright was, are not remarkable because their ideas descend supernaturally upon them, but because they utilize their knowledge and expertise, building astutely from an established foundation to create something incredible.
Weisberg, Robert W. "Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: A Case Study In Inside-The-Box Creativity." Creativity Research Journal 23.4 (2011): 296-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Oscar Wilde as a modernist precursor
Bush argues that while outwardly critical of Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot was strongly influenced by the philosophy and work of Wilde. Bush focuses on the connections between the two artists, which are formed by Wilde’s influence on, and Eliot’s involvement in Modernism, especially in relation to the formation of artistic character. Bush lists Eliot’s essays and lectures which reference Wilde’s critical canon, as well as comparing the behavior of the two men. Wilde serves as a prime example of the “decadent” British literary culture which Eliot famously rejected in favor of a more reserved lifestyle. Bush states that this “invocation of ‘tradition’ stems from Wildean premises and reveals itself as no less individualistic” (page 477). To Bush, where Wilde’s decadence was an inversion of Victorian prudery, Eliot’s austerity was a means of transposing that decadence which, largely due to Wilde, had become a norm. With this, Bush compares the manners in which both men lived, and identifies their different paths as similar in goal. Bush emphasizes that both men were seeking a way to cement a unique selfhood, and that only their methods differed.
Bush, Ronald. "In Pursuit of Wilde Possum: Reflections on Eliot, Modernism, and the Nineties." Modernism/Modernity 11.3 (2004): 469-85. Project MUSE. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
McGowan argues that Oscar Wilde provided a main template for the break from traditionally “meaningful” literature which was a feature of many Modernist artists’ ideologies. McGowan cites Wilde’s trademark philosophy of aestheticism as an example of his belief that art should be judged by form, rather than function. The Modernists, according to McGowan, attempted to follow in these footsteps but were unable to divorce themselves completely from the reliance on meaning, often characterized by epiphanies. McGowan states that such Modernist writers “manifest…the incompatible desires of autonomous self-creation and of sloughing off the burden of self altogether” (page 419). In this, McGowan is referring to the two main schools of thought regarding the most valuable aspect of art. “Autonomous self-creation” represents the more traditional stance, which values the soulfulness of a piece. In contrast to this, the philosophy popularized by Wilde and embraced by the Modernists states that art should not attempt to make statements, but should merely be aesthetically pleasing.
McGowan, John. "From Pater to Wilde to Joyce: Modernist Epiphany and the Soulful Self." Texas Studies in Literature and Language 32.3 (1990): 417-45. JSTOR. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
Bush, Ronald. "In Pursuit of Wilde Possum: Reflections on Eliot, Modernism, and the Nineties." Modernism/Modernity 11.3 (2004): 469-85. Project MUSE. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
McGowan argues that Oscar Wilde provided a main template for the break from traditionally “meaningful” literature which was a feature of many Modernist artists’ ideologies. McGowan cites Wilde’s trademark philosophy of aestheticism as an example of his belief that art should be judged by form, rather than function. The Modernists, according to McGowan, attempted to follow in these footsteps but were unable to divorce themselves completely from the reliance on meaning, often characterized by epiphanies. McGowan states that such Modernist writers “manifest…the incompatible desires of autonomous self-creation and of sloughing off the burden of self altogether” (page 419). In this, McGowan is referring to the two main schools of thought regarding the most valuable aspect of art. “Autonomous self-creation” represents the more traditional stance, which values the soulfulness of a piece. In contrast to this, the philosophy popularized by Wilde and embraced by the Modernists states that art should not attempt to make statements, but should merely be aesthetically pleasing.
McGowan, John. "From Pater to Wilde to Joyce: Modernist Epiphany and the Soulful Self." Texas Studies in Literature and Language 32.3 (1990): 417-45. JSTOR. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
God and gays: an analysis of W.H. Auden's modernist poetry
“Rarely, though, do scholars examine Auden’s sexuality alongside his Christianity (1).” In Queering the City of God, Olivia Bustion discusses the disparity between Auden’s homosexual and Christian poetry. She states that more often than not, they are examined separately and not together. He is a queer Christian, he has a fascinating history which influences his work and sets him apart from other queer writers of his time. “He gives decidedly queer theoethical answers, reading his own participation in queer networks through the lens of the Christian faith to construct gay subjectivity as an anti-imperialist prophetic vocation (2).” “And Auden’s later poetry, the labor of a gay Christian polymath, has much to offer current debates in academic theology about nature, grace, religious epistemology, and how to do ethics (3).” She believes that it is impossible to separate the queer and the Christian parts of him in analysis of his poetry because they both provide so much foundation for his work.
