Guitars with Many Strings: The Meanings of Music in Picassoʼs Early Work 1900-1914

This thesis sets out to explore the use of musical references in Picassoʼs art. Noting that Picasso had no explicit connections to musical practice himself, the study examines the ways in which music appears in the artistʼs work and critically assesses explanations for its dominance and consistency as a subject in Cubist art. The study focuses on Picassoʼs Cubist output between the years 1900 and 1914 but revolves around a central series of six papiers collés from the second half of 1912, into which Picasso incorporates fragments of sheet music. The relevance of the sheet music used is therefore taken up as a key line of investigation, as is the symbolism of the guitar, which dominates the subject matter of these works. Chapter One examines the use of musical imagery throughout art history. The role in art of the guitarʼs predecessors, particularly the lute, provide a solid foundation of symbolism which, it will be argued, Picasso draws upon through his use of the guitar. Chapter Two develops this argument with regards to gender, examining the idea that the guitar is conflated with the image of the woman in Picassoʼs work. An alternative argument is explored, pursuing the guitarʼs links with Spain to argue that it functions as a symbol of national identity for Picasso, before the focus moves to the sheet music papiers collés. A closer examination of the sheet music results in an exploration of Picassoʼs connections to the Parisian cabaret scene. In the final chapter the study will conclude by presenting the view that, despite their status as revolutionary experiments in formal innovation, the series of six papiers collés can in fact be interpreted as works that express nostalgia and vanitas, representing Picassoʼs paradoxical relationship with tradition

Smell and Social Life. Aspects of English, French and German Literature (1880-1939)

Literary references to smell in social contexts have a long tradition. However, the significant contribution of odour imagery to our moods and emotions goes largely unnoticed, which accounts for the comparatively late attention paid to smell in research into the significance of sensory images in literature. The wellknown capacity of smell motifs to affirm and disrupt social and aesthetic norms cuts across historical periods, but the ways in which specific literary-historical periods renew motifs of smell in social life have remained underexplored. This volume, based on the interdisciplinary conference that took place in November 2018 at the University of London’s Institute of Modern Languages Research, gives an overview of such innovations in English, French and German literature during the timespan between the ‘olfactory explosion’ in 1880 and the break-up of modern movements in 1939

The Spaces of the Transnational in the Cinema of Roman Polanski.

The Spaces of the Transnational in the Cinema of Roman PolanskiAndrés Bartolomé LealLa tesis doctoral The Spaces of the Transnational in the Cinema of Roman Polanski ofrece un análisis textual y cultural detallado y crítico de la obra del director de cine franco-polaco Roman Polanski. Más concretamente, esta tesis se centra en lo que se daría en llamar su periodo tardío, es decir, el posterior a su salida de Hollywood a finales de los años 70 y su retorno definitivo a Europa. Dejando a un lado lecturas autobiográficas, muy extendidas en el estudio del director, esta tesis enmarca y analiza su carrera y obra cinematográficas, ambas de carácter marcadamente transnacional, como ejemplo de las dinámicas y tendencias sociales, económicas y culturales que se asocian hoy en día con el término “globalización.” Así pues, los textos cinematográficos aquí examinados, siete de las ocho películas dirigidas por el director entre los años 1989 y 2011, se proponen como una suerte de crónica audiovisual del devenir de la sociedad, cultura y cinematografía occidentales ante el advenimiento y consolidación de un mundo global. Como el propio título sugiere, el concepto del espacio ocupa un lugar prominente en esta investigación. Dicho concepto funciona en esta tesis doctoral no sólo como hilo conductor y preocupación central, sino también como herramienta teórico-analítica a través de la cual explorar la interrelación entre lo social y lo cinematográfico en el mundo contemporáneo. Es el espacio mismo, de hecho, el que marca la estructure de la tesis. Tras una introducción general en la que se postula y cuestiona la relevancia de Polanski como sujeto de estudio, el capítulo primero se centra en el concepto del espacio desde dos perspectivas: en primer lugar, como un componente intrínseco a la realidad social, así descrito por el filósofo francés Henri Lefebvre y más recientemente retomado por la geografía crítica de autores como Doreen Massey y David Harvey, y, en segundo lugar, como elemento no menos definitorio de la práctica y significación cinematográficas, como han defendido autores como Stephen Heath, David Bordwell o Fredric Jameson. Habiendo explorado la intersección entre ambas corrientes teóricas, los tres siguientes capítulos, que forman el grueso de la tesis, están dedicados al análisis textual de las obras seleccionadas, distribuidas, de nuevo, en términos espaciales. Así pues, el primero de dichos capítulos analíticos, el segundo en términos globales, se centra en la representación de la ciudad de París como espacio transnacional en las películas Frantic (1988) y Bitter Moon (1992), ambas construidas de forma autoconsciente y crítica alrededor del tropo Hollywoodiense del ‘americano en Paris.’ El siguiente capítulo toma como figura central uno de los espacios definitorios de la globalización, la frontera, para comparar los discursos, formas y significados de las películas Death and the Maiden (1994) y The Ghost Writer (2010), cuyas similitudes y contrastes ofrecen una ventana hacia las complejas transformaciones socioespaciales y geopolíticas de las últimas décadas. Finalmente, Europa se convierte en objeto de estudio en las películas The Ninth Gate (1999) y The Pianist (2002), que trazan desde ángulos diametralmente opuestos, al menos a simple vista, la problemática relación entre pasado y presente del continente con motivo de la formación de la Unión Europea y su incierto futuro tras el cambio de siglo. El último y más reciente de los textos considerados, Carnage (2011), es analizado como parte de las conclusiones de la tesis, en las que la incertidumbre, dudas y conflictos generados por los nuevos espacios de la globalización y lo transnacional se presentan no de modo catastrofista o utópico, sino como una llamada al cuestionamiento del mundo que nos rodea y las narrativas e imágenes que de él producimos y consumimos.<br /

