Art and politics: modernism and the avant-garde
David Roberts
8 or 12 points * 2 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton
This subject examines the revolution in the arts, which occurred in Western culture during the first three decades of the twentieth century, in relation to revolutionary social and political changes. It will explore the political and social histories of the major avant-garde cultural movements and the various theoretical accounts of the role of the avant-garde in relation to both modernism and postmodernism.
Assessment: 8 points
Two seminar papers * Long essay (4000 words)
Assessment: 12 points
Two seminar papers * Long essay (6000 words)
Preliminary reading
Bradbury M and MacFarlane J (eds) Modernism Penguin, 1976
Prescribed texts
Bürger P Theory of the avant-garde Minnesota UP, 1984
Breton A The manifestoes of surrealism Michigan UP, 1969
Breton A What is surrealism? Pluto Press, 1978
Bronner S E and Kellner D (eds) Passion and rebellion: The expressionist heritage Universe Books, 1983
Cardinal R Expressionism Paladin, 1984
Flint R W (ed.) Marinetti: Selected writings Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1971
Kern S The culture of time and space 1880-1918 Harvard UP, 1987
Krauss R The originality of the avant-garde and other modernist myths MIT Press, 1985
Perloff M The futurist moment: Avant-garde, avant-guerre and the language of rupture Chicago UP, 1986
Poggioli R The theory of the avant-garde Harvard UP, 1968
Sheppard R Dada, studies of a movement Alpha Academic, 1980
Willett J The new sobriety: Art and politics in the Weimar period Thames and Hudson, 1978
Williams R C Artists in revolution: Portraits of the Russian avant-garde 1905-1925 Scholar Press, 1977