Bustion, Olivia F. "Search Deep Blue." Queering the City of God: W. H. Auden's Later Poetry and the Ethics of Friendship. University of Michigan, 2012. Web. 04 May 2015.
One would think that the modernist movement was very accepting of the LGBT community but sadly that wasn’t the case. “It is generally agreed that the movement was cross-disciplinary, dominated by its own myth of discontinuity, fully urban and technological in nature, extremely self-conscious in its avant-garde and experimental facets, and characterized by both an elitist sensibility and an egotistical valuing of the self,” the movement was very much for personal expression and breaking down societal norms, but the LGBT community was still ostracized due to the existing sodomy laws, the Oscar Wilde trials, and the Nazi takeover. But queer authors and artists existed and flourished within their own friend groups within the movement. This is important for a movement that was all about pushing the envelope on Victorian traditions.
Glbtq, Inc. "Glbtq Literature Modernism." Glbtq Literature Modernism. Glbtq, Inc, 2002. Web. 06 May 2015
Bustion, Olivia F. "Search Deep Blue." Queering the City of God: W. H. Auden's Later Poetry and the Ethics of Friendship. University of Michigan, 2012. Web. 04 May 2015.
One would think that the modernist movement was very accepting of the LGBT community but sadly that wasn’t the case. “It is generally agreed that the movement was cross-disciplinary, dominated by its own myth of discontinuity, fully urban and technological in nature, extremely self-conscious in its avant-garde and experimental facets, and characterized by both an elitist sensibility and an egotistical valuing of the self,” the movement was very much for personal expression and breaking down societal norms, but the LGBT community was still ostracized due to the existing sodomy laws, the Oscar Wilde trials, and the Nazi takeover. But queer authors and artists existed and flourished within their own friend groups within the movement. This is important for a movement that was all about pushing the envelope on Victorian traditions.
Glbtq, Inc. "Glbtq Literature Modernism." Glbtq Literature Modernism. Glbtq, Inc, 2002. Web. 06 May 2015
COntroversial Art - Mary Cassatt as distinguished impressionist
Dorothy Grafly provides insight on the life of Mary Cassatt through spotlighting some main sources of inspiration. Grafy argues Cassatt was a confusing and controversial character of the Impressionist movement because of her role as a women and lack of experience. Cassatt was deemed unreliable and her talent was often discounted because of her gender. Grafly’s main argument throughout the article was questioning if Cassatt could and should be considered an impressionist. Potentially surprising some readers, Grafly argues, Miss Cassatt was not a pupil of Degas, nor did either of them belong to the group of painters known as the Impressionist. Because of Cassatt’s typical painting style, some will argue with this statement, but she cannot be associated with the Impressionist painters such as Monet or Pissarro and neither can her most influential mentor, Degas. Many have said that Degas and Cassatt were close friends, but Grafly argues that Cassatt didn’t even know Degas until long after her late pieces of art. According to Grafly, Cassatt’s main influences were Spanish, spiritual force, mother and child relationships and her overall appreciation for life. This idea is the main source of controversy for Grafly’s article and caused many misunderstandings throughout the Impressionist period. Cassatt’s influence lays the foundation for why it is so important whether or not Cassatt should be considered part of the movement. During this time, the idea of women artists had just emerged and Cassatt challenged the era with her gender. So, in addition to being a controversial Impressionist artist, she was also challenging what it means to be a woman. In Cassatt’s paintings, Grafly explains how she did not compromise her emotions or personality, but rather expressed them through choice of color and pattern. These qualities came from her being a women; she was in touch with her maternal emotions to express something such as a relationship between a mother and child. Whether this idea should advocate for Cassatt as an impressionist or lack thereof, Grafly approaches Cassatt’s years as a painter by presenting controversies about her influential figures and the movement she really belonged too.