Transcending boundaries : the arts of Islam : treasures from the Nassar D. Khalili Collection

This thesis examines and problematizes curatorial decision-making favouring the experiential encounter over interpretative/didactic modes of display when the museum’s mandate is to promote cross-cultural understanding between Muslim and Non‐Muslim communities through displays of Islamic art and culture. Based on a case study of the travelling exhibition The Arts of Islam: Treasures from the Nassar D. Khalili Collection, this investigation traces the journey of a collection of artifacts through four exhibitionary sites (Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Amsterdam) from 2007-2011. A central aim of this study is to demonstrate the polysemic nature of artifacts when placed in the museum context by exploring the notion that objects acquire additional meanings as a result of site‐specific curatorial decision‐making. To this end, a theoretical model is developed and applied that profiles how differing practices, procedures and policies of display involve a process of (re)presentation, (re)contextualization, disruption and transformation, affected by and impacting upon particular social, political and cultural nuances in the wider public sphere. A ‘tool box’ approach to analysis is adopted, drawing on a range of theories from the fields of post-colonial studies, museology, and cultural theory. Interviews with a cross-section of stakeholders from exhibition venues provide empirical evidence for the evaluation of the experiences, opinions and perspectives of sponsors, curators and museum audiences who were involved in or attended exhibitions and their related events. Additionally, conversations with museum professionals from a range of prominent institutions are included to allow comparison with the travelling display. In conjunction with findings from primary and secondary sources, discussions will involve reference to museological challenges and dilemmas including: East/West relations historically; Orientalism and practices of Islamic collecting by individuals and organizations; the effects of patronage and sponsorship especially the influence of corporations; the material, aesthetic and commercial properties of the museum object; and questions arising from representations of cultural and aesthetic objects through particular politics of display. These issues are analysed for their interaction with discourse and debates concerning: identity politics, nation building, modernity, governmentality, colonial legacies, multiculturalism, art markets and their collectors, and influence of the media. Final conclusions evaluate the success of these cultural and artistic enterprises and recommendations include the adoption of new museological practices and policies of display that are inclusive of diverse audiences and have the potential to increase cross-cultural understanding on both the local and global level

Keys to The Gift

"Yuri Leving’s Keys to The Gift: A Guide to Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel is a new systematization of the main available data on Nabokov’s most complex Russian novel, The Gift (1934–1939). From notes in Nabokov’s private correspondence to scholarly articles accumulated during the seventy years since the novel’s first appearance in print, this work draws from a broad spectrum of existing material in a succinct and coherent way and provides innovative analyses. The first part of the monograph, “The Novel,” outlines the basic properties of The Gift (plot, characters, style, and motifs) and reconstructs its internal chronology. The second part, “The Text,” describes the creation of the novel and the history of its publication, public and critical reaction, challenges of English translation, and post-Soviet reception. Along with annotations to all five chapters of The Gift, the commentary provides insight into problems of paleography, featuring a unique textological analysis of the novel

Culture of Class

In an innovative cultural history of Argentine movies and radio in the decades before Peronism, Matthew B. Karush demonstrates that competition with jazz and Hollywood cinema shaped Argentina's domestic cultural production in crucial ways, as Argentine producers tried to elevate their offerings to appeal to consumers seduced by North American modernity. At the same time, the transnational marketplace encouraged these producers to compete by marketing &quot;authentic&quot; Argentine culture. Domestic filmmakers, radio and recording entrepreneurs, lyricists, musicians, actors, and screenwriters borrowed heavily from a rich tradition of popular melodrama. Although the resulting mass culture trafficked in conformism and consumerist titillation, it also disseminated versions of national identity that celebrated the virtue and dignity of the poor, while denigrating the wealthy as greedy and mean-spirited

Women Editing Modernism: Little Magazines and Literary History

For many years young writers experimenting with forms and aesthetics in the early decades of this century, small journals known collectively as “little” magazines were the key to recognition. Joyce, Stein, Eliot, Pound, Hemingway, and scores of other iconoclastic writers now considered central to modernism received little encouragement from the established publishers. It was the avant-garde magazines, many of them headed by women, that fostered new talent and found a readership for it. Jayne Marek examines the work of seven women editors—Harriet Monroe, Alice Corbin Henderson, Margaret Anderson, Jane Heap, H.D., Bryher (Winifred Ellerman), and Marianne Moore—whose varied activities, often behind the scenes and in collaboration with other women, contributed substantially to the development of modernist literature. Through such publications as Poetry , The Little Review , The Dial , and Close Up , these women had a profound influence that has been largely overlooked by literary historians. Marek devotes a chapter as well to the interactions of these editors with Ezra Pound, who depended upon but also derided their literary tastes and accomplishments. Pound’s opinions have had lasting influence in shaping critical responses to women editors of the early twentieth century. In the current reevaluation of modernism, this important book, long overdue, offers an indispensable introduction to the formative influence of women editors, both individually and in their collaborative efforts. Jayne Marek is associate professor of English at Franklin College. A well-researched, fully documented revisionist study. The study does impressive double duty in its recovery of archival material and the construction of \u27Conversation\u27 as a paradigm for examining women\u27s editorial activity in the modernist period. —American Literature The first of its kind. An invaluable contribution. —Annotated Bibliography for English Studies Marek singles out the contributions of a fascinating contingent of literary figures. —Booklist Marek\u27s focus is unique, and she includes a significant amount of previously unpublished material. —Choice An extremely interesting and informative history of seven modernist women editors. —English Literature in Transition A serious book and enjoyable reading. Only Marek\u27s illuminating study has proved that women\u27s contribution as editors of literary magazines of Anglo-American modernism was overwhelming. The whole book speaks eloquently and convincingly: women editors were catalysts and shapers of literary modernism. —Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies The new archival research here should prove useful for future scholarship. —Journal of American History An important study. . . . The overall evidence that women editors played an important role in promoting critical dialog, new ideas, and new literature cannot be denied. —Library Journal Marek\u27s book renders visible through its overview the female networks and underpinnings of modernism; in that respect it is invaluable. —Media History A useful, highly readable guide to the achievements of the women under examination. —Modernism An informed and nuanced study of women catalyzing modernism by their work as editors. A serious addition to the new narratives of modernism, making a notable contribution to an evolving feminist scholarship. —Rachel Blau DuPlessis For readers interested not only in women\u27s studies, but also publishing history and modern literature. —Small Press Book Review Marek constructs a powerful, alternative account of seven women who, in primary ways, shaped the aesthetics of modernism and the modernist canon. She brings them alive—not as personalities or psyches, but as critical intelligences who had independent views about literature and used their magazines to express and test them. —South Atlantic Review Sticks a further and very substantial puncture in the rapidly deflating balloon of male modernist supremacy. . . A thoughtful and scrupulously researched study. —The Review of English Studies Offers detailed, carefully-documented, and absorbing accounts of behind-the-scenes dealings both with texts and their authors. —Tulsa Studies in Women\u27s Literature Make[s] a very effective case both for the shaping influence of these women and for the continued study of the little magazine as a forcefield of literary modernism. —Yearbook of English Studieshttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_english_language_and_literature_north_america/1012/thumbnail.jp