Grafly, Dorothy. “In Retrospect-Mary Cassatt” The American Magazine of Art Jun. 1927: 305-312. Print.
The tensions that have been created because of the controversy behind Mary Cassatt’s role as an impressionist painter brought many questions and misunderstanding to the forefront. Though many have argued against Cassatt’s contribution to the Impressionists, some have also accredited her for the most important of parts in the time period. The transition into Modernism, informally introduced by Impressionism, had many markers unto which all sparked interest. For example, Janet M. Torpy showcases Mary Cassatt in a very different light then Grafly, as she explains Cassatt’s significant value. Torpy uses a specific painting of Cassatt’s, Woman in Red Bodice and her Child, and explains the importance of the piece in relation to the Impressionist movement. The obvious brushstrokes and vibrant color fit seamlessly into the Impressionist time. Cassatt’s uses light to highlight specific parts of the piece, as many impressionist focused on. Cassatt’s ability to present a moment in time rather than a staged event also contributes to the uniqueness of impressionism paintings. In addition, Torpy argues Cassatt’s eye for visual appearance in her artwork gives her unique leverage during the era. Cassatt’s ability to bring images to life and tell a story with her artwork confirms strengths that she used to her advantage. A great example of this ability of Cassatt’s, according the Torpy, was her way of incorporating religious and meaningful symbols into her pieces. Torpy argues, Madonna and child, albeit a modern execution, Cassatt's woman and baby seem to represent all that is good and decent about humanity at its most basic level. Not only does Cassatt represent real-life humanity in her art, but she also puts a modern twist on images that individuals will relate too, such as the Madonna and Child symbol. This serene way that Cassatt displays nature incorporated in life differs from other artists whose main goal was to show beauty instead of “health and strength”. Cassatt’s paintings are like a symphony; a multitude of individual parts working together to create a unified masterpiece. Tropy’s argument supporting Cassatt’s work and her contributions to the Impressionists movement are displayed through Tropy’s take on a specific piece of art.
Trophy, Janet M. “Woman in Red Bodice and her Child” The Journal of the American Medical Association 303.17 (2010). Print.
Grafly, Dorothy. “In Retrospect-Mary Cassatt” The American Magazine of Art Jun. 1927: 305-312. Print.
The tensions that have been created because of the controversy behind Mary Cassatt’s role as an impressionist painter brought many questions and misunderstanding to the forefront. Though many have argued against Cassatt’s contribution to the Impressionists, some have also accredited her for the most important of parts in the time period. The transition into Modernism, informally introduced by Impressionism, had many markers unto which all sparked interest. For example, Janet M. Torpy showcases Mary Cassatt in a very different light then Grafly, as she explains Cassatt’s significant value. Torpy uses a specific painting of Cassatt’s, Woman in Red Bodice and her Child, and explains the importance of the piece in relation to the Impressionist movement. The obvious brushstrokes and vibrant color fit seamlessly into the Impressionist time. Cassatt’s uses light to highlight specific parts of the piece, as many impressionist focused on. Cassatt’s ability to present a moment in time rather than a staged event also contributes to the uniqueness of impressionism paintings. In addition, Torpy argues Cassatt’s eye for visual appearance in her artwork gives her unique leverage during the era. Cassatt’s ability to bring images to life and tell a story with her artwork confirms strengths that she used to her advantage. A great example of this ability of Cassatt’s, according the Torpy, was her way of incorporating religious and meaningful symbols into her pieces. Torpy argues, Madonna and child, albeit a modern execution, Cassatt's woman and baby seem to represent all that is good and decent about humanity at its most basic level. Not only does Cassatt represent real-life humanity in her art, but she also puts a modern twist on images that individuals will relate too, such as the Madonna and Child symbol. This serene way that Cassatt displays nature incorporated in life differs from other artists whose main goal was to show beauty instead of “health and strength”. Cassatt’s paintings are like a symphony; a multitude of individual parts working together to create a unified masterpiece. Tropy’s argument supporting Cassatt’s work and her contributions to the Impressionists movement are displayed through Tropy’s take on a specific piece of art.