BETWEEN RHETORIC AND PERFORMATIVITY: THE VERBAL AND VISUAL ART OF FOUR MODERNIST WOMEN

The early twentieth century witnessed a special intensity in the relationship among different forms of artistic expression. Cases of osmosis multiplied between writing and painting, entailing the negotiation of techniques, giving voice to a myriad of hybrid forms. Moving on this fruitful field of research, my thesis aims at investigating the cases of some female writers who were artists at the same time, as they occupy a position of their own in the already fascinating frame of writing-artistic partnership. Specifically, Djuna Barnes, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, Mina Loy, and Zelda Fitzgerald appear to share artistic milieux and similar biographical experiences, so that they fit comparative settings. On the transnational chessboard of modernism, these four women moved among major centres \u2013 including London, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Italy and New York \u2013 to weave a complex network of \u2018upstream modernism\u2019. The texture entangling exchanges of expressive techniques and gender awareness appears to be particularly dense in their verbal and visual works, unmediated and spontaneous, original and dynamic. It is interesting to observe how these female artists\u2019 twin talents of writing and painting clearly influenced verbal and visual choices in terms of genres, forms and patterns. In addition, these women traced their own paths as divergent from that of men\u2019s, both of the past and of their time. In the already extensive criticism of (some of) these artists, there seems to be a still little trodden path of intermediality, upon which my thesis aims to expand

The theatre of destruction: anarchism, nihilism & the avant-garde, 1909-1945

This thesis argues that theatricalization is an appropriate paradigm to employ in a political reassessment of the historical avant-garde moments of Futurism, Dada and Surrealism. Through an analysis of the performativity and theatricality of the manifestos and manifestations of these successive avant-garde, it is suggested that each avant-garde moment self-dramatizes a destructive character. An argument is then developed that the destructive character of the avant-garde demonstrates and displays a libertarian-barbarian dialectic which emerges from within the discourses of anarchism and nihilism, in particular from Michael Bakunin’s maxim: ‘the passion for destruction is a creative passion, too’. The destructive character of the avant-garde is manifest most clearly in the manifestos which announce and perform a desire for the destruction of the institution of art and the re-integration of art and life, as advanced by Peter Bürger. Identifying a parallel between the discourses of theatricalization and aestheticization in Symbolist drama, I argue that the paradigm of theatricalization necessitates a critical re-assessment of the polarity which Walter Benjamin advances, between the aestheticization of politics and the politicization of art. Further, it is suggested, we must also re-examine the polarity which Bürger asserts between Aestheticism and the avant-garde with respect to the question of autonomy in art. Thus, from Bakunin’s initial breakdown of the opposition between destruction/creation we embark upon a re-examination of the polarity between key terms of the avant-garde: libertarian/barbarian; incarnation/integration; aestheticization/politicization; theatricality/performativity. The theatricalization of avant-garde manifesto is then articulated in the context of Habermas’ study of the structural transformation of the public sphere from feudalism (theatricalization) to capitalism (literalization)

Keys to The Gift

"Yuri Leving’s Keys to The Gift: A Guide to Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel is a new systematization of the main available data on Nabokov’s most complex Russian novel, The Gift (1934–1939). From notes in Nabokov’s private correspondence to scholarly articles accumulated during the seventy years since the novel’s first appearance in print, this work draws from a broad spectrum of existing material in a succinct and coherent way and provides innovative analyses. The first part of the monograph, “The Novel,” outlines the basic properties of The Gift (plot, characters, style, and motifs) and reconstructs its internal chronology. The second part, “The Text,” describes the creation of the novel and the history of its publication, public and critical reaction, challenges of English translation, and post-Soviet reception. Along with annotations to all five chapters of The Gift, the commentary provides insight into problems of paleography, featuring a unique textological analysis of the novel