Trophy, Janet M. “Woman in Red Bodice and her Child” The Journal of the American Medical Association 303.17 (2010). Print.
Igor Stravinsky and Multiple Modernisms
Within “Literary Memory and the Moment of Modern Music” Aaron Heisler delves into the historical significance of composer Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le sacre du printemps or The Rite of Spring. Regardless of Le Sacre exhibiting the “securely institutionalized” nature of most European classical music, the ballet can still be considered to encompass the definition of a “modern” piece and stands as a great influence for proceeding modern works. The explosive nature of the 1913 premiere unexpectedly initiated a riot within the crowd and the ballet itself received countless negative reviews and critiques. The negative feedback focused on the unfathomable artistic style of the piece, which was said to include “an aura of futuristic innovation and…primitivism” (Heisler). The unnerving sensations that Le Sacre unearthed are considered to have influenced the great modern writer T.S. Eliot and provided inspiration for The Wasteland. This shows the potential for Stravinsky’s influence in the writing sphere of modernism. Notwithstanding Stravinsky’s title as a composer he still infiltrated the very tactically dissimilar world of modernist writing thus proving the universality of his works. Despite Le Sacre falling into the category of classical music nowadays, Stravinsky’s piece still remains a significant part of the creation of many following modernist works.
Heisler, Aaron. “Literary Memory and the Moment of Modern Music.” Modernism/modernity. Volume 19. Number 4 (2013): 693-700. Print.
The critically received ballet Le Sacre du printemps currently stands as a notable marker of the beginning of modern art despite the generalization of classical music today. Heisler does an expert job of describing the ways in which Stravinsky’s Le Sacre influenced modern writers like T.S. Eliot but he fails to actually define modernism. The introductory chapter of Jonathan Cross's The Stravinsky Legacy, does the job of posing that great question: what is modernism? Cross explores Stravinsky’s place within modernism and references Theodor Adorno’s notion that modernism is “dialectically articulated". In other words, Adorno claims that there is no universal form of modernism, but instead that it can be shaped and defined by any present dialogue around the subject. An example given is of the difference between the modernisms in which Igor Stravinsky and fellow modern composer Arnold Schoenberg functioned. To Adorno, Schoenberg's modernism appreciated "the progressive [and] developmental” whereas Stravinsky's modernism emphasized "the regressive [and] non-developmental” (Cross). These two composers seem to exist as polar opposites yet both of their works are considered to be exceptional and modern. It can be deduced that neither composer was better than the other, but instead that each composer held a place of his own in his specific modernism and was able to excel in that modernism based on various aspects of his works.
Modernism is a flexible, conceptual thing created within social spaces. Cross claims that in order to call Stravinsky the best modernist composer, we must first define “modern” and “modernism”. With the help of Theodor Adorno’s analysis, Cross concludes that both Stravinsky and Schoenberg could be considered the “best modern composer” based on the existence of differing definitions of “modern”. From here the multiplicity of modernism can be extrapolated to other art forms and this explains Stravinsky’s versatility and success in different subjects. With many modernisms, we can then compare the drastically different ones. Adorno describes Schoenberg as being “progressive” similar to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon. The unfathomable concept of the Panopticon in the 1700’s revolutionized the movement to better understand human thought and behaviors. Contrastively, Adorno’s description of Stravinsky’s modernism as being “regressive” parallels Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. With most of society being caught up in high art, the African influence and features of prostitutes displayed regression in art to society. Regardless, each of these artists thrived in the modernist era within varying modernisms.
Cross, Jonathan. “The Stravinsky Legacy.” New York: Cambridge University Press (1998). 3-7. Print.
"Make it new," not "make it Right": Mina loy and the importance of change over values
Aimee L. Pozorski argues in “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917” that Mina Loy’s contradictory ideas in her writing were most heavily influenced by two relationships in her life: one with her mother, which inspired her feminism, and the other with Futurist leader Filippo Tammaso Marinetti, which influenced her support of some eugenecist ideals. Loy supported feminism in her writing because she saw that her mother was “bitter and repressed” because of her Victorian upbringing (Pozorski 43). Loy’s perception of her mother as limited by the societal restrictions imposed upon women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries made her passionate about the feminist movement. She wrote against the current “feminist social discourse rendering women either as mistresses or as mothers” (42). At the time, women were considered to only be able to fill one of two roles: the mother--moral, caring, and subdued--or the mistress, who embraces her sexuality and is more free of the expectations that come with having and supporting a family. Loy represented women, especially mothers, as both. She desired to abandon societal rules which limited women to one definition, and to allow women the freedom to be and act as they personally chose. The second--and possibly most influential--relationship in Loy’s life was her romance with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, whose use of language as he wrote in favor of futurism inspired and excited Loy as she recognized the potential for improvement of her own work through his methods. However, Marinetti also promoted eugenicist ideas of racial purity and misogyny, values which not only starkly contrast those previously held by Loy, but also portray her as an undesirable individual. He represented, as Pozorski writes, “misogyny and belief in Italian race-superiority … declaring women valuable only for reproducing ‘pure’ babies” (43). In other words, Marinetti supported ideas that said the ideal person was everything Loy, a woman of Jewish-Hungarian descent (races not favored by the futurist movement), and a mother to mixed-race children, was not. However, despite being portrayed as undesirable by Marinetti’s ideals, much of her writing appears to be in agreement his values.
Pozorski, Aimee L. “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917.” Melus 30.3 (2005): 41-69. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Christina Walter argues in “Getting Impersonal: Mina Loy's Body Politics from ‘Feminist Manifesto’ to Insel” that Loy created a so-called “impersonal aesthetic” for her writing because she recognized that personality was not controlled by the individual and she did not want to represent it as such. She asserts that one’s personality is formed by his or her experiences, memories, and thoughts, not all of which are necessarily ever consciously understood or known by the individual (Walter 664). Personality is therefore not something that can be within a person’s possession or control. Loy, knowing this, created an “impersonal aesthetic,” or a writing style that appeared separate from her own personality and identity. By disconnecting itself from her personality, this aesthetic gave her elevated control over the subjectivity of her work. Walter argues that Loy created this aesthetic as a way to “resist the Romantic legacy of art as an expression and affirmation of a self-possessed personality” (664). In other words, Loy separated art from the personal in her work in order to challenge old conventions from the Romantic movement and to avoid the appearance of personality as a controllable aspect of life.
Walter, Christina. “Getting Impersonal: Mina Loy's Body Politics from ‘Feminist Manifesto’ to Insel.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 55.4 (2009): n. pag. Project MUSE Standard
Pozorski, Aimee L. “Eugenicist Mistress & Ethnic Mother: Mina Loy and Futurism, 1913-1917.” Melus 30.3 (2005): 41-69. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Christina Walter argues in “Getting Impersonal: Mina Loy's Body Politics from ‘Feminist Manifesto’ to Insel” that Loy created a so-called “impersonal aesthetic” for her writing because she recognized that personality was not controlled by the individual and she did not want to represent it as such. She asserts that one’s personality is formed by his or her experiences, memories, and thoughts, not all of which are necessarily ever consciously understood or known by the individual (Walter 664). Personality is therefore not something that can be within a person’s possession or control. Loy, knowing this, created an “impersonal aesthetic,” or a writing style that appeared separate from her own personality and identity. By disconnecting itself from her personality, this aesthetic gave her elevated control over the subjectivity of her work. Walter argues that Loy created this aesthetic as a way to “resist the Romantic legacy of art as an expression and affirmation of a self-possessed personality” (664). In other words, Loy separated art from the personal in her work in order to challenge old conventions from the Romantic movement and to avoid the appearance of personality as a controllable aspect of life.
Walter, Christina. “Getting Impersonal: Mina Loy's Body Politics from ‘Feminist Manifesto’ to Insel.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 55.4 (2009): n. pag. Project MUSE Standard
Juxtoposing the Primitive and Scientific: Ezra pound and his Ideogrammic MEthod
The influence of Chinese ideograms lead to Pound creating a new ideogrammic method that placed the primitive against science, and scientific method. In “Discourse on Ideogrammic method: Epistemology and Pound’s Poetics” Cordell D.K Yee argues that in looking at Pound’s Cantos the reader can view Pound’s interpretation of the ideogrammic method. The essay displays the influence of Ernest Fenollosa, another poet that lived at the beginning of the imagism movement, on Pound’s writing. Yee zeros in examples of Fenollosa’s possible influence on Pound and his ideogrammic method when ABC of Reading, claiming that, “One could easily conclude that Pound would base the method on the structure of the Chinese ideogram.”(243) This shows the influence that Chinese language had on Pound’s writings. Yee goes on to explain how Fellonosa and Pound used primitive language to invoke emotion in the reader through juxtaposing two realities that make up an object. Fellonosa however talks predominantly about the method of science involved in his writing and poetry, whereas Pound goes deeper into the description. Yee describes Pound’s belief that the method in which one creates an ideogram is like, “very much the kind of thing a biologist does (in a very much more complicated way) when he gets together a few hundred or thousand slides, and picks out what is necessary for his general statement. Something that fits the case, that applies in all of the cases”(246). In this quote Yee tells us that Pound used methods of deduction and a scientific process in creating his ideograms. This is important because using the scientific method is a complete contrast to the use of primitive language and culture in his writing. Pound uses this contrast as a form of rhetoric that he believed would add clarity by looking at two opposite realities. Yee praises Pound for his style, however there are people who believe Pounds style used in the Cantos attempts to capture aspects of life but overall his is incomplete and lacks significance.
Yee, Cordell “Discourse on Ideogrammic Method: Epistemology and Pound's Poetics” American Literature,Vol. 59, No. 2 (May, 1987), pp. 242-256
Pound’s life long work, his Cantos uses complex rhetoric that is interesting to the reader, but his work is incomplete and thus is a failure. In “Imagism and The Imagist” Glenn Hughes argues that the beauty of Pound’s Cantos will be overlooked due to the incompletion of the work. Hughes first describes Pound’s writings using a three aspect technique that takes three aspects of life and then puts them into a musical pattern. Hughes displays these three aspects as, “the fixed, or eternal; the historical, or accurate; and the modern philosophical.”(245). Hughes tells us that these aspects can be seen as compacted when put together so when one reads the “Cantos” they must be prepared and educated before hand. The three aspects Hughes describes lines up with Pound’s use of ideograms. Hughes then goes on to talk about what the long work of poems was missing and what this means for Pound as a writer in the eyes of the public. Hughes claims, “The total significance will be missed.”(245) Hughes is saying that because Pound’s work is incomplete and the true beauty and meaning behind his poems will be missed. If he were to include a more thorough background of information the Cantos’ may be complete, and take its place among great long poems in history.
Hughes, Glenn. Imagism & the Imagists; a Study in Modern Poetry. New York: Humanities, 1960.
Yee, Cordell “Discourse on Ideogrammic Method: Epistemology and Pound's Poetics” American Literature,Vol. 59, No. 2 (May, 1987), pp. 242-256
Pound’s life long work, his Cantos uses complex rhetoric that is interesting to the reader, but his work is incomplete and thus is a failure. In “Imagism and The Imagist” Glenn Hughes argues that the beauty of Pound’s Cantos will be overlooked due to the incompletion of the work. Hughes first describes Pound’s writings using a three aspect technique that takes three aspects of life and then puts them into a musical pattern. Hughes displays these three aspects as, “the fixed, or eternal; the historical, or accurate; and the modern philosophical.”(245). Hughes tells us that these aspects can be seen as compacted when put together so when one reads the “Cantos” they must be prepared and educated before hand. The three aspects Hughes describes lines up with Pound’s use of ideograms. Hughes then goes on to talk about what the long work of poems was missing and what this means for Pound as a writer in the eyes of the public. Hughes claims, “The total significance will be missed.”(245) Hughes is saying that because Pound’s work is incomplete and the true beauty and meaning behind his poems will be missed. If he were to include a more thorough background of information the Cantos’ may be complete, and take its place among great long poems in history.
Hughes, Glenn. Imagism & the Imagists; a Study in Modern Poetry. New York: Humanities, 1960.